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GS Paper: GS1

  • Explained: Occurrence of Lightning

    At least 70 people died in lightning strikes across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

    What is lightning?

    • Scientifically, lightning is a rapid and massive discharge of electricity in the atmosphere some of which is directed towards earth.
    • The discharges are generated in giant moisture-bearing clouds that are 10-12 km tall.
    • The base of these clouds typically lie within 1-2 km of the Earth’s surface, while the top is 12-13 km away.
    • Temperatures in the top of these clouds are in the range of –35° to –45°C.

    Its formation

    • As water vapour moves upward in the cloud, the falling temperature causes it to condense.
    • As they move to temperatures below 0°C, the water droplets change into small ice crystals.
    • They continue to move up, gathering mass until they are so heavy that they start to fall to Earth.
    • This leads to a system in which, simultaneously, smaller ice crystals are moving up and bigger crystals are coming down.
    • Collisions follow and trigger the release of electrons, a process that is very similar to the generation of sparks of electricity.
    • As the moving free electrons cause more collisions and more electrons, a chain reaction ensues.
    • This process results in a situation in which the top layer of the cloud gets positively charged, while the middle layer is negatively charged.
    • The electrical potential difference between the two layers is huge, of the order of a billion to 10 billion volts.
    • In very little time, a massive current, of the order of 100,000 to a million amperes, starts to flow between the layers.

    Types of lightning

    • Broadly, there are three forms of lightning:
    1. Inter-cloud
    2. Intra-cloud
    3. Cloud-to-ground
    • It is the cloud-to-ground form of lightning that kills humans, as well as animals and livestock, and can substantially damage property.
    • While the Earth is a good conductor of electricity, it is electrically neutral.
    • However, in comparison to the middle layer of the cloud, it becomes positively charged.
    • As a result, about 15%-20% of the current gets directed towards the Earth as well.
    • It is this flow of current that results in damage to life and property on Earth.

    How intensely does it strike?

    • A typical lightning flash is about 300 million volts and 30,000 amps.
    • To put it in perspective, household current is 120 volts and 15 amps.
    • A flash of lightning is enough to light a 100-watt incandescent bulb for about three months.

    Why does lightning kill so many people in India?

    • The reason for the high number of deaths is due to people being caught unawares and more than 70% of fatalities happened due to people standing under isolated tall trees.
    • About 25 per cent of the people were struck in the open.
    • Also, lightning is the direct promulgation of climate change extremities.

    Mitigating lightning incidents

    • Lightning is not classified as a natural disaster in India.
    • But recent efforts have resulted in the setting up of an early warning system that is already saving many lives.
    • More than 96% of lightning deaths happen in rural areas.
    • As such, most of the mitigation and public awareness programmes need to focus on these communities.
    • Lightning protection devices are fairly unsophisticated and low-cost. Yet, their deployment in the rural areas, as of now, is extremely low.
    • States are being encouraged to prepare and implement lightning action plans, on the lines of heat action plans.
    • An international centre for excellence on lightning research to boost detection and early warning systems is also in the process of being set up.

     

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  • How Marine Heatwave fuelled super cyclone Amphan

    The super-cyclone Amphan is said to have been triggered by Marine Heatwaves.

    What is the news?

    • A study has found the presence of a strong MHW beneath the track of the cyclone with an extremely high anomalous sea surface temperature of more than 2.5°C.
    • This coincided with the cyclone track and facilitated its rapid intensification in a short period.

    What are Marine Heatwaves?

    • We know that heatwaves occur in the atmosphere. We are all familiar with these extended periods of excessively hot weather.
    • However, heatwaves can also occur in the ocean and these are known as marine heatwaves, or MHWs.
    • These marine heatwaves, when ocean temperatures are extremely warm for an extended period of time can have significant impacts on marine ecosystems and industries.

    When do they occur?

    • Heatwaves can happen in summer and also in winter, where they are known as “winter warm-spells”.
    • These winter events can have important impacts, such as in the southeast of Australia where the spiny sea urchin can only colonize further south when winter temperatures are above 12 °C.

    What causes marine heatwaves?

    • Marine heatwaves can be caused by a whole range of factors, and not all factors are important for each event.
    • The most common drivers of marine heatwaves include ocean currents which can build up areas of warm water and air-sea heat flux, or warming through the ocean surface from the atmosphere.
    • Winds can enhance or suppress the warming in a marine heatwave, and climate modes like El Niño can change the likelihood of events occurring in certain regions.
    • MHWs can be caused due to large-scale drivers of the Earth’s climate like the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO).

    Impacts of the MHWs

    • Marine heatwaves affect ecosystem structure, by supporting certain species and suppressing others.
    • For example, after the 2011 marine heatwave in Western Australia, the fish communities had a much more “tropical” nature than previously and switched from kelp forests to seaweed turfs.
    • Marine heatwaves can cause economic losses through impacts on fisheries and aquaculture.
    • Temperature-sensitive species such as corals are especially vulnerable to MHWs. In 2016, marine heatwaves across northern Australia led to severe bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef.

    How do we measure marine heatwaves?

    • A marine heatwave occurs when seawater temperatures exceed a seasonally-varying threshold (usually the 90th percentile) for at least 5 consecutive days.
    • Successive heatwaves with gaps of 2 days or less are considered part of the same event.

    Why study MHWs?

    • MHWs are increasing in frequency due to climate change. MHWs increased by 54 per cent in the last 30 years.
    • MHW has severe socio-economic consequences such as fish mortality, and coral bleaching, and also has the potential to interact and modify other extreme events such as tropical cyclones.

    Way Forward

    • Marine heatwaves clearly have the potential to devastate marine ecosystems and cause economic losses in fisheries, aquaculture, and ecotourism industries.
    • However, their effects are often hidden from view under the waves until it is too late.
    • By raising general awareness of these phenomena, and by improving our scientific understanding of their physical properties and ecological impacts, we can better predict future conditions and protect vulnerable marine habitats and resources.

     

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  • Theri Desert in Tamil Nadu

    Most of us may not know the small desert situated in the state of Tamil Nadu. It consists of red sand dunes and is confined to the Thoothukudi district.

    Theri Desert

    • The red dunes are called theri in Tamil.
    • They consist of sediments dating back to the Quaternary Period and are made of marine deposits.
    • They have very low water and nutrient retention capacity.
    • The dunes are susceptible to aerodynamic lift.
    • This is the push that lets something move up. It is the force that is the opposite of weight.

    Mineral composition of Theris

    • The analysis of the red sand dunes reveal the presence of heavy and light minerals.
    • These include Ilmenite, Magnetit, Rutile, Garnet, Zircon, Diopside, Tourmaline, Hematite, Goethite, Kyanite, Quartz, Feldspar, Biotite.
    • The iron-rich heavy minerals like ilmenite, magnetite, garnet, hypersthene and rutile present in the soil had undergone leaching by surface water.
    • They were then oxidised because of the favourable semi-arid climatic conditions.

    How did they form?

    • Theris appear as gentle, undulating terrain.
    • The lithology of the area shows that the area might have been a paleo (ancient) coast in the past.
    • The presence of limestone in many places indicates marine transgression.
    • The present-day theris might have been formed by the confinement of beach sand locally, after regression of the sea.
    • When high velocity winds from the Western Ghats blew east, they induced migration of sand grains and accumulation of dunes.

    Another story of their formation

    • Another view is that these are geological formations that appeared in a period of a few hundred years.
    • The red sand is brought from the surface of a broad belt of red loam in the plains of the Nanguneri region (about 57 kilometres) by south west monsoon winds during May-September.
    • The winds after draining the moisture behind the Mahendragiri hill and the Aralvaimozhi gap of the Western Ghats become dry and strike the plains in the foothills, where vegetation is sparse.
    • Deforestation and the absence of vegetative cover in the Aralvaimozhi gap and the Nanguneri plains are considered to be the major causes of wind erosion.

     

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  • IPC Sec 295A: Dealing with Hate Speech and Blasphemy

    The debate surrounding the comments by some political spokespersons has put the spotlight on the IPC Sec 295A which deals with criticism of or insult to religion.

    What is the news?

    • India does not have a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech.
    • However, a cluster of provisions, loosely termed hate speech laws, are invoked.
    • There are primarily some laws to deal with offences against religions.

    What is Section 295A?

    • Section 295A, define the contours of free speech and its limitations with respect to offences relating to religion.
    • It prescribes punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
    • It calls for imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to [three years], or with fine, or with both.
    • It has been invoked on a wide range of issues from penalising political satire and seeking bans on or withdrawal of books to even political critique on social media.

    Chapters to penalise religious offences

    Section 295A is one of the key provisions in the IPC chapter to penalise religious offences. The same chapter includes offences to penalise:

    1. Damage or defilement of a place of worship with intent to insult the religion (Section 295)
    2. Trespassing in a place of sepulture (burial) (Section 297)
    3. Uttering, words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person (Section 298) and
    4. Disturbing a religious assembly (Section 296)

    Origins of the law

    • Colonial origins of the hate speech provisions are often criticised for the assumption that Indians were susceptible to religious excitement.
    • Section 295A was brought in 1927.
    • The antecedents of Section 295A lie in the communally charged atmosphere of North India in the 1920s.
    • The amendment was a fallout of an acquittal under Section 153A of the IPC by the Lahore High Court in 1927 in Rajpaul v Emperor, popularly known as the Rangila Rasool case.

    Frequency of use

    • The state often invokes Section 295A along with 153A of the IPC, which penalises promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.
    • It acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony and Section 505 of the IPC that punishes statements conducing to public mischief.

    What about online hate speech?

    • In cases where such speech is online, Section 66A of the Information Technology Act was invoked.
    • However, in a landmark verdict in 2015, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A as unconstitutional on the ground that the provision was “vague” and a “violation of free speech”.
    • However, the provision continues to be invoked.

    Issues with such laws

    • The broad, vague terms in the laws are often invoked in its misuse.
    • Lower conviction rates for these provisions indicate that the process — where a police officer can arrest without a warrant — is often the punishment.
    • Critics have pointed out that these laws are intended for the state to step in and restore “public order” rather than protect free speech.

     

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  • Child Marriage in India

    Context

    There has been an ongoing debate on whether increasing the age of marriages can solve the problem of child marriage in India.

    Background

    • It is defined as a marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 and refers to both formal marriages and informal unions in which children under the age of 18 live with a partner as if married.
    • The Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021, fixes 21 years as the marriageable age for women.

    Prevalence of child marriage in India

    •  NFHS-5 data show that about 25% of women aged 18-29 years married before the legal marriageable age of 18.
    • Marginal decline: The proportion has declined only marginally from NFHS-4 (28%).
    • Higher in rural India: Expectedly, the prevalence is higher in rural than urban India (28% and 17%, respectively).
    • West Bengal has the highest prevalence (42%), followed by Bihar and Tripura (40% each).
    • Oddly, the decline in child marriage has been paltry at best in these high-prevalence States.
    • At the other end of the spectrum are Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala (6% to 7%).
    • 39% of child marriages in India take place among Adivasis and Dalits.
    • The share of advantaged social groups is 17% and the remaining share is of Other Backward Classes.

    Role of structural issues in adverse health and educational outcomes

    • Impact: Studies associate early marriage of women with early pregnancy, lower likelihood of accessing ante-natal care, higher risks of maternal morbidity and mortality, poor nutritional status of women and poor nutritional and educational outcomes of children.
    • These studies seem to provide a rather compelling case for increasing the age of marriage of women from 18 to 21 years, as a delayed marriage might offer significant public health dividends.
    • Structural factors at play: But a closer reading of the evidence shows that the association between child marriage and adverse health outcomes does not emerge in a vacuum. 
    • Rather, it is abetted by structural factors, including social norms, poverty, and women’s education.
    • Role of social norms: It is because of social norms in many regions and cultures that parents begin preparations for a girl’s marriage once she has reached menarche.
    • Role of poverty: A large proportion of child marriages take place primarily because of poverty and the burden of the huge costs of dowry associated with delayed marriages.
    • Role of education:  The NHFS-5 data confirm that a significant proportion of child marriages takes place among women with less than 12 years of schooling and households that are socially and economically disadvantaged.
    • The average age at marriage increases from 17 years among women who are illiterate and have had up to five years of schooling to 22 years among women who have had more than 12 years of schooling.
    • This indicates that an increase in years of schooling goes hand in hand with an increase in age at marriage.
    • While an increase in education is most likely to delay marriage, the increase in age at marriage may or may not increase women’s education.

    Why the age of marriage of women matters

    • Age of marriage has bearing on maternal mortality rates, fertility levels, nutrition of mother and child, sex ratios, and, on a different register, education and employment opportunities for women.
    • It is also argued that other factors — such as poverty and health services — were far more effective as levers for improving women’s and children’s health and nutritional status.
    • Child marriage curtail a girl’s opportunities to continue her education.
    • And in turn, the lack of educational opportunities plays an important role in facilitating child marriage.

    Way forward

    • The fact that about one-fourth of women (18-29 years) in India have married before 18 years despite the law tells us that legally increasing the age of marriage may not fully prevent child marriages. 
    • 1] Ensure education for at least up to 12 years: Much of the benefits can be reaped by ensuring that women complete education at least up to 12 years.
    • Bangladesh shows that improving women’s education and imparting modern skills to them that increase their employability reduces child marriage and improves health and nutrition.
    • 2] Educational attainment criteria in schemes: Schemes which ease the financial burden of marriage but the eligibility criteria of which should essentially link to educational attainment in addition to age demand attention.
    • The lessons from Janani Suraksha Yojana and the zeal demonstrated in ending open defecation might provide valid insights here.

    Conclusion

    A legalistic approach to increasing the age at marriage will produce positive results only if it leads to an improvement in women’s education and skill acquisition for employability. In the absence of an enhancement in women’s schooling or skills, a legalistic approach to ending child marriage might become counterproductive.

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  • Microplastics found in Antarctica

    Scientists have found microplastics — plastic pieces much smaller than a grain of rice — in freshly fallen Antarctic snow for the first time.

    What are Microplastics?

    • Microplastics are tiny bits of various types of plastic found in the environment.
    • The name is used to differentiate them from “macroplastics” such as bottles and bags made of plastic.
    • There is no universal agreement on the size of microplastics. It defines microplastic as less than 5mm in length.
    • However, for the purposes of this study, since the authors were interested in measuring the quantities of plastic that can cross the membranes and diffuse into the body via the bloodstream.
    • Hence they agreed on an upper limit on the size of the particles as 0.0007 millimetre.

    Why in news?

    • Researchers have found microplastics in the snow samples from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica.

    Threats posed by Microplastics

    • Microplastics has the potential to influence the climate by accelerating melting of ice.
    • They limit growth, reproduction, and general biological functions in organisms, as well as humans.

     

    Try this PYQ:

    1. Why is there a great concern about the ‘microbeads’ that are released into environment?

    (a) They are considered harmful to marine ecosystems.

    (b) They are considered to cause skin cancer in children.

    (c) They are small enough to be absorbed by crop plants in irrigated fields.

    (d) They are often found to be used as food adulterants.

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    Back2Basics: Ross Ice Shelf

    • Ross Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf of Antarctica roughly the size of France.
    • It is several hundred metres thick.
    • The nearly vertical ice front to the open sea is more than 600 kilometres long, and between 15 and 50 metres (50 and 160 ft) high above the water surface.
    • Ninety percent of the floating ice, however, is below the water surface.
    • Most of Ross Ice Shelf is in the Ross Dependency claimed by New Zealand.
    • It floats in, and covers, a large southern portion of the Ross Sea and the entire Roosevelt Island located in the east of the Ross Sea.

     

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  • Environmental Performance Index (EPI), 2022

    India has objected to a report, called the EPI, 2022, that places the country last (along with Nigeria) on a list of 180 countries on managing climate change, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.

    Environmental Performance Index

    • The report is prepared by researchers at the Yale and Columbia universities.
    • It provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
    • Using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
    • These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets.
    • The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.

    Why the report is inherently biased?

    • The US placed itself at the 20th spot of the 22 wealthy democracies in the global west and 43rd overall.
    • The relatively low ranking has put all blame on the rollback policies during the Trump administration.
    • It goes on to preach that developing countries do not have to sacrifice sustainability for economic security.

  • Festivals in news: Mela Kheerbhawani

    Kashmiri Hindus, locally known as Pandits, will celebrate the Zyestha Ashtami at the Mata Kheerbhawani temple at Tulmulla in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.

    Kheerbhawani Temple

    • The temple is dedicated to the goddess Ragnya Devi.
    • The festival, known as Mela Kheerbhawani, is the largest gathering of Hindus in Kashmir after the annual Amarnath Yatra.
    • Situated 30 km from Srinagar city, it is one of the most sacred pilgrimage sites for Kashmiri Hindus.
    • The temple gets its name from kheer, or milk and rice pudding that pilgrims pour into the spring inside the temple complex as an offering to the goddess.
    • Hundreds of local Muslims, too, traditionally join the celebrations.

    Legend of the festival

    • Legend has it that the water of the temple’s spring changes colour from white to red and black.
    • The colour of the water is said to predict the impending future.
    • If it changes to black, it is seen as inauspicious or an impending disaster.
    • Kashmiri Pandits say that the water had turned black before they were forced to flee Kashmir during the militancy of 1990.

     

    Tap to read more about:

    Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

     

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Traditions- Communities

    1. Chaliha Sahib Festival- Sindhis
    2. Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra- Gonds
    3. Wari-Warkari- Santhals

    Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3

    (c) 1 and 3

    (d) None of the above

     

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  • Sant Kabir: the extraordinary poet-saint of the Bhakti Movement

    President Kovind inaugurated the Sant Kabir Academy and Research Centre Swadesh Darshan Yojana and paid tribute to the Bhakti saint, Kabir at Maghar, his resting place in Uttar Pradesh.

    Kabir and the Bhakti Movement

    • The Bhakti movement, which began in the 7th century in South India, had begun to spread across north India in the 14th and the 15th centuries.
    • The movement was characterized by popular poet-saints who sang devotional songs to God in vernacular languages.
    • Most of the preaching were meant for abolishing the Varna system and promoting Hindu-Muslim unity.
    • They emphasized an intense emotional attachment with God.

    Who was Sant Kabir?

    • One school within the Bhakti movement was the Nirguni tradition and Sant Kabir was a prominent member of it.
    • In this tradition, God was understood to be a universal and formless being.
    • Many of the saints of the Bhakti movement came from the ranks of the lower to middle artisanal classes.
    • Kabir was an alleged ‘low caste’ weaver (Julaha), Raidas was a leather worker and Dadu a cotton carder.
    • Their radical dissent against orthodoxy and rejection of caste made these poet-saints extremely popular among the masses and their ideology of egalitarianism spread across India.

    His life

    • He was born in Varanasi and lived between the years 1398 and 1448, or till the year 1518 according to popular belief.
    • He was from a community of ‘lower caste’ weavers of the Julaha caste, a group that had recently converted to Islam.
    • He learned the art of weaving, likely studied meditative and devotional practices under the guidance of a Hindu guru and grew to become an eminent teacher and poet-singer.
    • Kabir’s beliefs were deeply radical, and he was known for his intense and outspoken voice which he used to attack the dominant religions and entrenched caste systems of the time.
    • He composed his verses orally and is generally assumed to be illiterate.

    His literary works

    • Kabir’s compositions can be classified into three literary forms – dohas (short two liners), ramanas (rhymed 4 liners), sung compositions of varying length, known as padas (verses) and sabdas (words).
    • There are myriad legendary accounts on the other hand, for which there exists less of a factual historical basis.

    Kabir’s critique of religion and caste

    • Kabir is in modern times portrayed as a figure that synthesized Islam and Hinduism.
    • While he did borrow elements from different traditions, he very forcefully proclaimed his independence from them.
    • He did not only target the rituals and practices of both Hinduism and Islam, but also dismissed the sacred authority of their religious books, the Vedas and the Quran.
    • He even combined Allah and Ram in his poems.
    • He sought to eradicate caste distinctions and attempted to create an egalitarian society, by stressing the notion that a Bhakt (devotee) was neither a Brahmin nor an ‘untouchable’ but just a Bhakt.

    Kabir’s legacy

    • Kabir’s own humble origins and his radical message of egalitarianism fostered a community of his followers called the Kabir Panth.
    • A sect in northern and central India, many of their members are from the Dalit community.
    • All regard Kabir as their guru and treat the Bijak as their holy scripture.
    • The Bijak contains works attributed to Kabir and is argued by historians to have been written in the 17th century.
    • Several of Kabir’s verses and songs form a vital part of the Guru Granth Sahib.

    Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1.Saint Nimbarka was a contemporary of Akbar.

    2.Saint Kabir was greatly influenced by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

     

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  • Ancient sculptures recovered from Australia, US

    Ten antiquities (sculptures) retrieved from Australia and the United States were handed over to the Government of Tamil Nadu.

    Some of the returned antiquities, and how they had gone missing:

    (1) Dvarapala:

    • Retrieved in 2020 from Australia, this stone sculpture belongs to the Vijayanagar dynasty dating to the 15th-16th century.
    • He is holding a gada in one hand and has another leg raised up to the level of his knee.
    • The sculpture was burgled from Moondreeswaramudayar Temple, Tiruneveli in1994.

    (2) Nataraja:

    • Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this image of Nataraja, a depiction of Shiva, in his divine cosmic dance form, is in tribhanga posture, standing on the lotus pedestal.
    • It is dateable to the 11th-12th century. Possibly, ananda tandava or the Dance of Bliss is portrayed here.
    • The sculpture was burgled from the strong room of Punnainallur Arulmigu Mariyamman Temple, Thanjavur, in 2018.

    (3) Kankalamurti:

    • Retrieved in 2021 from the US, Kankalamurti is depicted as a fearsome aspect of Lord Shiva and Bhairava.
    • The sculpture is four-armed, holding ayudhas such as damaru and trishula in the upper hands and a bowl and a trefoil shaped object, as a treat for the playful fawn, in the lower right hand.
    • The idol is dateable to the 12th-13th century, and was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli in 1985.

    (4) Nandikeshvara:

    • Retrieved in 2021 from the US, this bronze image of Nandikeshvara is dateable to the 13th century.
    • It is shown standing in tribhanga posture with folded arms, holding an axe and a fawn in the upper arms, with his forearms in namaskara mudra.
    • This sculpture was stolen from Narasinganadhar Swamy Temple, Tirunelveli, in 1985.

    (5) Four-armed Vishnu:

    • Retrieved in 2021 from the US, dateable to the 11th century, and belonging to the later Chola period.
    • The sculpture has Lord Vishnu standing on a padma pedestal holding attributes such as shankha and chakra in two hands; while the lower right hand is in abhaya mudra.
    • It was stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur, in 2008.

    (6) Goddess Parvati:

    • Retrieved in 2021 from the US, the image depicts a Chola-period sculpture dateable to the 11th century.
    • She is shown holding a lotus in the left hand whereas the right is hanging down near her kati.
    • This sculpture was also stolen from Arulmigu Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Ariyalur in 2008.

    (7) Standing child Sambandar:

    • Retrieved in 2022 from Australia. Sambandar, the popular 7th-century child saint, is one of the Muvar, the three principal saints of South India.
    • The sculpture is dateable to the 11th century.
    • The legend goes that after receiving a bowl of milk from Goddess Uma, the infant Sambandar devoted his life to composing hymns in praise of Lord Shiva.
    • The sculpture displays the saint’s childlike quality, while also empowering him with the maturity and authority of a spiritual leader.
    • It was stolen from Sayavaneeswarar Temple, Nagapattinam, between 1965 and 1975.

     

     

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