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A Pallava Relief: Durg

Author(s): Ananda CoomaraswamySource: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Vol. 25, No. 148 (Apr., 1927), pp. 22-25Published by: Museum of Fine Arts, BostonStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4170046 .

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XXV, 22 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETINthey were printedin rich blacks and luminousgrays, and were "visible sur demande" in anexhibition f paintingsby Gauguinand othersofthe Impressioniste nd Syntheiste group, heldnear Volpini's n the Champde Mars in 1889.These essays n lithographyeasserthe fact that itis the bold painter rained o riseabove the trivialand commonplacewho can successfully nvadesome specializedbranch of the graphicarts andproducework which is fresherand morerobustthan that of the professional anufacturerf printswho leanstoo heavilyon tradition nd spendshislife in the mastery f petty detail. Differingbutlittlefrom he laterprintsof the South Sea periodin theirdrawing nd in theireffectivearrangementof a few simpleelements,heyemphasize s clearlyas one of hisbroadlyhandled canvaseshe artist'sunflaggingnterestn pattern nd in the impressive-ness of repose. On the subjects themselvestmightbe said that they carryout the thoughtofthe artist's onvictionhat the merelyprettys neverbeautiful,while the opposite ometimesmaybe.Commenting few monthsbeforehisdeath onthe ficklenessof the public,Gauguinobserves,"My Brittany ictures re now rose-water ecauseof Tahiti; Tahitiwill become eau-de-cologne e-causeof theMarquesas." His estimate asprovedcorrect;but in spite of the attempt o hurryhimintoa prematureld mastership,is accountwill notbe finallybalanced for manyyears. He alone ofthe groupwhichprofessed itterdissatisfactionithWesternways and a wish to return o a moreprimitivemode of life definitely urnedhis back onEurope; and while the otherswere fobbingofftheir barbaricnotions and ethnological heoriesgainedat thirdhand,alwayswiththe comfortableknowledge hatcivilization as still theirnext-doorneighbor, e was enduring periodof misery ndsufferingn a first-hand earchfor the real thing.If some futurecentury, eversing o-day'sverdict,should pronounce im wrong, t will not adjudgehim absurdlywrong. H. P. R.

mallarm'~ GauguinLent by W. G. RussellAllen

A Pallava Relief: DurgaGODDESSES, perhapswith the exceptionofUpas,the Dawn, play a very unimportantpart n Vedic mythology, here we find ittlemorethana naivetendency o provide ach god with awife; forexample,ndrawithIndrani.Inthepop-

Durga, PasupatiKovil (A. S. I.)Ca. 9th century

ularnon-Aryan ults,which provided he greaterpartof the mythologyof mediaevalHinduism, nthe otherhand,goddesses reof great mportance,evenoutnumberinghemasculineeities. Perhapsthisdifferences to be associatedwith the patri-archal haracterf Aryan, hematriarchalharacterof Dravidianulture. We do not knowverymuchin detailabout he nativegoddesses t a veryearlyperiod, xcept that theyincluded ypesof benefi-cent powersof fecundity ndprosperity,s well asmalevolent emons. In thedevelopmentf theisticanddevotionalHinduism llthesefeminine owerscould be, and gradually ere,incorporatedntoaconsistentheological chemeas manifestationsfone goddess,who is eitherHerselfthe SupremePower (Energy)or the power(energy)nherentna male deity. As Power,the goddess(Devi) iscalled Sakti(Energy),hermanifold ormsSaktis;and from hiswordis derived he adjective 'dkta,designatinghe cults of the Great Motherandfeminine owers haracteristicf TantrikHinduism.Thusin her own right he Devi is the Absolute naction,manifestation,ndvariety;Nature,n allher

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XXV, 23

DURGA Height 1.5 m.) SOUTHERN INDIA, 7th CENTURYRoss Collection

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XXV, 24 MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETINmultiplicity, violence, and charm, dispensing im-partially birth and death, illusion and enlighten-ment. In relation to a particularcosmic deity,such as S'iva, she is, in a popular sense, his wife,and also in specific forms engages in activitiesonbehalf of gods or men; and this relation and theseactivities form the theme of innumerablePauraniklegends.No form of the goddess is more devotedly

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::

Durga-Mahisamardin',Singasari, Java13th centuryRoss Collection

worshipped than she who is known as Durg&iInaccessible"), Ciimundli,CandIska,Cas~di,Kat-y&yani,and as Kali or MiahakMii,he "Dark One"or "Great Dark One." This Kiili is at the sametime the Great Mother,' lovingly adored, and adread power delighting in death and destruction,and even in human sacrifice; as Bhaviini in thedays of thagi(thuggee), the patron deity of robbersand murderers.To Durgii is attached one of the best known of

Pauranikegends, hatof the slayingof the Asura(demon)Mahisa,whenceshe is knownas Mahis-asura-mardini.As such she is oftenrepresented,both in sculpture nd painting,n a fiercemany-armed orm, ngagedin victoriousonflictwith thedemon,whose natural ormis that of a buffalo,butwho, at the pointof death,emergesn humanform from ts severed neck.* Of this type theMuseum lreadypossessesRoss Collection) fineexampleof lateJavanese rigin.tIn another ype she is representedmorepacifi-cally,though till armedandmany-armed,tandingupon the severed head which servesher as apedestal. It is of thistypethat the Museumhasjustacquired,hroughhegenerosityf Dr.DenmanW. Ross,a magnificentxample f seventhcenturydateandSouthIndianorigin.The sculpture,n the usualdarkcoarsegranuliteof the South, s in veryhighrelief; it is weatheredin partsas thoughby sand erosion, nd lacksonearm,but it is otherwisewell preserved, nd maywell be regardedas themost mportantxampleofIndian culpturen the Museum. The goddessiseight-armed nd stands, s alreadymentioned, nthe severed head of the buffalo. The figure sbalanced on one hip (French,"hanche"), theotherleg beingbent at the knee and slightly d-vanced, the body "swayed." The lower right(normal) rm,originally separatepiece of stoneattachedby two ironrivets,s missing; he handwasoriginallyaised, robablyn the abhayahastapose(of encouragemento theworshipper),ossiblyin the tarjanihastaposeof threateninghe enemy.The remainingrmson the rightbear the sword(khadga),dartorarrow, iscus cakra),ndtrident(trisala). The lower left (normal)hand is heldgracefully n the hip(katyavalambitahasta),theothers hold a shield(khetaka), onch (s'aiikha),andbow(dhanus). Behind achshoulder ppearsa quiver. The goddesswears a narrowbreastband(sthanottariya)nd a dhoti, he latterhardlyperceptible; crown karandamukuta), laborategirdle,and otherusual ewelry.

It may seem rathercuriousthat Durga, orMah&ikali,houldoften,as in the presentcase,berepresenteds carryinghe two distinctive eaponsof Vishnu discusand conch), n addition o thoseof Siva, of whomthe trident s especially harac-teristic, nd with whom she is morecloselycon-nected. But this is often explainedby the storyas related in the Vamana Purana, where it isstated that when Katyaiyani ame forth to dobattleall the greatdeities enthertheirweaponsS'iva his trident,Vishnu the discusand conch,Varunathe noose, Agni a dart,V5yu a bow,Sulryaa quiverand arrows,Kala a sword andshield,andothergodsvarious rmsand ornaments.Itmayalsobe observed hat ntheDevimahaitmaya

#Cf. Nivedita, Kali, the Mother; Sen, D. C., History of Bengalilanguage and literature (1911), pp. 713-721. Avalon, A. Hymns tothe Goddess ( 1913).*The story is related at length in the Devimahatmaya of the Markan-deya Purana (translation by Pargiter in Bibliotheca Indica, 1888-1904,available in the Museum Library).tCatalogue of the Indian Collections, Part 11,p. 72 and P1. XXX.

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MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS BULLETIN XXV, 25of the Mdrkancdeyaurnna the SupremeDeviis called Mahalaksmi, nd all the cosmicdeities,both maleand female,are derived fromher. Inthe Suprabhedagamahe goddess is called the"dear younger sister of Vishniu." In any case, inthe last analysis the relation of Vishiiu with S'ivabecomes very close, and it will not be forgottenthat a well-known conception (Harihara), oftenrealized in images, unites in one figure the forms ofboth.In South Indian structural S'aiva temples ofvarious dates the image of Durga standing on thebuffalo's head, as described above, usually occupiesa niche on the outside of the north wall of themain shrine; an example to be seen at the Pasupati(S'iva) Kovil, Tanjore District, of perhaps ninthcenturydate, and illustrated n page 22, will give anidea of the originalsetting in which our relief musthave been framed. It may be noticed that in thisrepresentation there are various accessory figures,in particulartwo kneeling figures performing vol-untaryself-sacrificeby decapitation.* It is possible,of course, that similar figures (of which other ex-amples are known) may have accompanied ourrelief. Other examples of Cola and laterdate areto be found at S'rimushnam nd Dharasuram,tandon the outer wall of the well-known Subrahmaiyatemple at Tanjore.Figures of the same type, but older in date andnearer stylisticallyto ours than are those abovereferred to, are met with at Mamallapuram, hirtymiles south of Madras,and popularlyknown as theSeven Pagodas; one, four-armed, on the outerback wall of the monolithic Draupadi Ratha;another, iconographically identical with our ex-ample (except that the pose is symmetrical), n therock-cutTrimiirtiMaki4apam.?The Pallava dynasty,to which these monumentsare due, was one of the most glorious n the historyof India and Farther India. Originallyvassals ofthe Andhras in Vefngi, the Kistna-Godaveri delta(where the Amaravati stiupawas completed at theclose of the second century A. D.), they succeededthe formerin the third or fourth century. In thesixth century they lost Veiigi to the Calukyas,butextended their dominions southward to Tanjore,with a capital at Conjeevaram (Kficipuram).The greatest rulers of the dynasty were Mahen-dravarman I (A. D. 600-625) and Narasim-havarman I (625-645); the former, one of thegreatest figures in Tamil history, appears to haveintroduced into the South the excavated cavetemple style (Dalavanur, Trichinopoly, etc.). Tohim and to his successor, Narasimhavarman,sur-

namedMamalla whencethe nameMamallapuram,"City of Mamalla ), are due the excavated andmonolithic emples,and the great rock-cut com-positionof the Descent of the Ganges (Gafiga-vatarana, ormerlyknown as Arjuna's Penance),on the seashoreat the "Seven Pagodas"; thestructuralemplesat Conjeevaram,nd the beauti-ful "Shore Temple" at Mamallapuram,atingfrom he earlypartof the following entury. ThePallavas,originallyBuddhists, ad already at thebeginningof the seventh centurybecome devotedSaivas, though Buddhism urvived n the Southwell into the Cola period. The Pallavas, oo, insuccession o the Andhras and Kalifigas Indiansare still, in the Malay Archipelago, alled OrangKling,men of Kalifiga),were the chieftransmittersof Indiannstitutionsnd ait to FartherIndiaandIndonesiaSumatrathe Landof Gold,"andJava).Although represehting fully developed andsophisticatedtyle, hesePallavamonuments,quallysignificants historical ocumentsand as art, arethe oldestextantremains f Dravidian rt; all thatpreceded hemmusthave been constructed f im-permanentmaterials. It is very easy, indeed, torecognize n the lithic formsthe reproductionsfthe featuresof a fullyevolved art of timberandbrickconstruction,uch as Mahendravarmanefersto in the old Kaiicipuram illarnscriptioneferringto templesof brick, imber,metal,andmortar;andit is noteworthyhat PrimitiveKhmerart,whichis very closely related to that of the Andhras,Calukyasand Pallavas, s almostexclusivelyoneof brick construction.*Thus neither n construc-tion nor n sculptureave we to do with anythingthat can be called primitive; he earliestmonu-mentsareclassic,and establish lmostall the maintypesof Dravidian rt as theystill survive. Fromthe Pallavaperiodonwards hetendencystowardsgreater nd greater laboration,nd to a less andless reservedphantasy;and becausemost visitors'experience f Dravidian rt s limited o the seven-teenth centurystyle of Madura,an impressionscurrent hat all Dravidianart is necessarilywildand extravagant.On the contrary, he earlierwork, expressing n intense and militantenergy,combineswith this energya serenityand tender-ness, and attainsan epic qualitythat comparesfavorably ven with the exquisite,abundant, ndvoluptuous,ut in the last analysis ess consistent,Northernart of the Gupta period. And thesequalitiesare to be recognizednot onlyin the artpreservedn Indiaproper,but in the character fearlyFarther ndian Khmer,etc.) art at the timewhen it is nearestin form to its Indiansources.The Museumis fortunaten possessinga mag-nificent ndtypical exampleof the classicphaseofthe sculpturef the Dravidian outh.ANANDA COOMARASWAMY.

*Cf. the story of the third vefala (Ch. LXXVIII) in the Kathasarit-sagara- and Rao, loc. cit. infra, P1. C.tSastri, H. K., South Indian images, Figs. 126, 127.$Vogel, J. Ph., Iconographic notes on the Seven Pagodas, A. S. I.,A. R., 1910-191 1, P1. XXVIII, b. The popular names of themonolithic temples at Mamallapuram have nothing to do with their originaldedication; the Draupadi Ratha was probably the Durga shrine.?Rao, T. A. G., Elements of Hindu iconography, PI. XCIX (andcf. PI. Cl, from the Varaha Mandapam); Jouveau-Dubreuil, Arche-.ologie du sud de l'Inde, 11, P1. XVI. For the stylistic development inSouth Indian art see Jouveau-Dubreuil, loc. cit. The word pagoda is acorruption of mandapam, cf. Javanese pendopo.

*For the sculpture and architecture of the seventh century in Cam-bodia, see the two fine volumesby Parmentier, 'Art Khmerprimitif,publishedby LUPcolerancaised'Extr8me-Orient.The Museum hasjust acquired, lsoby gift from Dr. DenmanW. Ross, a head of thisperiod,which s so fartheonly exampleof its kind n America.