Saturday, September 8, 2012

The history of Puthu Mandapam

TOI traces the history of Puthu Mandapam, which once meant a lot more to Maduraiites. 

W hat really is the history of the Puthu Mandapam in Madurai? Was it always a bustling area of commerce with traders and customers alike thronging the shops? From the memory of any Maduraiite, the Puthu Mandapam is always remembered and used for a big shopping experience, as the entire place is stocked with various stalls of merchandise. But, the place holds some of the most important portions of Madurai history. 



Sulaiman, the ex-Assistant Director of the Art and Culture Department, points out the significance of Puthu Mandapam that is engraved in the pages of history. He says, "It was always used as a spot to witness the cultural programs. Also, the royal women used to halt at the mandapam during their visit to the Meenakshi Amman temple and during the Chithirai festival. There was a canal that always had a consistent water flow. This particular canal is now drained and hosts the book shops on one side and the utensil shops on the other side. The mandapam was constructed with the water canal so as to maintain a pleasant temperature inside it. The most interesting fact of Puthu Mandapam is that it was constructed during the King Thirumalai Nayakkar as a part of his service to the city." 



The shops inside Puthu Mandpam have their own demand from the Maduraiites. But, it has to be made clear that the monument is losing its glamour. The place is used just like any other commercial street. Karthiga, a college student says, "Lot of people make a living out of these shops in the mandapam. It is understandable that they are striving for existence. But, it was the same case when there were hundreds of shops around the Meenakshi Amman Temple. The government did take necessary actions to clear up the place. Now, the entire perimeter of the temple appears to be clean and pleasant. Likewise, the mandapam also should be maintained in a proper way. The statues and the artistic works on the walls and ceilings are not noticed at all." 

There are prominent talks among the Maduraiites that the mandapam would be soon facing towards another personality as a museum. "It will always be a wonderful sight to visualize the Puthu Mandapam as a museum and it will be another major tourist attraction in the city. But, certain measures should also be taken in order to prevent such misuse of heritage structures," adds Karthiga. 

Puthu Mandapam still hosts some of the important proceedings of Chithirai festival, Theppam festival, Avanimoolam festival and Navarathiri. The shops are closed at those particular hours to ensure that the festival takes place without any interruptions. The place that was once allotted only for cultural dances and katcheris turned into a buzzing market with the emergence of shops one by one. But for now, the Puthu Mandapam waits with bated breath to know what its uncertain future holds.

Source - TOI


Visual archives In a state of disrepair :
Unfortunately in Tamil Nadu, the murals, the inscriptions, the sculptures and carvings have become targets of destruction and vandalism. The officials of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) Department, who administers the temples, are to be blamed for this state. Most often, these officials fail to appreciate and preserve these splendid works due to lack of knowledge of history.

In the famous Meenakshi temple, Madurai, several historic mandapams have become shopping complexes. The Pudhu mandapam, the Ashta Sakti mandapam, Veera Vasantharayar mandapam and Meenakshi Nayakar mandapam teem with hundreds of shops, obstructing from view pillars with incredibly beautiful sculptures. A scholar on the history of the Meenakshi temple was displeased that its 1,000-pillared mandapam, with superb sculptures, has become ‘a studio' now, with an incongruously gleaming granite floor, skewed focus lights and a big sculpture of Nataraja painted in black!
Several years ago, the earthen bed of the temple's famous ‘Golden Lotus' tank (Pottramarai Kulam) was cemented up, with the result that no water stays in the tank now and it looks barren now. The HR and CE officials of the temple also whitewashed hundreds of beautiful murals, painted on the walls of the northern corridor of the Golden Lotus tank, portraying the ‘Tiruvilaiyadal,' in the first quarter of 1996.
Source - The Hindu

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