Musings from Antique Origins

The Queens' Guard Room of Windsor castle showing the ivory state chair gifted to Queen Victoria by Uthram Tirunal Marthanda Varma , the Maharajah of Travancore on the occasion of the Great Exhibition, London 1851. O ne of the thrills of writing in a blog is felt when a mail is received from quite an unexpected quarter, appreciating the post and telling of a connection to some personnel mentioned in the blog. I was pleasantly surprised and was happy to receive a mail from Mr. Nick Balmer, the 14th descendant of Sir William Hawkins and his wife about whom I had written under the title, The first Englishwoman in India . Mr.Balmer is a wonderfully well informed gentleman and does some great blogging for those interested about Kerala and its British raj days. Please visit http://malabardays.blogspot.com/ for some great reading. I must be thankful to Maddy, for referring me to Nick. By the way, Maddy belongs to the unique genre of academic intelligentsia capable of lively debates and m

Base piece of the flag mast W hile on a flying visit to Palakkad, South India last week, I met Ratna Sabhapathy and his sons at their modest shop in the heritage village of Kalpathy. He is a Sthapathy (one specialized in the design and construction of Hindu temples and the related ornamental works) par excellence with a great tradition of serving various temples in Kerala. The metal works of idols, kotimarams , (flag masts) roofing and the ornamental designs of the sanctum are done by them with exquisite mastery in the most traditional way. I could find at the shop the base piece of a flag mast from the renowned Thiruvalathur temple of Palakkad, famous for its grand architectural beauty and for its sculptural designs. This metal piece was given to the Sthapathy for cleaning and polishing works by the temple authorities. What attracted me to this piece were the presence of the beautiful ancient bronze idols of Aṣṭa-Dikpālakas , the eight guardians who rule the eight cardinal direct

King Edward VII W hich is the place that a British monarch or the Prince of Wales had come closer to the shores of Travancore? It is interesting to learn that Queen Victoria, despite her long reign from 1837 to 1901 and having celebrated the golden and diamond jubilees -50th and 60th anniversaries of accession- did not visit India, the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. Her son, The Prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII, paid a visit to India during 1875-76 as a mark of honor to the native princes who had aided the English in their efforts to govern the land. This visit was followed by Queen Victoria's assumption of the title of the Empress of India. Though he had visited Madras and some adjoining areas during his visit, he could not visit Travancore probably because there was widespread cholera in the country during that time. Otherwise, an Anamalai excursion in Travancore had been thought of as a hunting expedition for the prince. Incidentally, Edward’s son George V