Temple chariots on display give a glimpse of history, heritage

Temple cars are chariots that are used to carry representations of Hindu gods, usually used on annual festival days called Ther Thiruvizha. These chariots hold an important position throughout our history and culture. The artistic beauty of temple cars is enticing because of its intricately carved designs and motifs. To give Chennaiites a glimpse of the lesser-known monuments, Government Museum in Egmore is holding a one-month long exhibition called Enchanting Temple Car Wood Carvings at the newly built exhibition hall in Contemporary Art Gallery premises. 

“These wooden structures were once part of age-old temple cars. When the temple car gets dilapidated, the temple authorities donate them to museums to preserve it for posterity. Generally, in any museum, you can see various parts of temple cars that are made of metals and stones. But in the Egmore museum, we have a huge collection of temple cars that are exclusively made out of wood. We have collected most of them from temples in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,” says Sundarrajan, curator of the exhibition.  

Usually, during Ther Thiruvizhas, people admire the beautifully decorated idols and they don’t really take notice of the chariots that hold significant importance in history. “Wood is a perishable material that has a maximum life span of 300 years. Since most of these temple cars are exposed to various climates, they disintegrate over a period of time. Once it reaches the museum we extend the life of the wood through certain procedures. Temple cars are made from the wood of iluppai maram (mahua tree). This particular wood has some oil content, and even if there are some cracks it will get settled soon,” he points out.

The exhibition that is on till October 31 has already caught the attention of heritage enthusiasts and archaeologists. “There are many references to temple cars in the Sangam literature and it is our responsibility to share the knowledge with the public, especially the next generation. This exhibition is one of the ways in which we can showcasethe artistic skills of sculptors, who lived among us years ago. Moreover, such expos will give an insight into how we preserve artworks, paintings, sculptors, etc in the museum,” says T Udhayachandran IAS, Director, Department of Museums.

They are also planning to host exhibitions based on various themes periodically. The museum authorities have also developed a bi-lingual mobile application that gives access to the museum online.