Hastings author brings Indian architecture to life

The cedar and stone abodes of India's Himachal Pradesh province may be a long way from Hastings, but one local resident is being praised for her work to bring awareness to the buildings.

Skye Morrison, owner of The Doors Guest House in Hastings, was recently awarded the Critics Choice Award for Best Written Work on Architecture from the Foundation For Architectural and Environmental Awareness for her book Matra: Ways of Measuring Vernacular Built Forms of Himachal Pradesh. Co-written with Professor Jay Thakkar from the School of Interior Design at CEPT University in Ahmedabad, India, the project was something of a surprise for the folklore expert.

"I ended up writing this book, from scratch, in just four months," Dr. Morrison explained. "It was an interesting process for me because I wanted to know that I could write a book, but would have never in a million years thought this would be the book I would write. But when the opportunity presented itself I just thought, why not?"

Full report here Northumberland news

Voyage of discovery

There you see Raja Raja I enter the Thanjavur Big Temple, through the entrance known as Anukkan vayil, and his bodyguards ask people to make way for him. The King admires the Kerala style art of the entrance. He then turns his gaze towards the Keralantakan Vaayil, which is a reminder of his victory over the Chera king. This gopuram is a metaphor in stone for one of the five elements, namely fire.

Raja Raja's glance then briefly rests on the Raja Rajan Vaayil, with its sculptural representations of another element - water. He then walks towards the sanctum sanctorum, where he worships the Linga that arises from the earth. The inside of the vimanam is hollow all the way up to the kalasam, representing yet another element - space.

The King then enters the Saantaaram, the passage around the sanctum sanctorum, and worships the deities here, while a pleasant breeze caresses his face. The fifth element - air - is represented here. But the king's worship is not over, yet. He now genuflects before devotees who have worshipped at the temple!

These are the sequential images that one is able to visualise, when one reads Dr. Kudavayil Balasubramanian's book on the Big Temple, titled Rajarajechcharam. The book is the result of his 40-year obsession with the Big Temple. The book records details about the architecture, sculptures, art, inscriptions, history of and philosophy behind the temple.

Full report here Hindu