Artist Maniam… if he was alive, he would celebrate his 87th birthday today. People say that it doesn’t take a lifetime to leave a mark in history, but a moment that connects people together. Artist Maniam had that moment and sustained it for 18 years of his artistic life. Though he lived only till his 44th year, he continues to live on through his art which has become eternal.
When people recognize me as his grand daughter and when I see online forums discussing about his illustrations for Ponniyin selvan, I wonder how did he manage to reach so many people and leave such a profound mark, with his work that too within such a short span.
This made me read those novels and truly understand the relationship between the story and illustration. I realized that the marriage of these two is so crucial to make an impact on readers belonging to the present generation who are exposed to movies, internet and other faster paced Medias. And I think that stories like Ponniyin Selvan and Sivakamiyin Sabatham has made it to be able to live all these years and I am sure my grandchildren will enjoy it as much as I did. People are able to connect to the images of Pazhuvettarayar, Nandini or Naganandi that Maniam had created.
Being privileged to detailed descriptions of the key characters from Kalki, the artist in him gave form to Kalki’s descriptions. The understanding between the author and the artist was so great that I have heard many people say that Kalki’s writing complimented Maniam’s illustrations as much as his illustrations complemented the story.
With all these thoughts in my mind, I am starting to blog about him and his works today. I hope this blog will be a starting point and a window to all fans of Artist Maniam to view his works and know more about him. This blog is intended to share information about his life and works, analyse his masterful renditions in art and to discuss his studies and references.
I begin this blog on his birthday with the blessings of my grandmother Smt. Saraswathi Maniam, my parents and in-laws and all those who had the opportunity to know him personally. Special thanks to my husband who initiated this attempt, family & friends for their encouragement and Mr Vijay (www.poetryinstone.in) for sharing his inputs to make the blogging experience better.
Together, we welcome everyone to join us in this journey of discovery and understanding.
A Fitting tribute to a fantastic artist. He truly lives on in his works and through his son and grandchildren. truly gifted and big salute to bring out such a blog to showcase his treasures
anbudab
vj
Thankyou Vijay.
Delighted to see this blog…Waiting for the Great Master’s masterpieces!!!!
All the best!!!!
Thankyou Mr Jeeva,
I have heard about you and your work from Mr Vijay.
We will give our best to do justice to the works.
Have been waiting for this for a long time.
His paintings are truly masterpieces!!!
Sincerely hope that his treasures will be thrown open to people like us..
Regards,
Mouli
இது ஒரு நல்ல முயற்சி. அவருடைய ஒரு சில படங்களையே பார்த்துள்ள என்னைப் போன்றவர்களுக்கு அவருடைய முழுமையான திறனைக் கண்டு மகிழ இந்த இடம் இடம்தரும் என்று கருதுகிறேன். சிறப்பாக வளர வாழ்த்துகள் !
-ஜி.ஸன்தானம்
A wonderful treat indeed for all of us his fans!
Gowri (Vetri)Manian
Thankyou madam. I was just going to send you an email about this blog and then realised you have already seen.
Thankyou everyone for the support and good wishes.
வாராவாரம் கல்கி வரும் வரை காத்திருந்து வந்தியத்தேவனையும் சிவகாமியையும் கல்கியின் சொல்லோவியங்களாக, மணியனின் கோட்டோவியங்களாகச் சுவைத்த நாள்கள் பசுமையாக நினைவில், பக்கத்து வீட்டுச் செட்டியார் அக்காவிடம் விளக்கம் கேட்ட நாள்கள் பசுமையாக நினைவில், மணியன் அன்னாருக்கு வலைப்பூ, வாழ்க அவர் பெயர்த்தி.
மிக்க நன்றி அய்யா. தாங்கள் தாத்தாவின் ஓவியங்களை பார்த்து ரசித்த அனுபவத்தை எங்களோடு பகிர்ந்து கொள்வது எங்களுக்கு மகிழ்ச்சி.
பெருமிதம் கொள்ள வேண்டிய முயற்சி. திரு மணியன் அவர்களின் ஓவியங்கள் அனைத்தையும் பார்க்கக் காத்திருக்கிறேன்.
அன்புடன்
பத்மநாபபுரம் அரவிந்தன்.
மிக்க நன்றி.
Thank you for starting this blog. Hoping to see more of his great works.
Regards
vairam
Thankyou Mr Vairam.
அன்பு சுபாஷிணிக்கு நான் உங்கள் கலைக்குடும்பதின் பழய ஸ்னேகிதி உங்க்ள தாத்தா வ்ரைவதை கண்ணால் காணூம் பேறு பெற்றவள்,அவர் ஒவியம் க்தைசொல்லும்,க்தாபாத்திரங்க்ள் கண் எதிரே நிற்க்கும் ப்ணி தொடர வாழ்த்துக்கள் சாரதா
சாரதா ஆன்டி.. பாட்டி உங்கள பத்தி பேசி கேட்டிருக்கேன்.. இப்படி நாம் சந்திச்சதுக்கு ரொம்ப சந்தோசம்.
Great Start..!! Eagerly looking forward..
Thankyou.
Ms. Subhashini,
Great effort and was much longing one. Thanks for this wonderful effort. we have met in Paravthi’s gallery when your pictures along with the greatest work of both Maniam and Ma.Se were displayed. You have proved that you belong to that illustrious gene!
Vazhtukkal.
Anbudan
Chandrasekaran J
thank you Mr Chandra, I didnt know about your Reach Foundation works back then. Thanks to PSVP that I got to know your great efforts. All the best and we will also try to give our best for this venture.
அன்புள்ள சுபாஷினி,
ரீச் பற்றி தாங்கள் அறிந்து கொண்டது சந்தோஷம். நிஜத்தில் மணியம் செல்வன் சாரிடம் ‘temple art’ எனும் தலைப்புகளில் ஓவியர்களைப் படங்கள் செய்யச் சொல்லி ஒரு கண்காட்சி வருடா வருடம் நடத்தி, வரும் பணத்தைக் கொண்டு ஒரு பழங்கோயிலை புனரமைக்கலாம் என்று கேட்டேன். எப்போது வேண்டுமானாலும் செய்யலாம் என்றார். தாங்கள் ஓவியர்கள் எல்லாரிடமும் கூறி தயார் செய்தால், மணியம், ம.செ. குடும்பாத்தாரின் நற்பயனாய் காலம் என்றும் கடமைப் படும், கோயில்கள் தலை நிமிரும். temple art சிலைகள் மட்டுமல்லாது அதனையும், அதைச் சுற்றி மனதில் எழும் எத்தகைய ஓவியங்களாகவும் இருக்கலாம். சந்திக்கும்போது இது குறித்து பேசலாம்.
நன்றி.
ரீச் சந்திரா
நிச்சயமாக நம்மால் முடிந்ததை செய்வோம்.
Great. Eagerly awaiting to see Maniam’s creation here. Hope you could also update your fathers paintings as well.
Siva.
Thank you!
I look forward to reading the books again, with his illustrations to add colour and flavour, as they did before!
I am eagerly waiting to enjoy a huge Thanjavur Tamil sappadu served in fresh Vazhai ilai…. everything in its rightful place served in right quantiy at the right time ….
Congratulations on coming up with this idea and good wishes for its implementation!
Uma
பொன்னியின் செல்வன் நாவலுக்கு அழகு சேர்த்தவர் ஓவியர் மணியம்
என்பதில் இருவேறு கருத்தில்லை!87 வது பிறந்த நாளன்று அவரது மகள்
எடுக்கும் முயற்சி இது!..அவரே வியந்த உண்மை..எழுத்தாளரும் ஓவியரும்
கலந்து படைப்பாளி ஆகும் போது அந்த கதை வாசகர்களின் நெஞ்சில் நேரே
சென்று உறைகிறது!..இதில் எழுத்தாளரும் ஓவியரும் நெய்யாகவும் தொன்னையகவும் உள்ளனர்!நெய்ய்க்கு தொன்னை ஆதாரமா? தொன்னைக்கு
நெய் ஆதாரமா?….mam..this is how i shared your blog in FB!..I wish your efforts will add glory to Maniam..
Congratulations and best wishes for your effort. God bless you and all those who supported this project.
I personally consider this as a blessing to have an opportunity to know more about Shri. Maniam Selvan and his works.
Thank you very much.
Delighted to see this website devoted to the great artist Maniam who gave phenomenal support to Kalki. Very best wishes for grand success of this initiative. Look forward to re-visiting the site soon.
Thanks a lot.
Kalyan
Arumai Arpudham Aanandham
Very nice long overdue
Great
Sri
Nandri Thiru Sri.
Excellent tribute Subha!!!
You have done justice to the legend….!!!
Definitely he will shower his choiciest blessings to you all!
I read “Ponniyin Selvan’ just an year ago… Wah!!! each chapter was thrilling with the narration and the illustrations took me exactly to that period…
..after finishing it, was in trance for a week or so.., proud to be born in Tamilnadu….!
Waiting to relish…..
Thanks Bhargavi.
Mr Mouli, Mr Santhanam, Mr Sivaram Kannan, Mr Sashwath, Ms. Sivakamasundari, Mr Narayanan, Ms Jayanthi, Mr KalyanaSundaram, thankyou for your good wishes
Maniam’s paintings have become immortal, it is kalki who gave life to the characters but today, we cannot imagine a pazhuvetrayar without a mouche or nandhini a-la- aandal even more, where I cannot imagine a walking sundara chola! Such was the power of maniam’s illustrations!
Long live his creation!
Very true! Thankyou Mr Venugopal for your support.
Superb!
Fitting tribute to a great artist who made the characters living on the mind of the readers through his paint brush! Please share more to enlighten us about him.
Thanks,
satheesh
Thankyou Mr Satheesh. Will definitely give our best.
Dear Subahasini,
Thanks for this excellent work, I am proud to say that I have the ponniyin selvan and sivakamiyin selvan novels which had the pictures of the Legend Maniam, His paintings exactly complimented Kalki’s words, while describing the beauty of Nandhini and Kundavai in one athiyam, the images that Maniam painted were really outstanding,
I don’t know whether Maniam first draw the paint and Kalki wrote lines according to the picture or vice versa.
As a 5th student then I collected those novels from the magazine and still I possess it very carefully.
Now all these novels are made public and they come up in different sizes and colors but none can match the real one where Maniam himself lived as part of the story.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my views
Sugumar
Thankyou Mr Sugumar.
A brilliant path to connect to the world!!!
Thanks seshu
The effort is something unique ! It is a great boon to
the lovers of Amarar Kalki and Amarar Maniyam. At last
the longings of the lovers of “Ponniyin Selvan” are being
fulfilled ! We cherish the memories of the legends !
It may not be out of place to recall here that being
an ardent lover of the great works of these legends,
I used to discuss this project from time to time with
Sri Athmanathan, (s/o : late Sri Sadasivam Sir and
Smt M S Subbulakshmi Amma), to do something about
this. I think the days has come now ! Wow, it is
so nice of you to have initiated this ! I wish you goodluck
in your endeavours ! With kind regards,
veegopalji@yahoo.com
Thankyou Mr Vancheeswaran gopal. Grandfather had boundless respect and regards towards ‘Kalki’ family.. and same goes to my dad towards Sri Athmanathan sir. Infact it was because of him that we got to meet MS amma and Sadasivam Sir and got their blessings after for our wedding.
Great initiation and all the best for this noble effort.
Thankyou Mr Balaji.
This is a an excellent venture for someone who grew up reading PS with Maniam and numerous stories with Ma Se’s illustrations this is a dream come true!
Thankyou Mr Sridhar
thiru maniam avargalukku intha generation artists anaivarum seyya vendiya mukkiyamana pani ethu. tamil magazine artist anaivarukkum intha blog oru munnodiyaha irukkattum. vazhthukkal.
raja
vazhthukkal
Hi Subhashini Ma’am,
I got to know about your grandfather and father recently from Mr. Sivakumar(Actor). I had seen the pictures of your father and grandfather on the internet. I am yet to read poniyin selvan but the illustrations that i saw on the internet were really mind blowing. I sincerely appreciate the effort that you have taken for this blog. Awaiting to see a blog on your father’s works as well. Best wishes.
Srividya.
Thankyou Mr Raja and Ms Srividya.
I am happy to know that Maniam Sir’s Blog is being created.
Here I wish to state that Both Kali’s writing and Maniam’s Art cannot be forgotten by any one.
I do not know how to put my feelings into words. But I eagerly
look forward for more activities in this blog.
Thankyou verymuch for your support
அன்புள்ள சுபாஷினி
மிகவும் ஒரு நல்ல முயற்சி, மேல் மேலும் வளர என் மனமார்ந்த வாழ்த்துக்கள்.
அன்புடன்
மோகன் மீனாட்சிசுந்தரம்
Dear Mohan Sir,
Really happy to see your comment. Thankyou.
Subhashini
Wonderful and congrats. Its not just Shri.Manaim’s works that you are going to bring to light to the present and future gen. Its our rich heritage, culture, art, Hindu religion and so on & so forth. Eagerly waiting to embark on the journey. My heart bleeds as I think of our rich past and today’s culture. If only we could put back the clock and the time machine would take us back to the glorious era of Pallavas, Chozhas…Well, i know thats not possible, but we can at least live that period again through Maniam’s works. wishing you all the very best.
Thankyou for your kind words.
Its truly a great treasure to create such a blog – to cherish and value the deep rooted artistic and creative expression of Indian art through the work of such great artist as Maniam.
I am really glad that you took the initiative to produce this blog – not just a blog but expressions of a legend.
congratulations best wishes and my blessings-
dr.rudhran who knows your father well and with respect.
Thankyou very much sir, really feel happy and humbled to see your comment. Appa has a lot of respect and regards towards you and has even showed your shiva drawing. I remember talking to you during the exhibition in chennai. We welcome your comments and suggestions.
With respect,
Subhashini.
தங்கள் வலைப்பூ அருமையான முயற்சி வாழ்த்துகள்.
இரண்டு விஷயங்கள்…
ஒன்று:
தமிழிலும் எழுதினால் இன்னமும் நிறைய வாசகர்களை அது சென்றடையும். காரணம், பெரும்பாலான பத்திரிகை வாசகர்கள், ஆர்வலர்கள் தமிழை தாய் மொழியாகக் கொண்டவர்கள் என்பதால். தமிழில் வந்தால் அது நிச்சயமும் பரவலாக இன்னமும் பல வாசகர்களைச் சென்றடையும். நல்ல பல கருத்துப் பரிமாற்றத்திற்கு வழி வகுக்கும்.
இரண்டு :
http://www.tamilonline.com/thendral/morecontent.aspx?id=103&cid=4&aid=5663
என்ற இந்தத் தளத்தின் மணியம் செல்வனது அருமையான நேர்காணலைக் கண்டேன். அதை இங்கே வெளியிடலாம். அல்லது அதற்கான இணைப்பை உங்கள் வலைப்பூவில் கொடுத்தால் அது மணியம் செல்வன் பற்றி மேலும் பல விஷயங்களைத் தெரிந்து கொள்ள ஏதுவாக இருக்கும்.
அவரது சமீபத்திய வானொலி ஒலிப்பதைவையும் வெளியிடலாம் அல்லது அதற்கான லிங்க் கொடுக்கலாம்.
நன்றி, நல்ல முயற்சிக்கு நல் வாழ்த்துகள்
மிக்க நன்றி அய்யா . தமிழில் எழுத திட்டங்கள் உள்ளன. கூடிய சீக்கிரம் வெளியிட முயற்சிக்கிறோம். உங்கள் கருத்துக்கு நன்றி.
இது ஒரு நல்ல முயற்சி. அவருடைய ஒரு சில படங்களையே பார்த்துள்ள என்னைப் போன்றவர்களுக்கு அவருடைய முழுமையான திறனைக் கண்டு மகிழ இந்த இடம் இடம்தரும் என்று கருதுகிறேன். சிறப்பாக வளர வாழ்த்துகள் !
நன்றி திரு பிரகாஷ்.
As someone from the next generation, and that too with a semirural background, i was a complete stranger-to Literature and Arts, but my initiation took place when i came across KALKI-still remember the evenings when, under a kerosene lamp, the pictures first and the silken prose next,transported me a 1000 years back- i was captivated then, am thrilled to the bones even today, during the annual readings which has almost become a ritual!
May GOD bless your efforts, am sure many tamilians of today need something like this to get started-
Dear Sow.Subhashini Balasubramaniam,
The visualisation of a whole scene to be completely brought out by Artist Maniam in his work, is a rare capacity for any Artist which was successfully achieved by him. The viewers are exceptionally touched by his talent and perception. The influence of his uncle Shri. Lingayyah is also there as an inspiration as also the great Artist S.Rajam. With all these, Maniam the Artist stands out as a unique admirer of Art in its own meaning. He still lives among his admirers as a giant with his inimitable style of eternal art which only his son Maniam Selvan will be able to take forward to the third generation, as Art is immortal.
These qualities of the Artist Maniam have been wonderfully brought out by you for which we immensely thank you and are looking forward for much more of such blogs to the admirers of the Great Artist Maniam.
Congrats!
Chennai, 6th April 2011
I have had the privilege of reading Ponniyin Selvan as it appeared in Kalki from 1950, and being absorbed in Maniam’s breathtakingly perfect drawings.
The whole of the discerning Tamil-speaking world is agog with expectation that your great grandfather’s immortal drawings will be digitised and put in the public domain or, if this will, understandably, prejudice your own interests, at any rate put to view on the net.
I do earnestly hope something is moving in this direction. You are surely aware that very soon his entire work will pass into public domain anyway. So please hurry and do something soon!
All the Best.
GopalanTK
Fantastic! We needed something like this for a long time… please do continue posting.
I have a request – do you have the image of shiva and parvati playing dice? Their expressions are breathtaking!
Really Great work You have done here Mrs.Subashini.
The moments when I got opportunity to see Sri.Maniam Sir’s real paintings ( & also your father Ma Se’s works ) are great memorable moments in my life.
Like the writings of Kalki, Sri Maniam Sir’s works also mesmerized us many times.
Seeing some of his other works here is also giving great feeling.
My Regards to your Paati, Appa & Amma and wishes for you.
I heard you are also doing some great painting works. Wishes for a great success for you.
It will be great if you can bring all the Painting creations of your family in a website like this.
Wishes & Regards
N.Jayakumar
It is a great effort. Thank you very much for bringing it for everyone to enjoy. actually i stumbled upon this site. An hour ago i was talking to a friend about Amarar Thiru Kalki’s Sivakamiyin sabatham, and talked about the drawing for that novel. i said it is by Thiru. Maniam. But my friend was not so sure. So after my conversation with him, i want to google for information about Thiru Maniam. That is when i found this site, and i got my answer about the drawings ( chithirangal) for that novel.
Wishing you the very best for your blog. I am looking forward to read more information about Thiru Maniam.
With Best wishes
Lakshmi