Registered with the Reg. No. TN/CH(C)/374/12-14 Registrar of Newspapers Licenced to post without prepayment for India under R.N.I. 53640/91 Licence No. TN/PMG(CCR)/WPP-506/12-14 Publication: 15th & 28th of every month Rs. 5 per copy (Annual Subscription: Rs. 100/-) WE CARE FOR MADRAS THAT IS CHENNAI INSIDE • Short ‘N’ Snappy • From a Governor’s notebook • The Brother Generals of Madras • Another one bites the dust stop • An aristocrat among cricketers Vol. XXIII No. 8 MUSINGS August 1-15, 2013 Are courts the last refuge for heritage? public interest petition ity would be in the same archi- their various other properties, a Ahas been filed in the High tectural style. In the old Madras dialogue with them may have Court of Madras last week, Club buildings case that in- produced better results. That seeking an order to prevent volved INTACH and the own- now is in the realm of idle demolition of the historic ers, namely Express Estates, the speculation for the matter is sub Royapuram railway station. judgement went in favour of the judice. While the end result With this, the oldest surviving owners and permitted demoli- may go either way we cannot rail terminus of India has joined tion on the grounds of there be- help repeating that a Heritage a long line of heritage structures ing no law that they were trans- Act legislated by the State will that have sought legal protec- gressing. In the Bharat Insur- go a long way in avoiding such tion from the wreckers’ ham- ance and Gokhale Hall cases litigation. And such an Act is mer. As to whether the build- while the court ordered that taking a long time in coming. ing will survive or not is there- there should be no demolition, Meanwhile, can the HCC not “He is going to be my son that I never had... and I will call him fore now dependent on the there was no directive to restore press for at least notifying the Kumara Dorai Raja!” verdict, which will not be an and so both structures have re- 400-odd structures already easy one to deliver. mained mere shells, facing an identified by the Court? There is really no law in the uncertain fate. State under which demolition Litigations involving public of structures such as the Roya- buildings, especially those that puram station can be prevent- are to be demolished to make Who guards our temple icons? ed, especially when the owners, way for modern amenities, are in this case the Railways them- perceived to be anti-people. he woefully inadequate This particular theft has damage over centuries are re- selves, are keen on razing it to They are often criticised as wast- protection that exists for come to light. There may be placed with new ones on the the ground. The earlier judge- ing public time and money. T our sculptures and icons was several that may never surface. plea that chipped idols cannot ment by Justice Prabha Sri- While not going into that as- once again exposed in the last This is because we have no con- be worshipped. Even the switch devan in the Bharat Insurance pect, it cannot be denied that couple of weeks. A national tinuous system of cataloguing at Vriddhachalam may have daily revealed that an icon from what is present at our various happened that way. The old G by the Vriddhachalam temple near temples and monitoring their icon may have been replaced The Editor Neyveli had been secreted away well-being. The Hindu Reli- with a new and intact one, and a few years ago and had made gious and Charitable Endow- then the old one may have sim- its way to a museum in Austra- ments (HR&CE) Board, which ply been sold. Then there is the Building case had listed 400-odd this is also a point of view and it lia. What is worse, the theft is responsible for maintaining craze for sand-blasting and past- buildings of which Royapuram has influenced judgements in could have gone undetected as our shrines, is run as a ministry ing of glazed tiles which destroy station is also one. It had asked the past. a fairly faithful replica had been and is peopled with bureau- the inscriptions. And lastly we the Heritage Conservation Lastly, directly jumping into put in place of the original and crats. It may have contracts now have this sudden epidemic Committee (HCC) formed by litigation without discussion was being worshipped. Is this with temple craftsmen and of building gopurams where the Government to study each and debate, particularly with the way we safeguard our heri- sthapathis but it does not have none existed previously. In the of these buildings in detail and the owners with a view to get- tage? process, as in the case of the notify them as heritage struc- ting them to see alternative Virupakshiswarar Temple in tures. That has not been done routes to development, is a self- The switch of the carvings – Mylapore, stones bearing in- so far. In the absence of notifi- defeating exercise. It merely one priceless and several G by A Staff Reporter scriptions from the time of the cation through a Government hardens attitudes. And irre- centuries old and the other a Cholas have vanished. Gazette, there is really no pro- spective of whether the judge- near worthless replacement – archaeologists and historians. tection for these structures ment is in favour or against has caused great concern. And that those whom it nomi- Temples that are under the other than the claim that they demolition, it proves detrimen- It would have never been ex- nates for rectification and reno- control of the Archaeological have been protected under the tal to the structure in the long posed had it not been for a vation of shrines have no Survey of India have fared bet- Bharat Insurance judgement. term. If it is for demolition, it sharp-eyed blogger who found knowledge of conservation and ter. These are documented and Thus far, there have been makes sure that the owners that the icon in worship was not preservation was made clear in preserved well but of late there very few instances where court completely and immediately identical to what had been the recent instance of repair is a growing body of opinion judgements have brought about raze the structure to the ground photographed in the 1940s. work at the Vishnu temple in among the religiously minded protection and, more impor- for fear of further time spent in For one, the idol had grown an Pulicat. Centuries-old laterite people that handing over tantly, restoration. The sole appeals. If it is for preservation, arm that was earlier missing. slabs were removed and re- temples to the ASI causes a set- shining example is the Director- the owners simply let the build- And then the original with bro- placed with concrete. back to ritual practices. Noth- ate General of Police buildings ing be sans maintenance and let ken limb surfaced in a ing could be further from the on the Marina where the police it fall into ruin over time. In the museum’s collection, thereby The practice of renovating truth but this attitude has en- has not only protected and re- present instance of Royapuram, making it clear that there had and re-consecrating our shrines sured that the ASI taking over stored but has also been true to particularly when the owners been an ingenious plot to rob every few years has only added any temple is fraught with long- its commitment that extensions have displayed sympathy to the the temple of some of its to the risk our sculptures face. and new buildings in the vicin- cause of heritage in respect of sculptural wealth. Ancient ones that have suffered (Continued on page 3) CMYK 2 MADRAS MUSINGS August 1-15, 2013 The Brother Generals of Madras Physician, heal thyself he Man from Madras mation as to what MMM’s pro- lier on this topic and so this he legacy left by the British T Musings, as you are aware, fession was, where he lived, time he will contain himself to Tin Chennai continues to is not getting any younger. what car he used and which writing on the toilets alone. linger in the form of institu- And as he advances in years, clubs he was a member of. By Before you hurriedly move on, tions, grand buildings, infra- parts that he never knew the third session, by which let MMM assure you that what structural schemes and plans existed have suddenly begun to time the pain was in its third follows is not a graphic de- that have been the foundations make themselves manifest by degree, MMM’s financial sta- scription of what MMM saw. niggling aches and pains. tus was an open book at least Writing on that can fill several for various modernisation ini- There are some others that as far as the doctor’s clinic was columns but MMM will desist. tiatives that are being envisaged begin moving whenever MMM concerned. for the city’s growth and devel- Firstly, the toilets are im- stops to rest but of those he On the fourth session, mense. They are meant more opment. There are also the vari- will not dwell on, for it is the MMM had barely hobbled in for communal easements and ous street names that connect niggling achers and painers when he was asked as to not solitary communion with us to our colonial past.