"A Gallery of Indian Domestics"

 Having domestic help ( "Servants" ) is considered feudalistic these days and the practice lingers on only in pockets of third world countries. 

But , once upon a time , in bad old days, it was considered a mark of one's success to have many people looking after the many departments of running a household. Especially in Colonial days , the colonisers had small armies of natives serving them . The pale skinned man could have been from a  riffraff background back home in England , but here , in the Colonies, he could lord it over as a White Nawab . Any wonder the land attracted fortune seekers in droves, never mind the heat and dust !

One thing to be said in their favour :  the Colonisers kept meticulous records of everything they saw and experienced in the colonies . The illustrators ( painters, lithographers, engravers) did a good job of preserving for posterity scenes from their day (save a fanciful misrepresentation here and there ).

The  battalions of Servants and their classification merited recording too. In late 18th Century, a Belgian print maker   named Francois Balthazar Solvyns ( 1760 - 1824) came to India to make drawings of  life and living  in Calcutta and worked here for 13 years . He is considered one of the pioneers of Print Making in India. 

 His first published a collection of 250 etchings  titled A Collection of Two Hundred and Fifty Coloured Etchings: Descriptive of the Manners, Customs and Dresses of the Hindoos ( Calcutta, 1796.) Unfortunately, it did not make money. for him  He returned to Europe, became a diplomat, reworked his etchings and published "Les Hindoos" . This set is considered the model for the "Company Style" of Art that developed and flourished later in India. 

Calendar Art , in India , is a genre by itself . Though gaudy, glossy offset prints of Gods and Filmstars were most ubiquitous on calendars , some establishments took pride in publishing good art work too. Ofcourse, at the  present digital Age , it is not known if any pains are taken by anyone to make beautiful calendars that doubled as wall displays  once. 

Long ago, an Insurance company or some Bank( I do not remember) had brought out this calendar featuring Solvyns' gallery of Domestic helpers. It was too lovely to be discarded  with old newspapers at year end, so it stayed back. With the date part cut away, and the side stapled, it looks as good as an art book. And I had saved it for almost 45 years. Couldn't bring myself to throw it away. Inspite of periodic spring cleaning sessions and house-moving , the "folio" remained with me, either stored under bed or at the bottom of the bookshelf . Its odd size was always a problem and the edges were always curling and fraying. 

Eventually, Age and Time catch up. It is no longer possible to retain the Folio  in good condition, nor is there the desire to hold on to it any longer . It's time to let go of things.........

But not before this shot at digitizing the old favourite ! 

SARKAR : A house steward , a genius whose whole study is to handle money and to keep household accounts. KIDMUDGAR : Served meals and waited at table . 

KERCH BURDAR : Carried the loose cash for the Master and was in charge of buying small things such as fruit for the household.

AUBDAR : Looked after the cellar and kept the wines cool.

HOOKA BURDAR :  arranged the hookah for the Master after meals and hovered around till end of session.  BAULBER : The barber who shaved the Master . Only shaved, did not do hair dressing. HIRCARA :  personal messenger  or courier . 

CHOKEEDAR : Private WAtchman who paraded around the house with sword and spear till everyone was asleep. COACHMAN : chauffeur 

MUSHAULJEE : Torch bearer who ran with a lit torch before the Master's carriage , after dark. CHOWRY BURDAR : carried the chowri ( Yak Tail whisk), an Insignia of Rank,  in front of  the Master . KHAUNSAMAUN : Chief butler and Waiter at table. 

An Old Curiosity Palace

 Suan Pakkad Palace  is a lovely little  haven , nestling in tranquil detachment, in Sri Ayutthaya Road, Bangkok, not far from Phaya Thai BTS Station.  It is not at all as flashy or huge or even well known as the other Palaces in Bangkok and consequently, not crawling with tourists. In fact, the day we visited, it was just us !

The surreal phantasmagoria of  Alice's Wonderland is what comes to mind the instant you come to know that the name of the Palace, Suan Pakkad,  means  "Cabbage Patch" ! Really ! 

Well, the place was really a cabbage patch before a prince and his bride inherited it during the  1950s and decided to make a residence there for themselves. Scions of Oriental Royalty have their quirks.  Instead of building anew, they had four antique Thai houses uprooted from elsewhere and got them assembled in this compound , with lush tropical gardens laid around them. 

The best among the repurposed houses is  The Lacquer  Pavilion (above ), a 17th Century wooden house on stilts, completely covered with lacquer, embellished with gold inlay murals of the highest order depicting the Life of Buddha and scenes from the Ramayana . Visitors are allowed to enter and gape, but strictly no photography. In a courtyard by this pavilion stand a large ornate, gilded barge used by King Rama V .

Later, more Houses were constructed around the core of these four. 

The 'No photography'  rule applies to all rooms of the Palace, which is now a Museum . The Prince and his Princess, it seems, were avid collectors of beautiful and interesting objects and their Palace is crammed with their collections. While collecting gave  personal satisfaction, the royal couple decided that sharing  their collection with Public would enhance that pleasure because after all, whatever they collected was also common heritage of all mankind. Hence, conversion of Palace to Museum. No longer a residence.

Two huge brightly painted cement Roosters welcome visitors to the Museum. At the reception area, where tickets are sold, the staff is very polite, friendly , almost making it seem like your visit is a honour to them ! Talk of old world etiquette ! 

Along with the ticket we receive a handy visitors guide brochure and a woven palm hand fan ! A polite , uniformed attender is dispatched as our personal companion to guide us and to unlock doors.  He  may also keep an eye on visitors who are tempted to help themselves to souvenirs on the side ! Its really easy, because many  exhibits are small and kept in open display .

The first artefact of interest to be pointed out is the "horoscope" or The foundation Stone of the building, an engraved stone slab embedded on the wall of the entrance corridor. 

The houses are interconnected with  raised walkways and we go house hopping.

House 1 displays a wide range of musical instruments of all kinds at the ground floor. detailed notes are found alongside each. The upper floor has beautiful statuary /figurines of stone, metal and wood from different eras of South East Asian history. Buddhas aplenty, ofcourse ! And a very lovely  headless Uma and an Ardhanariswara , probably Khmer. 

House 2 : The ground floor was reportedly nicknamed Alibaba's Cave by the Princess because it contains a variety of rare and valuable rocks and minerals , so colourful and twinkling under the lights.The Upper Storey is filled with miscellaneous curios like traditional furniture , cabinets, containers , trays , boxes , fans etc which are richly worked and painted with delicate designs so typical of Thai art. 

House 3 : The elegant paraphernalia of Thai royalty , like the parasols,  a model Throne ( Busabok), palanquin and formal insignias are all found here. At the Upper level is a vast collection of Bencharong, the unique China made pentachromatic ( pancha-rang) porcelain with customised Thai designs. There are also some Gold and Silver neilloware artifacts .

House 4 is still in use for royal receptions and dinners. And it has their private chapel also. Visitors are allowed , when it is not in use. There are quite a free Buddhist paintings and  mother-of-pearl inlaid panels. 

House 5 has more rocks and minerals, along with great looking Fossils personally collected by the Royal couple. They sure had eclectic tastes ! 

House 6 is the Khon Museum. Khon is the Mask used in the traditional  opera which uses both dance and story telling formats. Stories are always from The epic, Ramayana. Each mask has a character, is elaborately made and visually stunning. In this museum , it is possible to see a diorama with action figures ( Khon puppets) enacting scenes. 

House 7 : stores prehistoric artefacts obtained from excavation around the country,  Chinese ceramics from Ming, Song and Yuan dynasties, Khmer pottery and  Green Glaze friezes from Burma. 

House 8 is dedicated to household items - glassware, silverware, porcelain, crystalware- used by the Royal couple who tuirned such prodigious collectors .

Marsi Gallery exhibits the paintings of the only daughter of the couple, who was an artist.The Gallery is also rented out now to contemporary artists to show their work. 

The pride of place among this odd collection of things in this museum , belongs to The Banchiang Collection, housed in a modern annexe. 

Ban Chiang , an archeological site in North East Thailand, that yielded amazingly sophisticated artefacts of ceramic and metal from an unknown bronze age civilization , was discovered in 1966 and has been a World Heritage Site since 1992.  Initial dating had declared it to be the earliest Bronze Age civilization in the World. But later dating with better techniques brought the date down by wo millenia to about  2100BCE  . The settlement could have flourished upto 200BCE.

While the exquisite painted pottery pieces , many of them intact, look like they were made just yesterday , the bronze objects like bracelets, rings, spearheads, axes, blades and bells, show very fine workmanship. One exhibit is a bony hand still wearing  a large spiral bracelet and, with clay around it, it looks eerie. The pottery pieces are of different elegant shapes and painted in a swirling pattern , which give them a modern look. 

Before the site was formally discovered, local villagers are said to have just picked up ancient pottery and metal pieces for their use from the wasteland ! And after it became famous, it attracted looters who saw a good market abroad for the grave goods stolen from  here ! The collection in Suan Pakkad palace is quite large and gives a good idea about the high degree of refinement and culture attained by those ancient people , about whom studies are still in progress both locally and abroad, most notably in Pennsylvania University.

Pictures of some exhibits from the brochure : Model of the Throne , A Sukhothai Buddha, a conical food container, a Khon Mask and a Banchiang Pottery 

Guardians of the Directions

Propitiating a force of Nature or a Natural Phenomenon , observed to affect human life in some way, was one of principles of early Religiosity or Spiritualism . To be surrounded by or enveloped  within  the benevolence of  these Forces was a much desired goal and installing a "divinity" as a Guardian  in every direction ensured a sense of security . 

Guardian spirits were assigned to the four cardinal directions and the four intermediary directions and early structural temples usually depicted them  on the ceiling , in a grid surrounding the presiding deity . Two more directions, Upper and Lower or Zenith and Nadir , called  Urdhva and Adhah in Sanskrit guarded by Brahma and Vishnu respectively, are omitted from the grid. The Dikpalas are depicted as male and with their preferred mount . In some sites, the panels show them accompanied by consorts. 

In Karnataka, Temples built by the Western Gangas and Nolambas  have very finely worked bas-relief panels on ceilings dedicated to the Guardians . The best Ashtadikpala ceiling grid , anywhere in India, is found in a humble , unpretentious shrine to Kalleshwara in Aralaguppe, Tumkur District . It is a Nolamba masterpiece . 

The Hoysalas made large , ornate sculptures in the round and placed them on the walls alongside other deities. Later , during Vijayanagara times, the Guardians came to occupy frames in the lower portion of pillars . 

These are the Dikpalas ( Ashta-dik-palakas = Guardians of the 8 Directions) carved on the ceiling of Bharatalingeshwara trmple in Avani, Kolar dist. Creation of the Nolambas . 

The central panel shows the DivineFamily : Shiva, Parvathi and Ganesha, with Nandi under  Shiva's foot. 

1. Indra guards  East . Indra's  vahana is Iravatham,  the White Elephant which is symbol of royal strength. The attribute he carries is the Vajra ( thunderbolt) and his Consort is Sachi .

2. Varuna guards West ( Pascima or Pratici in Sanskrit) .His vahana is Makara , a stylised crocodile or an aquatic dragon. His  attribute is Pasa ( the Noose) and his Consort is Varuni.  

3. Kubera  guards North ( Uttara or Udici in Sanskrit) . The vahana of Kubera is Nara (Man) , Horse or a even a Goat. It varies by region. His attribute is Gada ( the Mace) and his Consort is Bhadra . 

 4. Yama guards South( Dakshina in Sanskrit).  His vahana is a  Water-Buffalo. His attribute is Pasam ( ropes) and his Consort , Dhumorna. 

5. Agni guards  South East ( Aagneya in Sanskrit) . Agni , who can also be depicted as having two faces, rides a Ram and his attribute is Danda ( a staff) . His consort is Svaaha. 

6. Nirutti guards Southwest ( Nairritya in Sanskrit)  . Nirutti ( aka Nrtti or Nairutta), called overlord of the Demons , has for a Vahana , a Man or Ghoul . Though generally shown in art as a male, Nirtti is also known as a form of Parvathi . a female Dikpala. The attribute is Khadga ( Sword) . 

7. Vayu guards Northwest ( Vaayavya in Sanskrit). Vayu's vahana is a Deer . Attribute is Ankusha  (a Goad) . Consort is Lehari . 

8. Isana guards Northeast ( Ishanyain Sanskrit). Isana has Vrishbha (bull) as his vahana . Attribute is Trishula ( Trident) and Consort is Ishani. 

Depictions down the ages : 

The entire ceiling grid , with the Jina as central panel, at Kambadahalli Basadi - a creation of Western Ganga artisans. At the four intersections are seen celestial musicians . 9th Century CE. 

A large sized Hoysala example from Kedareshwara Temple, Nagalapura. Varuna , with Consort , riding the Makara ( mythical aquatic animal ) , as a niche figure on the outer wall.  In addition to having the Guardians in ceiling grids , the Hoysalas also  magnified the Guardians and arranged them on the outer walls , on par with other figures from Mythology . 13th Cent CE.

A post - Vijayanagara period depiction of  bicephalous Agni riding a Ram, as a pillar decoration , in the octogonal pavilion by the temple tank in Melkote. The other Guardians occupy other Pillars , at their relevant direction. 16-17th Cent CE. 

More recent , as Wodeyar period Stucco figures , arranged on the outer walls , each in own niche : Niruttti , Yama and Agni , in Srikanteshwara Temple, Nanjangud. 18-19th Cent CE.

Vibrant Street Art

What is the best way to cheer up a dreary neighbourhood ? 

Splash  bright paint all over the walls and add Artwork anywhichway you like . 

Colours do have an uplifting effect . We read magazine articles on how a slum in Indonesia or Brazil got a facelift with just 10 cans of paint . Not merely facelift. In certain cases, the paint changed the fortunes of the slum for better, making  it  photogenic enough to draw tourists ! Advent of Tourists is good news for small businesses ranging from water bottle vendors to trinket sellers to Guides. 

Rows of colourful houses - the colours often clashing, not necessarily harmonious but making for very good pictures - have become tourist attractions , from Burano(Italy) to Nyhavn ( Copenhagen) to Kampung Pelangi ( Semarang, Indonesia) ......

Our Cities too went after Beautification with buckets of paint , but the emphasis was on Artworks . Ok, some employment for art graduates. Street wall art is fairly widespread now, can spot them everyhwhere . 

Visiting Kochi ( Kerala)  right after the Muziris Biennial 2014 had given  us a lot of public wall art to "collect". 

"Guess Who" was there, with those signature portraits , so resembling Banksy's work. 

Here's an assortment :