DR S. SRIKANTA SASTRI FELICITATION VOLUME

                                         Article - I

        Some Problems in the Study of Art and Architecture

                                by T. V. Mahalingam

The study of the art and architecture of any country is fascinating and absorbing and especially so of India where the extant examples show much richness and variety. Though one finds in architecture a repetition of structural principles and in sculpture an almost faithful adherence to canonical injunctions, it is clearly seen that the architect and the artist rise above these limitations to express their creative urge and give scope to their capacity for inventiveness. While ‘architecture’ concerns itself with the raising of structure, ‘art’ is wider in its import and includes in its field almost all forms of creative enterprise, though in our present consideration it is restricted to graphic and plastic arts only. It is difficult to disassociate art and architecture from each other. The unity of sculptural and architectural expression is one of the sublime achievements of ancient India. Take for instance the facades of the Pallava rock-cut caves where friezes of miniature replicas of shrines are essentially sculptural in character bringing out elegantly the outlines and profiles of the excavation. In fact a rock-cut cave or a monolith is sculpt and not constructed and hence it is both a sculptural and architectural expression. It is generally taken that architecture in Tamilnadu started with the early caves of the Pallavas which, after passing through successive stages of development in detail and dimension during the Chola and Pandya periods, culminated in the structures of the Vijayanagar and Nayak periods in South Indian history. Our knowledge of the different stages in the evolution of architecture in the Tamil country is still very slender. A scientific and comprehensive study of this development will be possible only after a detailed survey of all the extant monuments, or at least of the more representative among them in each period and sub-period in the different parts of the area is completed by competent scholars.