Thombai and Granary

#Thombai  #granary #comparison #fabrics #Tamil #thirupalathurai

Thombai is  an appliquéd articles which specially intended to decorate the chariots especially in   temples of Tamil nadu region which  also it is utilized in the entrance part of the door ways of the shrines  ,it exist in various sizes ,usually a long hangings It is an Significant ornament while decorating the  chariots , which renders a pleasant look to the viewer and increases the aesthetic beauty of the chariot while it is in motion.
Thombai is  comprised of fabric which have appliquéd with various images such as elephants , swans , holy bulls ,floral motifs, even geometric shapes which depends upon the temple or the application for which this piece is intended , earlier it was made by painted or block printed motifs ,those cloth is  fashioned into a cylindrical structure  with metal wires inserted into both edges, to hold the shape in olden days it was made by bamboo sticks a cap (Thoppi)has been attached at the top of the Thombai  at the end of Thombai it is ended with Frills (or) tassels  and  pleats.

Here for making a comparison with pre existing ones this ornamental element is being compared with granary in some of the region it is called as Thombai which used store the grains , ancient primitive granaries are Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made out of pottery still we could  see those in the  rural regions of Tamilnadu and through the India.  It is built some space above the ground to keep the stored food grains away from rodent attack, rain, etc to protect for future need by forecasting any droughts, floods , etc In Tamilnadu the names of granary may very form place to place according to the size and storage capacity here in this comparison macro size Granary of #Palaivananathar Swamy temple, at ( thirupalathurai ) Papanasamis shown which is made out of lime and mortar over brick structure it was built during the period of nayak ruler Raghunatha Nayak (1600 to 1634 )., the capacity of the granary shown here is around 3000 kalam or measure. Dimension of this circular structure is : breadth at the center maximum 86 feet or 26 m by height 36 feet or 11m.

So the granary thombai and ornamental element Thombai shares a similar shape and finding it own application in temple premises one in ornamentation and one in storage here I could see the similarity of these two and made a self exploration and comparision.

---- Ramu.Rm.N