Valvil Ori festival in Kolli Hills on August 2,3
King Valvil Ori, who ruled over Kolli Hills around 200 AD, is renowned for his archery skills, generosity, and for upholding equality without caste discrimination. As per the Tamil Nadu Government's directive, the district administration organises this festival every year on the 17th and 18th of the Tamil month Aadi.
On Friday, District Collector Durgamoorthi held a preparatory meeting at the Collectorate to discuss arrangements for the annual event. She emphasised that this year's festival would be celebrated as a 'Green Festival', promoting eco-friendly practices.
The Collector urged key departments to ensure effective coordination and to take measures for the successful organisation of the event.
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But back in the 1930s, the state of affairs was dire. Vaidyanatha's family was in penury. Royal patronage of the art of sculpture had ended with the fall of Maratha rule in Thanjavur, and there were hardly any temples being built. Because of his reverence for Ramana Maharshi, Vaidyanatha did not see the mother's shrine as a commercial venture but as a spiritual assignment. He was therefore willing to work with Chinnaswami despite the ashram's own precarious financial situation. There were many weeks when Chinnaswami didn't have enough money to pay the workers' weekly wages. Also read: Do Chola kings represent a culturally united Hindu India? It's a modern fantasy Building a revival Belonging to the Vishwakarma community, Vaidyanatha was deeply orthodox. He would not bring his family to eat at the ashram, as accepting food from his employer violated his professional ethics. Chinnaswami would often send food to the family without the sthapati's knowledge. 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One must know how scrupulously the Maharshi avoided telling anyone what to do in even the smallest matters of daily life, and how people hung onto every word spoken by this silent sage, to appreciate both the significance of such a comment and the impact that it would have undoubtedly had on Vaidyanatha sthapati. The Maharshi always took a keen interest in Ganapati's education. 'Sthapati's son has passed the examination with distinction. His future is going to be very bright', he said, referring to his high school examination. After completing his high school in 1947, Ganapati got admission into the College of Engineering in Guindy, which is now under Anna University. Founded in 1794, it's the oldest modern technical institution outside of Europe. However, Vaidyanatha could not afford the Rs 480 admission fee and Rs 300 per semester for hostel and other expenses. He also would not accept financial assistance from others. A few months later, the Maharshi called the sthapati and said, 'In your own native place, a new college has now been established and will start functioning from 15 August 1947. It feels that this college has been started late in the year only for Ganapati.' Taking the Maharshi's words as divine direction, Ganapati joined the newly established Alagappa Chettiar Government College of Engineering and Technology in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu, and obtained a degree in mathematics. The college also offered courses in Shilpa Shastra. With the education he received there and the guidance of his savant father, Ganapati soon matured into a worthy successor of his lineage. 'Only after I became a professional sthapati did I realise the value of the Maharshi's advice. I am happy to say that it is because of his blessings that I am what I am today,' he said in later years. In 1957, C Rajagopalachari and Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya persuaded and financially supported Vaidyanatha in establishing the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture in Mahabalipuram, near Chennai. This technical institution was, and still is, the only one of its kind in India. But Vaidyanatha served there for only three years, after which Ganapati took over in 1961 and ran the institution for 27 years. He nurtured it into a premier institution for all aspects of temple building, including painting, mural work, and the casting of Chola bronzes. The college has since graduated hundreds of sthapatis. Ganapati went on to lead major public projects such as the Thiruvalluvar statue near the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, and he renovated many temples in South India. Most importantly, he is responsible for innovations in applying the Agamas, Shilpa Shastras, and Vastu Shastra to build Tamil-style temples in the US, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Fiji, Sri Lanka, and Canada. He followed local construction codes and adapted his methods to different climates and the needs of diverse Hindu communities, many of whom wished to include worship traditions from various parts of India within a single temple. At one point in the early 2000s, Ganapati was simultaneously involved in more than a dozen temple projects across the US. Virtually every major metropolitan area in the country with a significant Indian population has a temple designed and built by him or his students. For someone who once wanted nothing to do with his hoary lineage, Ganapati brought about a veritable renaissance in temple architecture before his death in 2011. Beyond training sthapatis, he also published numerous books on sthapatya, Vastu Shastra, and traditional architecture. Due to the Maharshi's timely intervention, the tradition famously exemplified by Raja Raja Chola and Perunthachan continues to flourish today, and is directly responsible for the global spread of Tamil-style temples. Rajendra Chola's naval conquest of Indonesia was an amazing achievement for the 11th century and is rightly celebrated a thousand years later. But the preservation, adaptation, and globalisation of the temple arts, a thousand years from now, prove to be an even more influential development. Swaminathan Venkataraman is a graduate of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta. He works as a financial analyst in New York and serves on the board of the Hindu American Foundation. Views are personal. (Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)
