Peering through layers of time for stories of the past

[First published on 18 December 2020; Nature India Spotlight on Odisha]

Though much is known about how Odisha uses archaeological science to reveal history in its monuments and excavations, not much has been explored of another rich source of history, the shipwrecks off its coast. Shipwrecks provide well-preserved information on maritime trade, giving a glimpse of maritime and cultural conditions of a particular period. Shipwrecks and submerged ports merit more scientific exploration and excavation.

People ventured out to sea from Odisha for marine resources as far back as 4,000 years ago, and were engaged in maritime activities from 800BC. Ancient seafarers of Odisha had deep knowledge of the sea’s winds, currents, and tides, and of shipbuilding.

Most rivers of Odisha and their tributaries opening into the Bay of Bengal were suitable for navigation. Ancient ports and trade centres of Odisha — Tamralipti, Adams, Kosamba (in Pipili or Balasore), Tyndis (on Brahmani river), Dosaron (on Baitarani river), Nanigaina (in Puri), Katikardama (in Cuttack), Kannagara (in Konark), mouths of the rivers Manada (river Mahanadi), Minagara , Manikapatna, Palur, Che li ta lo and Khalkatapatna — had overseas trade relations at various historical points.

Archaeologists have unearthed insights from these ports and trade centres that reveal Odisha’s maritime contacts with Roman Empire figures, south-east Asian countries, and the Red Sea coast. Discovery of various types of early pottery – northern black polished ware (NBPW), rouletted ware (RW) knobbed ware (KW) along with the depiction of a giraffe on the wall of Konark temple – bear testimony to these maritime links.

Various factors contributed to the decline of ports, and a recent study shows the migration of the estuary of the River Kushabhadra eroding the remains of Khalkatapatna port. Meteorological records indicate that several ships were wrecked along the Odisha coast between 1832 and 1900 by cyclones and storms.

The National Maritime Archives also record the centuries-old boatbuilding technology of Odisha. Craft come in a large variety – the reverse clinker ‘Patia’, the flat bottom boats; similarly, catamaran and padua (masulas) are two major types in the southern coast, which are still prevalent along Odisha coast.

In 2008, marine archaeologists from the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa discovered 7th century ship anchors and stone memoirs dedicated to battle heroes, and pieced together an untold saga of a historic naval war off the coast of Odisha.

In the obscure village of Kanas, an ancient port city 25 kilometres from Chilika Lake, Asia’s biggest water lagoon, villagers ploughing a paddy field unearthed peculiar longish stones with large holes, and antiquities that look like etched milestones. Archaeologists dated these stones back to between 7th and 9th century AD, presumably used to anchor ships at this once busy port. They turned out to be ‘hero stones’, erected in remembrance of heroes who lost their lives in naval battles, suggesting these were remnants of a naval war fought around the area. The findings correlated with the historical Odia text Paika Kheda which describes the training of soldiers and has a chapter dealing with naval wars.

Some records say that the Gauda king Sasanka (619-620 AD) attacked and defeated the king of Odisha in the early 7th century AD. Sasanka was described as a staunch worshipper of the lord Shiva, and one of the hero stones depicted a human worshipping the phallic symbol of Shiva. Anchors found in the area point to the economic and cultural relationships among people of different regions which had maritime relationship with Chilika, the 64-kilometre brackish-water inshore lake connected to the Bay of Bengal through a narrow mouth.

Odisha’s shoreline is strewn with many shells, some smooth, some cockled, and some like conches – the type easily identified as the attribute of Jagannath, Odisha’s presiding deity. Traditionally, these sea shells are burned in kilns to create quick lime to make pure white plasters of buttery consistency. This is applied as a final smooth surface layer on the walls of the temples and matthas, and on the walls of humble homes and edifices.

Odisha’s artists have used these lime plasters in beautiful paintings, visible at about 100 sites in the state, in varying stages of dilapidation. Mural painting in India is exemplified in the 2,000-year-old world heritage site near the village of Ajintha, and historical continuity can be drawn by re-establishing the art form here. Scientists have analysed this lime plaster with x-ray diffraction studies and helped document the components of traditional mortars.

The other use of the sea shells is for pigment, dhaula, or white, in the millennia-old Indian painting tradition. After grinding, the white that results is mixed with the binder from the wood apple tree (Limonia acidissima, local name kaintha), and is used to illustrate the profusion of artefacts. Microchemical studies coupled with X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, assist in pigment identification just as Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicates the binders used. Infrared imaging reveals the hidden drawings created by the artists, beneath the paint layers.

The other principal pigments prepared for these paintings are from minerals – the deep red of hingula or cinnabar, and the bright yellow of haritala orpiment, as well as the earth pigments — the red and yellow ochres. The works are created on the smooth floors of the artists’ homes, often in the room at the entrance. It is a colourful spectacle, with bright paints in bowls made of the smooth coconut shells, home-made brushes for creating the finest of lines in black that they make by burning oil lamps and collecting the soot, called lamp black, one of the most ancient pigments, along with the ochres. Prehistoric designs featuring these ochres can be seen in rock art shelters of Sundargarh and Jharsuguda districts of Odisha.

The lines that form the Odishan script are rounded, with hardly any edges, as these were first inscribed centuries ago on palm leaf folios. There are millions of bundles of palm leaf manuscripts, on subjects ranging from poetry to astrology, astronomy to grammar, and many of them are exquisitely illustrated. The National Mission for Manuscripts of the Government of India has been attempting to catalogue the contents of these manuscripts for many years. Much of the history of the land is documented in these folios, following the same unbroken line of technique of using an iron stylus and incising the writing on the leaf, and then rendering it visible by smearing lamp black on the leaf, and wiping the excess from the surface.

The art history of this geologically ancient land is most visible in its thousands of laterite and sandstone temples, some mighty and some tiny, but all gems of architecture, engineering, and artistry in delightful sculpture, the traditions of which are alive even today. From adding medicinal plants to create lime plasters to preparing pastes from plants, every aspect of the art of Odisha is intrinsically linked with nature, the seasons, and their products.

The study of the materials and techniques of Odisha’s heritage, its deterioration, and its conservation, must be appreciated from the point of view of intangible practices, as well as from the yardstick of technical studies.

*Head of art conservation, research and training, CSMVS Museum, Mumbai, India. **CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India.