T. N. Ramachandran | |
---|---|
Director of the Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department | |
In office 1961–1966 | |
Preceded by | Post established |
Succeeded by | R. Nagaswamy |
Personal details | |
Born | Madras,Madras Presidency,British India |
Died | 6 April 2021 |
Occupation |
|
T.N. Ramachandran (died 2021) was an Indian art historian,artist,archaeologist and a Sanskrit scholar,specialising in the study and exposition of various aspects of Indian art. He was born to Narayanan (a Sanskrit scholar) &Visalakshi (an able administrator). He was the author of several monographs,and was the director-general of archaeology in India. He conducted research and wrote extensively on various subjects during his tenure as curator of archaeology at the National Museum,New Delhi.
Sporadic research by Ramachandran on certain groups of antiquities at the National Museum revealed the importance of the objects and thus made the Museum well known. Only after the formation of the Section were more detailed studies of the antiquities of the Museum undertaken. Arachnologist and student of archaeology,Frederic Henry Gravely,collaborated with Ramachandran on the scientific basis for identifying the period of metal images between 1925-1935.
Ramachandran and Y.D. Sharma visited Afghanistan between May and July 1956,in order to explore and investigate the art traditions,epigraphical records,and archaeological remains. During the survey,a number of sites were visited and the antiquarian remains housed in museums were also extensively studied.
Ramachandran identified images at Brhadiswara temple at Tanjore,as the earliest extant visual representation of Bharata’s karanas. Apart from the literary evidence for the popularity of Bharata’s karanams,the dance sculptures in the temples of Tamil Nadu prove beyond doubt that the Tamils took great pains in preserving Bharata’s style. When the Chola king Rajaraja built the Tanjore temple at the beginning of the 11th century,dance art enjoyed such a high status in society that he had the Karana figures chiseled as sculptures in the first tier of the Vimana. He has taught dancers,including Bharatanatyam exponent and scholar Bala Devi Chandrashekar,Ramaa Bharadvaj,and Padma Subrahmanyam,Bharatnatyam Dancer,performing artist,and scholar,who conducted extensive research on Karana sculptures,at Annamalai University under his guidance.
Ramachandran was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1964. He has traveled widely all over the world,participated in international seminars,delivered lectures at the invitation of several universities,which have been published as books. He has delivered endowment lectures at many universities in India. He has many books and papers on architecture,iconography,epigraphy,numismatics,and literature to his credit.
Ramachandran was a tall and thin and frail man. He frequently smiled and spoke softly. He had five sons:Gurumoorthy,Suryanarayanan,T.R Rajamani,Navaneethakrishnan,and Kamal Kumar.
Some of T. N. Ramachandran's works include:
Nataraja is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava. The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the Tevaram,Thiruvasagam in Tamil and Anshumadbhed agama and Uttarakamika agama in Sanskrit and Grantha texts,the dance murti featured in all major Hindu temples of Shaivism,and is a well-known sculptural symbol in India and popularly used as a symbol of Indian culture,in particular as one of the finest illustrations of Hindu art.
Bharatanatyam is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. The dance form is also briefly mentioned in Kannada text Manasollasa written by Someshwara III. It has flourished in the temples and courts of southern India since ancient times. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms,and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas,particularly of Shaivism,Vaishnavism,and Shaktism,collectively Hinduism.
Arts and entertainment in India have had their course shaped by a synthesis of indigenous and foreign influences that have consequently shaped the course of the arts of the rest of Asia,since ancient times. Arts refer to paintings,architecture,literature,music,dance,languages and cinema. In early India,most of the arts were derived Vedic influences. After the birth of contemporary Hinduism,Jainism,Buddhism,and Sikhism arts flourished under the patronage of kings and emperors. The coming of Islam spawned a whole new era of Indian architecture and art. Finally the British brought their own Gothic and Roman influences and fused it with the Indian style. They have a culture infusion in their art.
Bharhut is a village located in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh,central India. It is known for its famous relics from a Buddhist stupa. What makes Bharhut panels unique is that each panel is explicitly labelled in Brahmi characters mentioning what the panel depicts. The major donor for the Bharhut stupa was King Dhanabhuti.
Tribhaṅga or Tribunga is a standing body position or stance used in traditional Indian art and Indian classical dance forms like the Odissi,where the body bends in one direction at the knees,the other direction at the hips and then the other again at the shoulders and neck.
Tandava also known as Tāṇḍava natyam,is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja.
Padma Subrahmanyam,is an Indian classical Bharata Natyam dancer. She is also a research scholar,choreographer,teacher,Indologist and author. She is famous in India as well as abroad;several films and documentaries have been made in her honor by countries such as Japan,Australia and Russia. She is well known as the developer and founder of the dance form Bharata Nrithyam.
The National Museum in New Delhi,also known as the National Museum of India,is one of the largest museums in India. Established in 1949,it holds a variety of articles ranging from pre-historic era to modern works of art. It functions under the Ministry of Culture,Government of India. The museum is situated on Janpath. The blue–print of the National Museum had been prepared by the Gwyer Committee set up by the Government of India in 1946. The museum has around 200,000 works of art,mostly Indian,but some of foreign origin,covering over 5,000 years.
Karanas are the 108 key transitions in the classical Indian dance described in 4th Chapter named "Tandava Lakshana" of Natya Shastra. Karana is a Sanskrit verbal noun,meaning "doing".
Nagarjunakonda is a historical town,now an island located near Nagarjuna Sagar in Palnadu district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh,near the state border with Telangana. It is 160 km west of another important historic site Amaravati Stupa.
Frederic Henry Gravely was an eminent British arachnologist,entomologist,botanist,zoologist and student of archaeology,who conducted pioneering research and wrote extensively on various subjects during his tenure at the Indian Museum,Calcutta,and the Government Museum,Madras.
Calambur Sivaramamurti, (1909–1983) was an Indian museologist,art historian and epigraphist who is primarily known for his work as curator in the Government Museum,Chennai. and Sanskrit scholar. His entire life has been devoted to the study and exposition of various aspects of Indian art. Apart from authoring several monographs,guide books on Indian art,he also wrote a seminal work on South Indian epigraphy.
A salabhanjika or shalabhanjika is a term found in Indian art and literature with a variety of meanings. In Buddhist art,it means an image of a woman or yakshi next to,often holding,a tree,or a reference to Maya near the sala tree giving birth to Siddhartha (Buddha). In Hindu and Jain art,the meaning is less specific,and it is any statue or statuette,usually female,that breaks the monotony of a plain wall or space and thus enlivens it.
Swarnamalya Ganesh is an Indian actress and TV anchor. A multidisciplinary artist,she was identified as a talent from a young age;firstly as a dance performer,later becoming well known as an anchor of several popular TV shows,an actor in films across various languages and an activist and public intellectual. She is a respected classical dancer. She holds two master's degrees,one of which is in Dance and a doctorate degree in History of Performing arts from the University of Madras. In 2014-2015 she received the prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Professional and Academic Excellence Fellowship,awarded by the United States and Indian governments through the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF).
Brihadishvara Temple locally known as Thanjai Periya Kovil,and also called Rajarajeswaram,is a Hindu Dravidian styled temple dedicated to the god Shiva located in South bank of Cauvery river in Thanjavur,Tamil Nadu,India. It is one of the largest Hindu temples and an exemplary example of a fully realized Tamil architecture. It is called as Dakshina Meru. Built by Chola emperor Rajaraja I between 1003 and 1010 CE,the temple is a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples",along with the Chola dynasty era Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple and Airavatesvara temple that is about 70 kilometres (43 mi) and 40 kilometres (25 mi) to its northeast respectively.
Sharada Srinivasan is an archaeologist specializing in the scientific study of art,archaeology,archaemetallurgy and culture. She is associated with the National Institute of Advanced Studies,Bangalore,India,and an Honorary University Fellow at the University of Exeter,UK. Srinivasan is also an exponent of classical Bharata Natyam dance. She was awarded India's fourth highest civilian award the Padma Shri in 2019.
Ramachandran Nagaswamy was an Indian historian,archaeologist and epigraphist who was known for his work on temple inscriptions and art history of Tamil Nadu. He was an authority on Chola bronzes.
Bala Devi Chandrashekar is a Bharatanatyam dancer and teacher based in Princeton,New Jersey,United States. She was trained under Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam. Bala Devi Chandrashekar is a Professor of practice in Asian performing arts. Her approach is interdisciplinary,involving lecturing and research. Bala Devi's unique well researched productions include Nandanar Charithram,Krishnaarpnam and Uddhava Gita.
Kudavayil Balasubramanian is an archaeologist from Tamil Nadu,India. He is former curator and publication manager at Saraswathi Mahal Library located at Thanjavur. He is credited with discovering more than 100 inscriptions,coins,copper plates,sculptures,and paintings now in museums and temples in that state.
Kuthur Ramakrishnan Srinivasan was an Indian archeologist,historian and the author of a number of books on Indian history and culture. He was best known for his archeological work on the Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan,the third highest civilian award,in 1991.