Almost skeletal, he stands so still, poised on his lean left leg, the right bent at the knee, right foot against the thigh of the left. Across the hollowed abdomen and ribcage, snakes his sacred thread, his face gaunt and austere.

His up-stretched arms triangulate gracefully overhead, palms open for the fire-arms from the gods.

Ascetic Arjuna - emaciated but elegant, as if carved in rock. Sukha sthira asanam: at ease and steady, poise in his pose —stark as a sutra.

All around him a weave of trees, birds, flowers, and celestials on their mysterious errands... scenes straight out of Mahabharata's vana parva...the flora and fauna encountered by the Pandavas during their forest exile.

A frieze captured in time, ingrained in granite. Truly epic proportions!

Now it seems as if these figures from the past are alive — Arjuna dancing on the spot, swaying on one leg !!!

My thespian eyes see through the afternoon shimmer of the heat curtain...

Perhaps this is what I do as an actor — bring legends to life through the magical silver screen!

I savour the salt on my lips, the rub of sand under my toes, the tang of ozone...standing here in front of the shore-temples of Mamallapuram, marvels of Pallava architecture.... nearly 1,500 years ago the patient chiselling of scenes from the Mahabharat still stands in an area that was safe from the Moslem invaders; it proudly fronts the sea, fronts the seas of time.

The workmanship — can I ever hope to achieve a smidgeon of that dedication, that outstanding quality? 

 Can we as the descendants of a spectacular heritage do justice — to the discipline, to the detail? Instead my audience and I seem to have lost ourselves in frothy re-tellings which will soon evaporate like the foam-flirt of the waves.

Great art is the result of a tapasya - burning away the dross to reveal the gold.

Those were the days of royal patronage of the arts, of art inspired by epics such as the Mahabharat - inspiring the kings across the land to espouse a high culture for their people.

Now, sadly all seems reduced to the lowest common denominator of taste, and I as an actor feel powerless to swim against the tide.  Perhaps that is why I have taken some time out to refresh my spirits.

I wander around the six exquisitely carved stone chariots, named after the five Pandavas and their consort Draupadi. I smile thinking Draupadi would be so pleased to know her chariot shares the same platform as that of Arjuna!

Draupadi's Ratha [public domain image/wikipedia]

It is time for me to move on, south-west to Kerala. I enjoy the solitude, away from the tinsel and noise of the filmy world.

It is almost pitch dark by the time I arrive at my destination - small village where a very special performance is taking place, called 'Arjuna Nritham'.  Legend has it that Arjuna propitiated Bhadrakali by dancing for the fierce warrior-goddess. 

Under the coconut plams, in the flickering oil lamps I am mesmerised by elaborately costumed dancers, as they stamp and twirl in intricate movements based on martial arts,to the beat of drums and cymbals - powerful and primal.

There is indeed an art of tapasya to being Arjuna!

https://youtu.be/B2kkj2TBcY8