LOST WORLD .....

I embarked on a journey to my visit my family deity at a village near the temple town of kumbakonam in south Tamilnadu.I thought I would write fragmented pieces of incidents from this trip may never have any concrete inter-connection to each other..But then I would like to concentrate on the specific smaller incidents of the journey with my parents!!..

Kumbakonam is also known as the banaras of the south,with temples every 1Km.Literally it is a feast for a person with an artistic incline and a paradise for the spiritual fanatic time we decided to explore the town as we had an expert guide amidst us - My father temples showcased amazing artistic and engineering talent of our ancestors brought to the forefront the engineering capabilities of our ancestors temple has a history worth being covered by the plethora of news channels have stood the test of time and force.They have stood floods,storms and even earthquakes..!Infact many of us will be surprised to now that these temples here are more than 2000 years old.

So naturally the following intriguing questions followed:

Why are we still not bothered about such places??

How many indian kids know about such historic locations???

Arent theses monuments a reflection of a glorious past and an inpiration for the future??

Can any present architect even predict a theory on how our ancestors bulit these wonder stuctureswithout steel,cement,simulation,modeling tools,cranes or lifts etc..???

These were a few questions that popped up in my mind from time to time..!!

Then I also made a small analysis...

Our ancestors have used temple as the centre of their social culture and built our cities around it.The artistic work in the temple illustrated about various aspects of our life ....From hedonistic pleasures to spiritual...!!This in itself is an amazing example of a vibrant and a tolerant society.The temple festivals gave a spring board for musicians to sing and the artisitcs to showcase their talents.The temple festivals gave an opportunity for people to socialise through dancing, singing..(we have a system even now in the form of parties and get-togethers)

But somewhere down the line we have got so short sighted and cease to appreciate our traditions or culture.We ardently follow traditions that are hardly 150 years old and have their roots in other countries.But what importance do we assert to our long-standing traditions.Years and years of wisdom have already been lost in transmission losses from one genration to another..If there is no transmission at all then ..??This is the situation now..!!With the flux of population to the cities.children are disconnected from these temple towns and tradition.

I am not averse to people exploring the world..But then first let us explore our glorious past.After all this region(India as a whole) has been called the cradle of human civilisation for more than 2000 years...!