Date:29/12/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/12/29/stories/2006122904200200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Bronze Gallery in Museum keeps drawing crowds

J. Malarvizhi

Popular, especially with foreign tourists

BRONZE BEAUTY: The Bronze Gallery at Government Museum in Chennai. — Photo: S. Thanthoni.

CHENNAI : The Bronze Gallery, restored for the 151st anniversary celebrations of the Government Museum, Chennai, less than three years ago, continues to be a crowd-puller.

The fibre optic lighting and specially designed showcases displaying unique Saivite, Vaishnavite, Jain and Buddhist bronzes from the early years of the first millennium have made the gallery popular, especially with foreign tourists.

The pieces on display were mostly finds under the Treasure Trove Act. They were buried in secret locations by their custodians during times of war or other threatening situations and forgotten. Several are processional deities and have large bases that could be carried on poles. Many turned up when farmers were tilling their fields in the last century. Now, restored and seeming to float in pools of light, the flawless lines and an attention to detail in each piece leave visitors in awe.

The ground floor holds the best Saivite bronzes. Among the first pieces the visitor notices is the `Ardhanareeswarar', a unique bronze, dating back to the 11th century A.D., capturing Siva's union with Parvati in one body. The half-male-half-female figure has been crafted with a great attention to detail, with the gender being differentiated from toe nail to crown of the figurine.

Like all other pieces here, it has been made using the lost wax method, where only one bronze can be cast from a clay mould.

The method survives in Swamimalai near Kumbakonam in Thanjavur district.