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Calambur Sivaramamurti | |
|---|---|
| Occupations | Art historian,art critic,epigraphist,philologist,museologist,archaeologist,numismatist,Sanskrit scholar,literary critic |
| Awards | Padma Shri Padma Bhushan |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | Madras Museum Archaeological Survey of India |
| Notable works | L'Art en Inde Nataraja in Art, Thought, and Literature |
VicitracittaCalambur SivaramamurtiFRAS (1909–1983) was an Indianmuseologist,art historian andepigraphist who is primarily known for his work ascurator in theGovernment Museum, Chennai, previously known as Madras Museum.[1] andSanskrit scholar. His entire life was devoted to the study and exposition of various aspects ofIndian art. Apart from authoring severalmonographs, and guide books on Indian art, he also wrote a seminal work on South Indian epigraphy.
He received thePadma Shri andPadma Bhushan, and was selected as the inaugural and prototypeJawaharlal Nehru Fellow. He was additionally an honoraryFellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland and a Fellow of theLalit Kala Akademi.Shankaracharya Chandrashekarendra Saraswati created himVicitracitta as a personal honour. He was a member of the Calamur family.
After a brilliant academic career, C. Sivaramamurti entered the museum profession ascurator for Archaeology in theMadras Museum. He then joined theArchaeological Survey of India as Superintendent, Archaeological Section, Indian Museum,Calcutta, whence he came over to the National Museum as Keeper and rose as Assistant Director and finally became the Director. Closely associated with theInternational Council of Museums he was on its executive committee and was Chairman of the Indian National Committee of ICOM. He conducted pioneering research and wrote extensively on various subjects during his tenure at the Indian national Museum.
Eminentarchaeologist,zoologist and student of archaeology,Frederic Henry Gravely, along with the Curator Dr. C. Sivaramamurti, ensured in 1938 that theantiquities andindustrial art collected by the Museum was organised effectively, into a collection that exists even today. His monumental bookL'Art en Inde originally published in French earned theDadabhai Naoroji Award. The book is available in German, English, Spanish and Italian.Dr.C.Sivaramamurti was the first fellow of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fundwhen it was instituted, as he was specially chosen by the Trustees of this Fund in an endeavour to set a standard to Indian scholarship. He did a special exhaustive study of Nataraja, the dancing form of Siva, in all aspects as represented in Art, thought and literature. The product of two years of efforts was a monumental work,"Nataraja in Art, Thought and Literature", which he dedicated to his parents.Nataraja in Art, Thought and Literature is acclaimed as his major achievement. First published 1974, it was 412 pages with 22 colour plates and over 250 monochrome illustrations.Nataraja as a theme represents life force itself. The ancients visualised Nataraja as a manifestation of the cosmic energy symbolising the three aspects of creation, preservation and destruction. Chapters include: Natya, The Significance ofSiva's Dance,Karanas Presented in Siva's Tandava, Karanas Presented byVishnu asKrishna, The Vedic Roots of the Concept of The Great Dancer, Nataraja Pictured in literature, Varieties of Nataraja as Described in Silpa Texts, Nataraja Form in Sculpture and Painting, The Nataraja Concept Beyond Indian Frontiers.
The dance of Nataraja has always been synonymously viewed with truth and beauty, force and rhythm, movement and change, realisation and dissolution. Nataraja has been visualised in variety of forms by seers, poets and artists; it has been chiselled, painted, described and sung about in many parts of India and countries. This itself is a testimony to the twin aspects of time and timelessness of Nataraja, both as a personality and as a theme. This book highlights Nataraja as the presiding deity of fine arts whether it be music, dance, painting, sculpture or epigraphy. TheVedic roots of the cosmic dancer and the blend of tradition and modernity is woven as a thread throughout the book describing vividly the exploits of the great dancer on world stage. It also contains interesting information on famous spots of the Nataraja theme and the concept of Nataraja beyond Indian frontiers. Dr. Sivaramamurti has been one of the most acclaimed art historians of this country. He had devoted an entire lifetime toiconography, especially to the Nataraja theme. This book was an outcome of his research as part of theJawaharlal Nehru Fellowship awarded to him in 1968. In her foreword to this book, Mrs. Indira Gandhi called it' a monument to Indian Scholarship.'
Dr. Sivaramamurti has been responsible for popularising epigraphy and numismatics, sculpture and paintings from an approach through literature giving literary parallels. His love for Sanskrit and art, his aesthetic taste and capacity to draw, paint and sculpt helped him to achieve his purpose of such a study of art and literature. He was a frail man with conspicuousvibhuti andtilak on his forehead. Dr. Sivaramamurti belonged to the lineage of the greatAppayya Dikshita. He was the son ofCalambur Sundara Sastri, a civil servant, a great Sanskrit scholar of his times and author of a great kavya in Sanskrit,'Sundara Ramayana'. C.Sundara Sastri was an ardent devotee of Rama and as if by divine will his son, Sivaramamurti was married to Sampurna, the granddaughter of the greatRamayana exponentParuthiyur Krishna Sastri and daughter ofPattabhi Rama Sastri, then District educational Officer ofTanjore. They had two sons Sundararamamurti and Krishnamurti
Dr. Sivaramamurti died in 1983 of a heart attack during a lecture on the specific features of a rare Nataraja icon.
Dr. Sivaramamurti is an Honorary Fellow of theRoyal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland.Sri Sankaracharya the greatChandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal ofKanchi Kamakoti Peetha conferred on him the title ofVichitrachitta- meaning 'the curious minded one'. The great Pallava ruler of the 8th century from south India, Mahendravarman, held this epithet 'vichitrachitta', as described by him in his inscription in the rock-cut temple of the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and easwara (siva) at Kudumiamalai. He was awarded by the President of India, thePadma Sri in 1968 and thePadma Bhushan in 1975. He travelled widely, participated in international seminars, delivered important lectures at the invitation of several universities, which have been published as books. He delivered important endowment lectures at many universities in India. He has over thirty-four books and innumerable papers on sculpture, painting, architecture, iconography, epigraphy, numismatics and literature to his credit. He was honoured with a number of awards during his lifetime, and in view of his contribution to Oriental Research, in 1981, theAsiatic Society of Bombay posthumously awarded a specialCampbell Memorial Gold Medal.
