Shilappadikram (The Ankle Bracelet) by Prince Ilango Adigal; Alain Danilou

Review by: Elizabeth S. Rosen

Artibus Asiae, Vol. 37, No. 1/2 (1975), pp. 148-150
Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3250226 .
Accessed: 24/07/2014 05:33
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Artibus Asiae.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 103.225.100.51 on Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:33:06 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

his calligraphy.However, by the time S6tatsupainted

the Deer Scroll and the Lotus Scroll, he had already
taken up the study of Kamakura and Muromachi
period illustrated scrolls and was playing with problems of color and space manipulation. K6etsu, on
the other hand, was still enamoredof the aesthetic of
continuous motifs and flowing calligraphy; consequently he added a few motifs to fill in S6tatsu'scarefully considered voids. After the Lotus Scroll, the
collaboration between Sotatsu and Koetsu ceased.
Sotatsu went on to gain fame as a painter of bold,
decorative screens depicting classicalmotifs in bright
colors on gold grounds, and K6etsu retiredto Takagamine, a plot of land northeastof Kyoto, given him
by the Tokugawa Shogun Ieyasu where he lived for
the rest of his life making tea bowls and copying
classical Japanese and Chinese texts on papers decorated by S6setsu, Sotatsu's successor in business,
and his pupils. Thus it is clear that the two men did
not sharea single aesthetic sense, and there is no hard
evidence to suggest that the production of these
opulent gold and silver scrolls was intended as a conscious act of protest against the political policies of
the shogunate.
Mizuo's treatment of Sotatsu too merits serious criticism. Ignoring the scope and quality of Sotatsu's
total production, the authorconcentrateson an explorationof why S6tatsudid not do genre paintingwhich
was unquestionablya lucrativeform of artisticexpression in the early seventeenth century. Although few
documentaryreferencesconcerning S6tatsu have survived - for example his birth and death dates are not
known - there is enough information to reconstruct
a fairly accurateidea of his artistic development. The
picture which emerges from the documents and the
extant works is that of a man who developed over a
twenty year period from a commercial painter to a
recognized artist executing commissions for the shogunate and the nobility. The process of his maturation
as an artistis fascinatingto study because of the tight
logic of his move from one stage to another and the
increasing skill and inventiveness he displayed in
reworking themes from mediocre Muromachicopies
of famous narrativescrolls into fans and large scale
decorative paintings. Yet only the barest hint of this
materialappearsin Mizuo's text.
Similar criticism must be leveled at his treatment of
Korin and Kenzan. Korin's Iris Screens in the Nezu
Museum and his Red and White Plum Trees in the
Atami Museum are mentioned on severaloccasions as

though they were in everyway comparableworks with

no distinction made between the light, decorative
character of the former, thought to be a work of
Korin's early period, I697-I703, and the tension of
the latter, dated by Yamaneto his late period, 1711 to
1716. In Mizuo's discussion of Kenzan the question
of the authenticity of the Sano find of ceramics is
raised.This group of works came to light in 96I and
for a while caused considerablecontroversy in Japanese art circles. The circumstancesof the find are well
presented in Bernard Leach's book Kenzan.Leach at
the time felt the works to be authentic, and Mizuo,
who served as his assistant, reading and interpreting
documents for him, seconded his opinion. However,
it must be rememberedthat Mizuo's originalJapanese
text on which the presentEnglish edition is based was
published in i965. Since then chemicalanalysesof the
glazes on some of the Sano pieces suggest that they
may be modernforgeries. Yet this section of the book
was translatedand publishedwithout revision or even
a footnote regarding the studies made between I965
and the present and the author's opinion of them.
Considering the critical need for English language
materialsfelt by those of us who teach Japanese art
history to a non-Japanese-readingaudience, one cannot help but be profoundly disappointed by Edo
Painting:SotatsuandKorin.The plates are beautifully
reproduced.The translationby John M. Shields,while
not without errors - Namban, the Southern Barbarians or Portuguese, is translatedas "from the south"
and meito,a famous sword, is rendered as a shining
sword - is on the whole quite accurate and even
managesto capturethe flavor of the original text. It is
precisely there, in the original text, that the weakness
of the book lies. No amount of effortspent on careful
translation and editing or money expended on the
reproductionof numerous full color plates can turn a
superficial,popularizingtext into serious but readable
scholarship. Western students and amateursof Japanese art can handle and deserve better art historical
commentarythan what they receive in this book.
New YorkUniversity
PenelopeMason
PrinceIlangoAdigal, Shilappadikaram
(The Ankle Bratranslated
Alain
New Directions
Danielou,
celet),
by
New
ediYork, I9 6, hardbound
PublishingCorporation,
tion, $ I.oo, paperback,$ I.6j; also GeorgeAllen e
Unwin,Ltd., London, I967, 2II pp., 2f s.
Alain Danielou has translatedone of the most vivid
accounts of ancient life in South India, including de-

148

This content downloaded from 103.225.100.51 on Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:33:06 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

scriptionsof bustling village streets,of ancientdances,

drama, and music, of various forms of worship, and
of ancient temples. The novel was written in Tamil,
traditionally by a Jain Prince, Ilango Adigal, who
refers to himself as the brother of the Chera King,
Shenguttuvan,who ruled over the west coast of South
India at the end of the second or the beginning of the
third century A.D.
The story tells of the marriage of the lovely young
maiden Kannaki from Puhir, capital of the ancient
CholaKingdom, to handsomeKovalan from the same
city. Kovalan strays from Kannaki to enjoy the pleasures of the courtesan Madhivi, but he eventually returns to his faithful wife. The two of them journey to
Madurai,capital of the Panidyas,to seek their fortune.
Due to his unfortunate karma,Kovalan is unexpectedly killed soon aftertheir arrival.His wife, overcome
with grief, wills the destructionof Maduraiand eventually becomes worshipped as the Goddess of Faithfulness. After a long journey to the north to acquirea
proper stone, an image of her is installed within a
temple at Vanji, capital of the Chera Kingdom, by
King Shenguttuvan.
The text is mainly an ode to Kannaki, the virtuous
and charitablewoman. We may recall that the major
edifices of the third century site of Nagarjunakonda,
which is just north of the three Tamil kingdoms, were
constructed through charitable efforts of women.
These edifices were mostly Buddhist, although they
were donated by women whose husbands were followers of the Hindu faith and built templesto Shaivite
and Vaishnavite deities. Although one tends to view
Indian religions in sectarianterms, both the remains
of Nagarjunakondaand PrinceIlango Adigal's Shilappadikaramshow us a life in which Hindus, Buddhists,
and Jains were able to live side by side incorporating
each other's beliefs into their own.
In CantoXXVII, we learnthat the parentsof Kovalan
were Buddhists, while those of Kannaki embraced
the Ajivika faith. Their marriage was performed
around the sacred fire according to Aryan rites.
Throughout the text, we find references to Surya,
Chandra,and Indra. The entire CantoV is devoted to
the festival of Indra, which takes place in the ancient
city of Puhir. The festivities begin at the temple of
the white elephant [Airavata, the mount of Indra],
and they continue "in the temples of Unborn Shiva,
of Murugan[Karttikeya]the beauteousgod of Youth,
of nacre white Valiyon, brother of Krishna, of dark
Vishnu called Nediyon, and of Indrahimself, with his

strings of pearls and his victorious parasol". Vedic

ritualsare performedand stories from the Puranasare
told, while temples of the Jains and their charitable
institutions can be seen about the city. There is also a
description of a tall polished monolith, where "men
driven mad by an excess of drugs, paralyzedby poison, bitten by sharp toothed snakes, or possessed by
ghosts found instant relief by walking round it".
Shaivite deities and various aspects and dances of
Shiva are vividly described. Curiously, the dance of
Shiva does not appearin sculpturebefore the middle
of the sixth century A.D. in Cave I at Badami. The
dance of Ardhanarisvarais also described. Images
of Ardhanarisvarawhich are contemporarywith the
reign of King Shenguttuvan are known in Mathura,
but these are not of the dancing type. Other dances
portrayedin the text relate to Murugan (Karttikeya),
and to Durga, as well as to Krishna, Kamadeva, and
Lakshmi. An unexpected deity who appears in the
text is the goddess Kali.
In Canto X, Kannaki and Kovalan are seen walking
arounda temple sacredto Vishnu recliningon Ananta,
and past a five pillared hall where saints taught the
Law of Dharma "that the Buddha revealed when he
preachedunder the tree of wisdom, whose five branches point toward the sky as symbols of knowledge".
Another temple mentioned is that where the kalpaka
or "tree of ages" is worshipped.
Aside from the deities alreadycited, a few other gods,
as well as the names of numerous historic personages,
geographic locations, and literary references can be
found throughout the text. Many of these are difficult
to identify through use of standard iconographic
sources. In this regard, one should consult an earlier
translation of the Shilappadikaramby V.R.Ramachandra Dikshitar (Oxford University Press, I939).
Both Danielou's translationand Dikshitar'sare based
on the Tamil edition by Dr. V. SwaminathaAiyar so
that the two may be easily compared. Dikshitar's
translationbears a long historicalintroduction, is extensively footnoted, and indexed. For example, he
helps to identify the god Arivan, born of himself, as
the Nayanir enshrinedin the Jain temple at Uraiyar.
The frequentlynamed South Indian god Shittan (also
known as Sasta or Hariharaputra)is identified as the
son of Shiva and Mohini (Vishnu disguised as a
beautiful woman). Dikshitar clarifies for us that in
Canto XII, the various aspects of the goddess Aiyai
(Korravai)areLakshmi,Saraswati,Parvati,andDurga.
Most important,though, DikshitaridentifiesKannaki,
I49

This content downloaded from 103.225.100.51 on Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:33:06 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

the Goddess of Faithfulness as Pattini Devi, also

known as the guardianof female chastity. Her cult is
known to have begun in India around the time of
King Shenguttuvanand, as we learn in the appendix
to the story, a temple to her was built on the island
of Ceylon by King Gajabahu, a contemporary of
Shenguttuvan.Her cult still flourishesin South India
and Ceylon and is known to art historians primarily
through a Sinhalese bronze image in the British Museum (Ananda Coomaraswamy,History of Indianand
Indonesian
Art, London, 1927, P1.C, Fig. 300).
Although many aspects of the story of the Shilappadikaramareconsistentwith our understandingof South
India in the second and third centuries A.D., Tamil
scholarshave pointed to certainpassagesof the text as
being faithful quotes from Tamil works of the fourth
and fifth centuries A.D. They have therefore consideredthat these are later interpolationsinto an earlier work. However, a study of the text by Kamil
Zvelebil (MAHFIL, IV, 3-4, Spring and Summer
I968, pp. i-I2) points out that the linguistic style of
the text is consistent throughout. Although an early
date seems to be accuratefor the events of the story,
the writing of the story seems to belong to a period
between the end of the fifth and the beginning of the
seventh centuries.In the text, Ilango Adigal identifies
himself as the brother of King Shenguttuvan.Zvelebil suggests that this may be a bit of poetic fantasy,
practisedperhapsby a later memberof the CheraDynastyrecallingearlierevents. This interpretationmight
help to explain the inclusion of certain iconographic
forms such as Kali, which are generally considered
late comers in the history of Indian iconography.
Instituteof Fine Arts
EliZabethS. Rosen
IslamicArt in the MetropolitanMuseumof Art, edited
New York, I972. 334 PP, 376
by RichardEttinghausen,
figures.

The celebrationsof the MetropolitanMuseumof Art's

centennialoffer an opportunityto assess the art historical researchundertaken at this time in the field of
Islamic art. The welcomed volume edited by Richard
Ettinghausen includes a series of twenty-two articles
by specialists from three continents. Ettinghausen's
introduction Almost onehundredjearsago, recalls the
building up of the Islamic collection in the Museum
to a stage when, in I932, it warranted a full time
curatorin the person of M. S.Dimand. It also underlines the fact that the collection is the most complete
and representativein the world, no mean achievement

if one considers the short span of time during which

most of the materialhas been assembled. A reviewof
of thefiftieth
printedontheoccasion
fift,yyears'development
the
Museum
in i920,
anniversary
of the foundationof
makes no mention of Islamic Art per se.
In his introduction, Ettinghausenexplainsthe interest
in Near Easternart through the attention given to
these regions by nineteenth century painters, well
represented in the Museum collections. A further
explanation could be the evolution in politics and
taste which in turn kindled the imagination of the
painter. The Turkish threat, so well illustrated by
N.St.Clair, in the last article, had receded into the
world of operas by Mozart and Rossini. By the turn
of the eighteenth century, three major events influencedthe general interest away from neoclassicism
engendered originally by the rediscovery of Herculaneum in I 711: first, the French expedition to Egypt
lead by Bonapartein I 798 and the creationofl'Institut
d'Egypte the same year,which producedfrom I 809 to
822 the Descriptiond'Lgyptein twenty volumes; then
the series of wars leading to the independence of
Greece in I829; and finallythe conquest of Algeria by
the French in I830. Within thirty years, the Eastern
Mediterraneanworld and Islam were made even more
tangible than the countries conjuredup by the Lettres
persanesof Montesquieu in I721 and the East Indian
companies of the eighteenth century.
In his lifetime Delacroix (I798-1863) led the way and
influenced less well-known artists in the first half of
the nineteenth century. At one stage of their careers,
each took a journeyto the western part of the Islamic
world. In his JournalDelacroix himself explains the
essence of that world and its people as he experienced
it during his visit to Morocco in I832: Ils sontplus
pres de la naturede millemanieres.Works by Decamps,
Frere and Vernet, presumably Horace, illustrate the
introduction;in some way they caughtthe atmosphere
of unknown ways of life and now help to recreate
a vanishing world in the Museum's collections.
Carryingone step furtherthan his eighteenth century
father on the GrandTour, the enlightened traveller
followed in the path of the men of science, the soldiers
and the painters:he would have brought home colourful clothes, luscious textiles, jewellery, carpets and
metalwork; the collection in the Cannes museum
illustrates well this kind of collecting. Only later in
the nineteenth century, manuscripts, ceramics and
glass attractedthe casual collector, more often than
not assisted by enlightened dealers. Even a Duveen,

150

This content downloaded from 103.225.100.51 on Thu, 24 Jul 2014 05:33:06 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions