Modernist outpost

Cholamandal is today part of the tourist circuit but few visitors realise the role it has played as the last pillar of modernism in the country.

Now that Mamallapuram is drawing attention as the venue for the Modi-Xi informal summit, one can only hope the two heads of state find some time for R&R other than visiting the spruced-up Shore Temple, the monolithic rock rathas and the remarkable bas-relief known as Arjuna’s Penance showing the Ganga descending to earth. The seventh-century stone sculptures of Mamallapuram are quite extraordinary, and understandably well known, but there is another spot a mere 35km away where the most extraordinary flowering of modern art occurred and which is well worth a visit, too.

Cholamandal Artists’ Village, set up in 1966, is