Maniam 100 (1924-2024): Sarithiram Padaittha Sitthirangal by Maniam Selvan (Supra. Baalan, Writing Support), Poompuhar Pathippakam, Prakasam Salai, Chennai 600 108 2023, 192 pages, Rs. 960/-.
Sarithiram Padaittha Sitthirangal (hereafter, Maniam 100) was launched in Chennai on 22 October 2023, synchronising with the birth-centenary of Maniam (Thandarai Umapathy Subramaniam), a highly regarded fine artist of Madras.
The soft, velvety cover offered a rich feel. Theazure hue on the front cover was pleasant. The back cover was slightly different – Aegean blue – but delicate and hard to distinguish from the azure-blue front cover (Fig. 1). The large, thinly embossed imprint of Maniam’s characteristic signature sparkles as the centroid on the front cover. A lotus flower in a curvy Reuleaux occurs in lieu of the tittle on the second ‘Ma’ in Maniam, thanks to the creativity of Subramaniam Loganathan (Maniam’s son, Maniam Selven, Ma. Se.) – the author. This spurred me to look for Maniam’s signature pattern over time – he signed using English letters during his early-career days, and roundish-Tamil letters in later 1940s with the start of the Ponniyin Selvan serial by Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy (a.k.a. Kalki Krishnamurthy, Raa. Ki.) in Kalki magazine, he signed using angular and right-slanted letters in 1950. At this time, inimitably, he connected the diacritical hook of ‘nee’ with the stem of ‘yaa’. The evolution of Maniam’s signature over time is available in page 57. His shift to using angular, italic-like letters has several meanings – font psychologists consider angular letters (when used in free hand) represent novelty, impact, and seriousness of purpose, and the use of right-slanted letters represents emphasis and distinction. Maniam’s forthright, angular signature effusively embodies clarity overflowing with artistry.
Fig. 1. Front and back cover spread of Manian 100.
The front cover is superbly embellished with one of Maniam’s popular artworks – the imposing c. 2.5 m tall Harihara panel of Badami – slightly reworked and presented as a Chiaroscuro by Ma. Se. The Harihara panel extending from the front cover to the back cover across the spine is in polychrome. The back cover includes a medley of Maniam’s diverse art works, presented in blue and sepia drawn from Ra. Ki.’s Sivakaamiyin Sabadam. The book cover is a feast to eyes and far-reaching to mind. The cover leaves an impressive foretaste of the contents and genre.
A sharp and elegant charcoal-pencil portrait of Maniam by Ma. Se. occurs at the start of the book, followed by bountifully illustrated tributes to Maniam by Krishnamurthy Rajendran (distinguished author and former editor of Kalki), Sivakumar (film artiste), and Thiruppur Krishnan (renowned writer and editor of Amudhasurabhi). Rajendran passionately recalls many an interaction between Ra. Ki. – his father – and Maniam. Zealously, Rajendran speaks of Maniam’s works that decorated Ra. Ki.’s magnum opera Sivakaamiyin Sabadam when started as a serial in Kalki. He speaks of how his sister Anandi Ramachandran (née Krishnamurthy), as a young girl, used to pose for Maniam to develop India-ink line-sketches illustrating Sivakaami’s various dance karana-s. Using pleasing prose, Rajendran takes us on an enchanting journey about Maniam as a Kalki-artist and his association with Ra. Ki. Film-artiste Sivakumar’s tribute captioned Chiranjivi (implying here ‘timelessness’) is brief but packed with warm thoughts of Maniam and his artistry. Following these, Supra Baalan clarifies his role in this book.
Eighteen chapters of fewer words but more with delightful illustrations fill pages 34-184. For reasons of brevity, I will be speaking of only a few chapters here.
Pages 35-44 – Kalkiyoodu Gurukulavaasam – capture Maniam’s formative days. Further to speaking of Maniam’s childhood in Mylapore, Ma. Se. highlights how Maniam came under the tutelage of Ra. Ki. when Maniam was pursuing the diploma at the Madras School of Art, superintended by the renowned sculptor-artist Debi-Prasad Roy-Choudhury (1899-1975). Maniam considered Roy-Choudhury and Ra. Ki. as key influencers in his life. Ra. Ki. organised a trip to experience the Ajanta and Ellora sculptures in 1944. From Ra. Ki.’s article Ajanta Adishyanghal (Kalki Deepavali Malar, 1944), partly reproduced in Maniam 100, we understand that how Maniam was hyperexcited visiting these relics and how he brought those artifacts to life on paper and canvas. A lovely reproduction of the breadth-taking Tripurantaka (Rajarajeshwaram, Thanjavur, 10th century) occurs as a double-page spread (pages 42-43), done jointly by Maniam and his Kalki-colleague Chandra.
In pages 45-49, Ma. Se. speaks of Maniam acquiring a Baby Rolleiflex in 1948 (Fig. 2). In its time, the Rollei was a state-of-the art photographic device equipped with a twin-lens reflex capability. Ma. Se. explains that Maniam invested in a Rollei that was well beyond his means only to achieve the best outcomes in his artworks because he relied on the photographs as points of reference. Two B&W photographs made by Maniam, as samples, are available in page 49, which speak well of Maniam’s photographic skill and the camera he owned proudly. The chapter Karpanaiyayum Meeriya Chittiranghal eloquently declares Maniam’s involvement in Ra. Ki.’s Ponniyin Selvan that started appearing in Kalki, October 29, 1950 (Fig. 3, below). Snapshots of a published note by Ra. Ki. on his travel to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) along with Maniam and a few others occur in pages 58-59, offering us a fascinating read with regard to the style of Tamil prose used in Madras in the late 1940s and the kinds of details they saw in Sri Lanka.
Fig. 2. Maniam taking a photograph with his Baby Rolleiflex at Subramanya shrine, Brihadeswarar Temple, Thanjavur.
Fig. 3. Maniam’s characters from Ponniyin Selvan.
The chapter Paarthibhan Kanavum Appavin Kalaipaniyum (pages 67-82) includes amazing details referring to Maniam as the Art Director of the cinema Parthibhan Kanavu (1960). This chapter includes many less-seen photographs of various film artistes, and illustrations of dress designs (page 75) and hair-do-s (page 74), plans of sets and scenes, crafted historical replicas used in film shooting, further to several examples of Maniam’s pre-production artworks. Page 72 contains a B&W photograph of the outdoor set of a 7th-century Kanchipuram street, imaginatively recreated by Maniam, which captivatingly transports us to that time.
Fig. 4. (left) Maniam working in front of Mahavishnu in Lalitasana on Adishesha. (On right) enchantingly embellished artwork by Maniam published in an issue of Kalki.
The Chapter Badami Chittiranghal (pages 107-115) includes an elegant artwork of Mahavishnu in Lalitasana on Adishesha in p. 109 (Fig. 4). This is enchantingly embellished by Maniam with his artistic freedom. Here, Ma. Se. explains Maniam’s systematic approach to creating artworks: that Maniam first made a photograph of the original sculpture using his Rollei ensuring that he got every micro detail of the original sculpture, including the accompanying ornamentations such that the pendant oil lamps and ornate plates used in ritualistic worship; second he meticulously noted other minute points as line markings in his sketch-book; third he made a second photograph by standing a friend in front of the sculpture to ascertain scale and proportion. Maniam then re-created that sculpture on canvas, incorporating details from his memory of the sculpture further to using the photographs he made, availing artistic freedom to imagine and embellish, yet exercising the fullest care in not marring any detail of the original. Ma. Se.’s concluding words here are powerful (p. 115):
‘Without using words, Maniam created his artworks and improvised them as his conscience directed and dictated.’
Ma. Se.’s above comment is edifying, because we are aware that moral conscience dictates us – ordinary mortals – to align our actions with ethical principles, whereas a gifted artist’s conscience instructs him/her to align his/her creative work with aesthetic principles and the deemed improvization.
The chapter on pages 161-175 includes brief recollections of Maniam by a few of his contemporaries, disciples, and later-time admirers. This adds shine to Maniam 100.
The closing chapter on pages 184-191 is a touching, personalised narrative by Ma. Se. In simple, but using a dignified Tamil prose, Ma. Se. describes how he inherited the artistic talent from his father and how he sustains that learning with excitement and gusto even today. Towards the end he says (page 191):
‘I passionately believe that this book (Maniam 100) will lift the minds of both admirers of Maniam and those with an artistic mind to a different plane. This book will also be a spark triggering every person interested in fine arts. I am also confident that this book will inspire those interested to pursue their specific chosen pathways. That will be the victory of this book’.
I could not agree more.
Maniam 100 impressed me by its overall grandeur, steeped in grace, poise, and style. The greatest gift any reader can get is the generous supply of scintillating artworks by Maniam, aesthetically incorporated by Ma. Se. I enjoyed reading every word; and, undeniably, I delighted in feasting on every illustration. The publisher Poompuhar Pathippakam deserves our kudos for printing this volume handsomely. Every Tamil-speaking household should possess a copy of Maniam 100. Well done, Ma. Se. An impressive and ever-lasting contribution to Madras’s history, culture, and heritage.