C. Sivaramamurti
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Calambur Sivaramamurti, (1909–1983) was an Indian
museologist Museology or museum studies is the study of museums. It explores the history of museums and their role in society, as well as the activities they engage in, including curating, preservation, public programming, and education. Terminology The w ...
,
art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
and
epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
who is primarily known for his work as
curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
in the
Government Museum, Chennai The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India af ...
. and
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
scholar. His entire life has been devoted to the study and exposition of various aspects of
Indian art Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, N ...
. Apart from authoring several
monographs A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...
, guide books on Indian art, he also wrote a seminal work on South Indian epigraphy.


Career

After a brilliant academic career, C. Sivaramamurti entered the museum profession as
curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
for Archaeology in the
Madras Museum The Government Museum, Chennai, or the Madras Museum, is a museum of human history and culture located in the Government Museum Complex in the neighbourhood of Egmore in Chennai, India. Started in 1851, it is the second oldest museum in India af ...
. He then joined the
Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexande ...
as Superintendent, Archaeological Section, Indian Museum,
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
, whence he came over to the National Museum as Keeper and rose as Assistant Director and finally became the Director. Closely associated with the
International Council of Museums The International Council of Museums (ICOM) is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to museums, maintaining formal relations with UNESCO and having a consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Founded in 1946, I ...
he was on its executive committee and was Chairman of the Indian National Committee of ICOM. He conducted pioneering research and wrote extensively on various subjects during his tenure at the Indian national Museum. Eminent
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
,
zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...
and student of archaeology,
Frederic Henry Gravely Frederic Henry Gravely (7 December 1885 – 1965) was an eminent British arachnologist, entomologist, botanist, zoologist and student of archaeology, who conducted pioneering research and wrote extensively on various subjects during his tenure ...
, along with the Curator Dr. C. Sivaramamurti, ensured in 1938 that the
antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
and
industrial art Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactu ...
collected by the Museum was organised effectively, into a collection that exists even today. His monumental book ''L'Art en Inde'' originally published in French earned the Dadabhai Naoroji Award. The book is available in German, English, Spanish and Italian. Dr.C.Sivaramamurti was the first fellow of the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fundwhen it was instituted, as he was specially chosen by the Trustees of this Fund in an endeavour to set a standard to Indian scholarship. He did a special exhaustive study of Nataraja, the dancing form of Siva, in all aspects as represented in Art, thought and literature. The product of two years of efforts was a monumental work,"Nataraja in Art, Thought and Literature", which he dedicated to his parents. ''Nataraja in Art, Thought and Literature'' is acclaimed as his major achievement. First published 1974, it was 412 pages with 22 colour plates and over 250 monochrome illustrations.
Nataraja Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts such as the ''T ...
as a theme represents life force itself. The ancients visualised Nataraja as a manifestation of the cosmic energy symbolising the three aspects of creation, preservation and destruction. Chapters include: Natya, The Significance of Siva's Dance, Karanas Presented in Siva's Tandava, Karanas Presented by
Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...
as
Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
, The Vedic Roots of the Concept of The Great Dancer, Nataraja Pictured in literature, Varieties of Nataraja as Described in Silpa Texts, Nataraja Form in Sculpture and Painting, The Nataraja Concept Beyond Indian Frontiers. The dance of Nataraja has always been synonymously viewed with truth and beauty, force and rhythm, movement and change, realisation and dissolution. Nataraja has been visualised in variety of forms by seers, poets and artists; it has been chiselled, painted, described and sung about in many parts of India and countries. This itself is a testimony to the twin aspects of time and timelessness of Nataraja, both as a personality and as a theme. This book highlights Nataraja as the presiding deity of fine arts whether it be music, dance, painting, sculpture or epigraphy. The
Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
roots of the cosmic dancer and the blend of tradition and modernity is woven as a thread throughout the book describing vividly the exploits of the great dancer on world stage. It also contains interesting information on famous spots of the Nataraja theme and the concept of Nataraja beyond Indian frontiers. Dr. Sivaramamurti has been one of the most acclaimed art historians of this country. He had devoted an entire lifetime to
iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...
, especially to the Nataraja theme. This book was an outcome of his research as part of the
Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship The Jawaharlal Nehru Trust Scholarship U.K. was founded by Admiral Lord Mountbatten of Burma in 1966 as a tribute to the India's first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru – after his death in 1964. The scholarship was funded by the Nehru Me ...
awarded to him in 1968. In her foreword to this book, Mrs. Indira Gandhi called it' a monument to Indian Scholarship.' Dr. Sivaramamurti has been responsible for popularising epigraphy and numismatics, sculpture and paintings from an approach through literature giving literary parallels. His love for Sanskrit and art, his aesthetic taste and capacity to draw, paint and sculpt helped him to achieve his purpose of such a study of art and literature. He was a frail man with conspicuous
vibhuti In Hinduism, ''vibhuti'' ( sa, विभूति, vibhūti), also called ''bhasma'' or ''thiruneeru'', is sacred ash made of burnt dried wood, burnt cow dung and/or cremated bodies used in Agamic rituals. Hindu devotees apply ''vibhuti'' tradi ...
and
tilak In Dharmic culture, the ''tilaka'' ( sa, तिलक) () is a mark worn usually on the forehead, at the point of the Ajna chakra, or sometimes another part of the body such as the neck, hand, chest or arm. ''Tilaka'' may be worn daily or for ...
on his forehead. Dr. Sivaramamurti belonged to the lineage of the great Appayya Dikshita. He was the son of Calambur Sundara Sastri, a civil servant, a great Sanskrit scholar of his times and author of a great kavya in Sanskrit,'Sundara Ramayana'. C.Sundara Sastri was an ardent devotee of Rama and as if by divine will his son, Sivaramamurti was married to Sampurna, the granddaughter of the great
Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
exponent
Paruthiyur Krishna Sastri Parithiyur is a village on the northern banks of Kudamuruti River, near Sengalipuram, in Thiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth ...
and daughter of Pattabhi Rama Sastri, then District educational Officer of
Tanjore Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...
. They had two sons Sundararamamurti and Krishnamurti


Death

Dr. Sivaramamurti died in 1983 of a heart attack during a lecture on the specific features of a rare Nataraja icon. Dr. Sivaramamurti is an Honorary Fellow of the
Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...
. Sri Sankaracharya the great Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Swamigal of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetha conferred on him the title of Vichitrachitta- meaning 'the curious minded one'. The great Pallava ruler of the 8th century from south India, Mahendravarman, held this epithet 'vichitrachitta', as described by him in his inscription in the rock-cut temple of the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and easwara (siva) at Kudumiamalai. He was awarded by the President of India, the
Padma Sri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferr ...
in 1968 and the
Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...
in 1975. He travelled widely, participated in international seminars, delivered important lectures at the invitation of several universities, which have been published as books. He delivered important endowment lectures at many universities in India. He has over thirty-four books and innumerable papers on sculpture, painting, architecture, iconography, epigraphy, numismatics and literature to his credit. He was honoured with a number of awards during his lifetime, and in view of his contribution to Oriental Research, in 1981, the
Asiatic Society of Bombay The Asiatic Society of Mumbai (formerly ''Asiatic Society of Bombay'') is a learned society in the field of Asian studies based in Mumbai, India. It can trace its origin to the Literary Society of Bombay which first met in Mumbai on 26 November 1 ...
posthumously awarded a special Campbell Memorial Gold Medal.


Works

* Mahabalipuram (1952) * Early Eastern Chalukya Sculpture (1962) * Indian Epigraphy and South Indian Scripts (1966) * Nataraja in Art, Thought, and Literature (1974) * L'Art en Inde (1974) * Chitrasutra of the Vishnudharmottara (1978) * Kalugumalai and Early Pandyan Rock-cut Shrines * Sanskrit Literature and Art: Mirrors of Indian Culture * La stupa du Barabudur (in French) * An Album of Indian Sculpture * Rishis in Indian art and literature * Royal conquests and cultural migrations in South India and the Deccan * Vijayanagara paintings * Numismatic parallels of Kalidasa * Sculpture inspired by Kalidasa * Sri Lakshmi in Indian art and thought * Ramo Vigrahavan dharmah-Rama embodiment of righteousness * Birds and animals in Indian sculpture * Sanskrit literature and art * Mirrors of Indian culture * Satarudriya – Vibhuti of Siva's Iconography * Panorama of Jain art * Shiva * Ethical fragrance in Indian art and literature * Indian Painting * Approach to nature in Indian art and thought * The art of India * Expressive Quality of Literary flavour in Art * Early Andhra Arts and Iconography * Indian Bronze * The Chola temples: Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram & Darasuram * Early eastern Chalukya sculpture * Harappan Art * Indian epigraphy and South Indian scripts * Bhagavatpada-Sri Sankaracharya * Epigraphical echoes of Kalidasa * 5000 years of the art of India: with Mario Bussagli * An Introduction to South Indian Temple Architecture and Sculptures, co-authored with F. H. Gravely * Illustrations of Indian Sculptures, co-authored with F. H. Gravely * Guide to the Archaeological Galleries, co-authored with F.H.Gravely * Notes on Hindu Images, co-authored with F. H. Gravely


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivaramamurti, C. Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service Indian male sculptors Sivaramamurti, C. 1909 births 1983 deaths Indian art historians Indian numismatists Sanskrit grammarians Indian Sanskrit scholars 20th-century Indian sculptors 20th-century Indian historians Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows Indian museologists Historians of Indian art