Documenting Kancheepuram’s rich architecture 

There was enormous behind-the-scene work that went into the shoot. For instance, the team had to clean up the ceiling of Jain temples that had numerous paintings.

CHENNAI : Kancheepuram — A heritage and documentation project is basically preservation of history. Even today if I want a 100-year-old photograph of a Srirangam or Tirupati I should refer to a British library. My interest in documentation was kindled when I received 1,500 glass negatives from photographer and journalist Harry Miller. About 150 photographs were of Madras between 1880 and 1920. I’ve had the opportunity to document Chennai twice —  1995 and 2005. After retirement, I took up the project of documenting Kancheepuram that has over 1,000 temples to its rich architecture,” said Desikan Krishnan, a veteran photographer, at a talk held as part of Madras Week at Press Institute of India recently. In a span of about 154 days, he covered around 395 temples.

During every trip he would take an intern with him. So far he has covered 42 trips completing a distance of 13,000 km from Chennai to Kancheepuram. His works treasure some of the ancient temples of Kancheepuram, a few weaving and artisan clusters, and the rural livelihood. He had a dedicated team and they would spend about 30 to 40 hours, spread over five to ten days, in a temple. “Getting access into the temple was the most difficult part.

We had to refer a set of books to get an idea of the history. I’d have easily clicked 4,000 to 5,000 pictures of the popular Ekambareswarar temple. Given a chance, I would click few more thousands. There was so much to the detailing. Every pillar had inscriptions, carving, and intricacies. Most of the temples also had Mahabharata stories told through sculptures and paintings,” he shared.

There was enormous behind-the-scene work that went into the shoot. The photographers had to lie on their back to capture the pictures. Some pictures were clicked from gopurams for a complete aerial view. “Especially in the month of Margazhi, we tried capturing the beauty of the temple and its facade during the early morning mist. This gave us a different perspective,” he added.

The list of temples covered included Kailasanathar, Kachabeswarar, Raja Raja Chola temple, Venkatesa Perumal temple and more. The document also captures the lives of rural households, and festivals in the locality. “Most of the temples are old (800-1,000 years old) and situated outside the district. But, the locals maintain it well. We had to be careful about the lighting and spacing when it came to shoot mode. We hope to do more documentation on temples in the future,” he concluded.

Behind the scenes
There was enormous behind-the-scene work that went into the shoot. For instance, the team had to clean up the ceiling of Jain temples that had numerous paintings. The collection also featured a mix of daily activities inside and outside the temple, and incomplete temples on hilly terrains. 

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