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Regards
Selvan
Ashok V Chowgule wrote:
>
> Title : How to create a golden age of Hindu culture
> Author : Rizawan Salim
> Publication : The Hindustan Times
> Date : May 18, 1997
>
> Over the past 4000 years, the supremely imaginative Hindus have created =
> a culture
> so abundant with awe-inspiring architecture and vigorous sculpture, allur=
> ing
> dances and spell-binding music, amazingly potent mind-body disciplines =
> and a
> wholistic medical system, recondite philosophical doctrines, arcane fortu=
> ne
> telling systems, epics of vast scope densely textured with meaning, compr=
> ehensive
> theoretical systems from aesthetics to rhetoric, arts of love making to =
> making
> war, and intensely sensorial rituals - that an individual with a receptiv=
> e mind
> can spend several lifetimes to master just one aspect of Hindu culture.
>
> There should have been several first rate institutions to preserve and =
> study,
> teach and propagate Hindu culture's knowledge and wisdom, and accomplishm=
> ents. In
> fact, there is not one school of the first rank where a scholar can study=
> or
> research various aspects of Hindu culture all under one roof.
>
> If I want to research under professional guidance the Hoysala temple arch=
> itecture
> in Karnataka, there is no world-class academic institution I can go to. =
> If I want
> to take a college course just to read all the Puranas in English translat=
> ion or
> some modern Indian language, there is no Indian "Ivy-League" quality univ=
> ersity
> for me to attend. If I want to teach a seminar on the literary quality/l=
> ayers of
> symbolic meaning in the Ramayana, there is no reputable academic programm=
> e to
> welcome me. If I want to learn and conduct a serious scientific study of =
> the
> Jyotish vidya or the tantrik yoga, I will have to do it in my own library=
> . A
> serious student of Hindu culture has very few superlative quality -world-=
> lass -
> institutions in Hindustan.
>
> To ensure that the ancient Hindu tradition and wisdom uplifts present-day=
> Hindu
> society and that Hindu culture lasts, rich and poor, for thousands of yea=
> rs to
> come, a number of first-rate institutes for the study and preservation =
> of Hindu
> culture and tradition must he established all over Hindustan. These insti=
> tutes
> should regenerate intense cultural pride among Hindus and inaugurate a =
> Hindi
> cultural renaissance. The founders of the Hindu culture studies instituti=
> ons
> should possess the vision to establish centres that are equal to or super=
> ior in
> quality to the finest academic institutions of Europe and America. Such =
> centres
> of excellence for a broad and rigorous study of Hindustan's history and =
> culture
> are 50 years overdue.
>
> The intellectual and creative labours of the Hindus in the centuries past=
> have
> also left us a brilliant legacy of regional cultures and languages, Tamil=
> above
> the rest. Hindustan's different regions (linguistic states) also need =
> institutes
> worthy of their rich heritage to collect and preserve, study and research=
> ancient
> documents and manuscripts, texts and inscriptions in the local language =
> to gain
> deeper knowledge of the region's history, tradition and culture.
>
> Special institutes are also needed in many parts of India to record and =
> study --
> and thus keep alive - the vibrant tribal and village folk culture: dances=
> and
> music, theatre, stories and songs, festivals and ceremonies, rituals and =
> deities,
> customs and crafts. It is a fact that a lot of even highly educated Indi=
> ans lack
> awareness of the vitality of the nation's folk traditions, except the "tr=
> ibal
> dances" observed at some official ceremonies. India needs superb and well=
> -equipped
> institutions dedicated to the idea that all folk arts of the nation must =
> live -
> and remain forever a source of joy.
>
> India also needs a class of scholars who have studied at the finest Ameri=
> can and
> European universities archaeology and history, anthropology and psycholog=
> y,
> philosophy and literature, history of the arts, comparative literature =
> and
> comparative religion, literary criticism and textual analysis, aesthetics=
> and
> hermeneutics to be excellently capable of educating us - and the world - =
> on the
> imaginative and intellectual superiority of Hindu culture and accomplishm=
> ents.
>
> The new class of Hindu intellectuals should explain to us - and the world=
> - that
> the Ramayana, even as a literary work, is far superior to the ancient Gre=
> ek/
> European epic The Odyssey; and that the temple of Konark a far greater =
>
> architectural achievement than the Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame in Pari=
> s.
>
> Over a period of 1,000 years (roughly between the fourth and the 14th cen=
> turies),
> Hindu kings and emperors built more temples than rulers of any other hist=
> orical
> civilisation ever did. Thousands many thousands - of stone temples of =
> all sizes,
> exquisitely beautiful and awe-inspiring, were built block by block or car=
> ved out
> of solid rock everywhere in Hindustan. A lot of the Hindu temples built =
> over the
> centuries have perished: Still, what survives today is remarkable.
>
> Hindu culture today needs an ambitious project to repair, rebuild and res=
> tore
> every ruined no matter how much damaged the ancient Hindu temple. The
> reconstruction should be historically accurate and done using the same =
> kind of
> stones in the original temple. Since June 1988, I have travelled thousan=
> ds of
> kilometres all over India to gaze in wonder at more than 200 ancient Hind=
> u
> temples. I have also done considerable research in this country and at =
> Library of
> Congress in Washington on Indian History and Archaeology, ancient Hindu =
> temple art
> and architecture. I claim on the basis of my research and travels that =
> at least
>
> 600 ruined and abandoned ancient Hindu temples are scattered all over the=
> country
> (except Kerala and NE frontier states). A number of the antique temples =
> are fairly
> intact, but most of the forsaken temples survive in a more or less ruined=
>
> conditions A large, number of Hindu temples were number of Hindu temples =
> were
> shattered altogether. At several old temple sites visited, I found a larg=
> e number
> of fragments of the demolished temples still lying scattered.
>
> Every dilapidated and wrecked ancient Hindu temple can be made whole agai=
> n. All
> remaining ancient Hindu temples can be rebuilt. All surviving ancient =
> temples
> should be recreated. The task is not impossible or even very difficult. =
> The much
> damaged temples can be made whole again by the labour of Hindustan's tale=
> nted and
> skilled stone carvers. Even today, Hindu artisans in several parts of the=
> country
> (e.g. Khiching in North Orissa and Mahabalipuram near Chennai) possess =
> the skill
> to carve stone decorations and sculpture as well as their remote ancestor=
> s did.
> The temples' restoration can be achieved relying upon the ancient Sanskri=
> t (or
> other regional language) treatises on architecture, examples of ancient =
> Hindu
> temple art in museums, and comparison with other surviving temples in the=
> same
> style and of the same period.
>
> In the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Prad=
> esh, but
> especially in Orissa and Rajasthan, I have counted nearly 80 damaged anci=
> ent
> temples that can be restored. It would be a challenge of enormous complex=
> ity to
> rebuild completely the shattered Kakatiya temple at Warangal. (Warangal =
> was sacked
> in the 17th century by the Muslim ruler of Hyderabad and the temple - whi=
> ch must
> have been stunningly beautiful judging from broken pieces - was demolishe=
> d.)
> State-of-the art computer programmes use in archaeological reconstruction=
> can be
> of enormous help in restoring the ancient Hindu temples, even in cases =
> where many
> carved stone blocks and portions of decorative carvings are missing.
>
> As necessary as recreating the original architectural beauty of all the =
>
> dilapidated and forsaken ancient Hindu temples, there is also the urgent =
> need to
> protect and preserve the glorious architecture and sculpture of the templ=
> es that
> have survived intact. There is no excuse for not using the best able con=
> servation
> technologies and the most far-sighted protective measures at every one =
> of the
> intact. ancient Hindu temples.
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mail posts to: ghen@netcom.com : http://www.hindunet.org/srh_home/
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