Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXVII No. 11, September 16-30, 2017
Bharat Matha in Kapali Temple
by Nivedita Louis
The sculpture of Bharat Matha in the Kapali Temple.
Have you taken a close look at some of the sculptures at the Kapali Temple?
Here is one that may surprise you, a beautiful sculpture of Bharat matha.
It is seen in the dhwajarohana mandapam of this temple.
On a Mylapore temple walk with Venkatesh Ramakrishnan, we came across this wonderful sculpture. It is an exact replica of a wall poster printed by Nagpur City Press – the Bharat Matha with a crown on her flowing hair, clad in a saree, resting her left hand on a seated, decorated elephant, her right hand holding a trishul, tied to which is the tricolour flag.
The mandapam was a later addition to the temple, built in 1939, by Kaatupalli Paiyur K.N. Shanmuga Mudaliar.
That was when India’s freedom struggle was at its peak and the world was at the threshold or probably had entered World War II. The sculptor who did the work proved his love for the motherland, undetected under the watchful eyes of the British, with this sculpture. (Courtesy: Mylapore Times)
