Wednesday 22 October 2008

TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY - III

PADMANABHAN ACHARI AND SIR C.P’S NOSE

Fix anything except broken hearts’- a good caption for an adhesive; broken hearts we can understand, but what about ‘broken nose’? Yes, I am telling about the most famous nose in the history of Travancore, though it doesn’t belong to Travancore by birth; that large dominant nose played an important role in rewriting the history of Travancore – Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer’s nose.

Everyone knows about the turbulent situation our small state faced just before getting independence. On one side we had the eminent Dewan with his American Model government and on the other, the freedom fighters. I am not getting into the history of C.P’s nose damaged by K.C.S. Mani (according to Dr. R. Keshavan who treated C.P, the Dewan’s nose was not injured as everybody believed, he had injuries only on his cheek, neck and fingers), but the nose of a bust of Sir C.P had a similar fate.


K.C.S. Mani's attack on Sir. C.P. - Sketch by the author (2003).
Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer in his later years.
At Thampanoor, there still stands a two-storied building with the name ‘Sachivottama Sir C.P. Shashtiabdapoorthy Memorial Satram’ (opposite to the present transport bus station), built in 1940’s, the time when Sir C.P. was the Dewan of Travancore. Today the building is neglected; we hardly notice the structure hiding its facade behind hoardings and movie posters. But it did have a glorious past. In front of the lodge, there was a small mandapam which housed a bust of the Dewan. In those days, our little capital city was one of the most progressive princely states in India. The roads were neat and less crowded and public buildings were well maintained. So the Memorial was well kept.

The bust was damaged by a group of people who gathered for a party meeting near Thampanoor. The attack was done at night and it is said that the nose of the statue was broken off. The news spread like fire and in no time reached the ears of the Dewan too. Word was sent to find out a master craftsman who could repair the statue. They didn’t have to search for long, their man was just under their ‘nose’; the master craftsman who was employed in Travancore School of Arts as an ivory carver – N. Padmanabhan Achari (1881-1960)of the famous Pinarammoodu family, Pettah. Both his father and grandfather were master craftsmen who have rendered valuable services for the growth of ivory carving in Travancore. Padmanabhan Achari’s grandfather Kochu Kunju Achari was the ‘moothachari’ (head craftsman) who made the golden chariot for Swathi Tirunal in 1842. Later, he and his son Neelakandan Achari made the ivory throne for the Great London Exhibition of 1851. Kochu Kunju Achari was given the title ‘Ananthapadmanabhan Achari’ by Uthram Tirunal Marthanda Varma. Padmanabhan Achari himself was a master ivory carver specialized in making sculptures.

N. Padmanabhan Achari - From the private collection of Sathya Moorthy.
Padmanabhan Achari who was in his 60s at that time was leading a peaceful retired life in his house at Pettah. As I have said before, the period was a turbulent one with the national freedom movement gaining momentum. Clashes between freedom fighters and Travancore police commanded by the Dewan were common in all parts; Pettah was one among the most affected areas. Some of the infamous decisions of the Dewan such as the declaration for an ‘Independent Travancore’ and the installation of the ‘American Model’ government for Travancore led to widespread discontent among the people. In Pettah police charged at a gathering conducted by Congress party. Three people were killed in the firing.

When police came in search of Padmanabhan Achari, the family members panicked. They thought that the police came to question about the gruesome incidents that took place at Pettah. The present living family members still remember the horror that engulfed the house then. But in actuality, the police came to talk about repairing the bust as soon as possible. Padmanabhan had only one demand; as it was not possible to take the bust to his house, he wanted them to cover up the area around it; so that nobody can see him working. Soon, a temporary enclosure was made of thatched coconut leaves around the bust, with complete police protection. Padmanabhan Achari completed the work in a few days. He moulded the missing parts using Plaster of Paris.

Years passed by and now the building stands as the ghost of that glorious era, a silent witness to the happenings of that time. The mandapam was demolished and we don’t have any idea about the current whereabouts of the bust and nobody knows about the craftsman who repaired it.

Well, I think Padmanabhan Achari wanted it like that. Owing to the violent scenario which persisted at that time, particularly in Pettah, it was better to remain anonymous.

Sharat Sunder Rajeev.
16-10-2008.

9 comments:

Murali RamaVarma said...

Sunder, the write-up about the master craftsman is excellent. We need to bring out the life sketches of these talented men of the past which should be inspirational and educational to youngsters.

Your craft for writing and sketching is most appreciative.

The sketch of the attack on CP is quite good. By the way , where did the attack take place;inside the music hall or ouside?

Sharat Sunder Rajeev said...

actually the incident took place outside music college,now there is a traffic island and a large stone to mark the place.the sketch was made many years back, there are some mistakes,i think mani was wearing a khaki shorts at that time.on left side of the pic you can see a man wearing eye-glass,that's my great-grand father artist k. ramakrishnan asari.he was a witness.
i am happy to see your comment,i am collecting information about these 'unknown' great craftsmen.

Ajith said...

Nice article!

Sharat Sunder Rajeev said...

thank u ajith, for ur comment

jeena george said...

accidentally came across your write-up. it is nice to know that there are people who are really interested in documenting such unknown people and incidents. this is a vital piece of history. and you humour sense and style of writing is also excellent. good work. keep it up and all the best.

Daies said...

Nice information regarding Travancore History.We will post this information in Travancore Malayalee Council wbsite. www.tmcgulf.com

by Daies Idiculla

Unknown said...

I feel that Sir CP was a great visionary. His concept of American Model has not explained. Possibly he tried to bring in an English system of administration based on the egalitarian communication codes inside English. However, it would have been impossible to do that in a feudal language Malayalam ambiance.

Beyond that I do not find any mention that Travancore Kingdom lost its independence in 1947 and was forced to join the Indian Union. It is funny that the people of Travancore celebrate August 15 as the Independence day, when actually it should have been mentioned as the date on which the nation lost its independence!

Devil said...

I was searching for an entire history of that time period but accidentally stumbled upon this site but I couldn't find any such articles if you could create one then I will be extremely thankful exspecially the story behind sir CP

Ramachandran said...

Sharath,
Mani was wearing a mundu with a Khakhi knicker inside.