BAGESHREE S.
The first association with a Kerala temple, right now, is an unsavoury controversy. That's what makes the present time more auspicious than any other to restore to them the old and time-tested associations — of simplicity, serenity and exquisite beauty.
Architect-author Ramu Katakam's Glimpses of Architecture in Kerala (Rupa & Co., Rs. 995) sure contributes its mite in this direction. Together with some stunning pictures by Joginder Singh, the book captures the wooden temples and palaces of Kerala both in their grand sweep and fine detail.
Moment of stillness
"They are living buildings!" says Ramu about the temples of Kerala. Talking about his first visit to the Mahadeva temple in Ettumanoor in his introduction, he says the building not only lives, but also forces someone wandering through it to see life in a new light. A visit becomes an opportunity "to glimpse the invisible world. A world inside myself."
Set against emerald rice fields, bathed in the setting light of the sun and lit by thousands of lamps, the temple gave him a sense of complete stillness and peace.
"Architecture, in my view, is a microcosm of one's own mind," says Ramu. In fact, both the exquisite pictures and the narrative of the book try to capture the interaction between the mind, the building and the landscape.
The fact that all the Kerala temples are timber structures, with an interplay of earthen tiles and copper, makes this blend even more palpable. Pictures of moss growing over a temple wall, aglow in early morning light, and an ancient temple overgrown with grass only add to this sense of seamlessness.
Ramu argues that it is this lack of defined boundaries that makes a building more than a mere physical structure. But this perspective is often missed by Western critics. "Indian architecture has been viewed from the point of view of the Western critic for far too long, with a stylistical, analytical approach... The world does not begin with Greece, you see."
Ramu recounts an argument Sri Aurobindo once had with a Western critic on this. Aurobindo writes: "Indian architecture should be seen in loneliness, in the solitude of one's self, in moments when one is capable of long and deep meditation and as little weighed as possible with the conventions of material life."
Travelling in Kerala
During the course of his three-year travel in Kerala before he published this book, Ramu not only studied the wonderful wooden structures but also pondered over the cultural and philosophical connotations they carry.
For instance, he writes about the Kaviyur temple, "possibly the finest temple in Kerala": "More important than the art and architecture of Kaviyur is the sense of elation and excitement it provides. A moment when one realises it may be worth being in this universe."
And this, precisely, is what makes their preservation particularly important. But sadly, restoration of the buildings is not taken as seriously as keeping the rituals of the temples intact, says Ramu. "Sculpture of the highest order is allowed to decay and it is hoped this book is a start towards bringing awareness to the quality of artwork available."
Thoughtless haste
What worries Ramu as much is the thoughtless haste with which we have abandoned our rich architectural heritage and embraced ugliness in the name of development. This is happening not only in Kerala but also all over the country.
"How does such ugliness come out of such beauty? It's really the worst form of decay!" says Ramu. "I always wonder what young people who walk along M.G. Road think of all those big new structures that have come up."
Not that Ramu is, per se, opposed to urban growth. "I don't feel the same away about the cluttered structures of Chikpet, for instance. There's a certain vibrant life there."
Be it a bustling cosmopolitan city or a quiet village in Kerala, what's important then is the ability of a building to be more than a building — to be a structure that sustains life.
Though the book does not try a sociological analysis of how this equation between the man and the man-made works in specific contexts, it is the underlying spirit of Glimpses of Architecture in Kerala.
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