Lalitankura Pallava Griham

A Pallava treasure on Tiruchirappalli Rockfort

S. Swaminathan(sswami99@gmail.com)

There are two iconographic compositions which owe considerably to the Pallava-s: Somaskandaand Gangadhara.

Both these have captivated artists through the ages.

Pallava Art Heritage

This depicts Shiva and Parvati

seated on a throne, and Skanda

on His Mother’s lap.

Brahma and Vishnu are standing

behind the throne as a mark of homage

to the divine family.

Somaskanda

Somaskanda, is a Pallava conception.

The image is found in almost all Shiva temples

of South India from the Pallava period

onwards.

Somaskanda

This sculpture from Kanchipuram is a

Pallava composition of the 7th century.

Somaskanda

Later the Chozha artist expressed himself eloquently in bronze

Somaskanda

The theme attracted paintersthrough ages

Somaskanda

The lord acquiescing to the wishes of Bhagirathaand subduing the mighty Gangahas been a fertile field for creativity.

Gangadhara

GangadharaPudukkottai; Pandyas;

7th Century

In thisearly representation,

a relaxed Sivaholds a tress

into whicha prostrating Ganga

descends

GangadharaElephanta; Vakatakas; 8th Century

Bhagiratha is seen on the left kneeling and praying.

Ganga is above the Lord.

Siva stands firm receiving the torrent.

Brahma, Vishnu and others gather to witness the spectacle.

The smiling Parvati has Her headturned slightly away.

Is she jealous and angry that another women is given shelter?

GangadharaKodumbalur; Irukkuvelir, 9th

century

Poetic is this composition.

Siva’s face is suffused with a tender, but mischievous smile on receiving Ganga,while Parvati moves away in mock anger.

The sequel is shown in the niche below.

The lovers are reconciled. Parvati’s face is lighted up

as she is encircled by the arm of Her Lord

GangadharaGangai-konda-chozhapuram; Chozhas,11th

century

In this panelSiva does not take chances.

He holds tenderly His consort while receiving the mighty

Ganga.

GangadharaTiruchirappalli; Pallavas; 7th century

This is the earliest in Tamilnaduand is a creation ofMahendra Pallava.

The composition is not only poetic,but carries meaningat more than one level and presents a puzzle

The shrines of Tayumanavar andof the Uchchi-p-pillaiyar are well

known.

But there exist three monuments that are of greater antiquity

and are important art treasures.

Monuments in Tiruchirappalli

Rockfort Complex

The oldest is a cavern, a holy resort of Jain ascetics.

There are stone-beds where the holy men practised severe

austerities and a number of inscriptions on them.

The earliest inscription in Late Tamil Brahmi of the 3rd century AD is now lost.

Only three inscriptions in Early Vattezhuttu are extant and these are dated to the 5th century AD.

These mention the name of the patrons of the Jaina ascetics.

Jaina Natural Cavern

Pallava Cave Temple

At the entrance tothe Uchchi-pillaiyar Temple

is an Early Pallava templein which is

the celebratedGangadhara panel

Pandya Cave Temple

At a lower level is a cave temple, excavated by the Pandya-s in the 8th century.

This is believed to have been designed following the Hindu Shanmatha doctrine of Adi Sankara.

Now let us visit the Pallava cave temple

The Pallava Cave Temple

Importance

The Pallava-s introduced excavating hard rock in the south in the 7th century.

This cave temple is one among the earliest cave temples of the Tamil country.

This is the southern most cave of the Pallava-s.

Like the other Pallava monuments this cave temple also holds some puzzles.

The cave temple built by Mahendra Pallava, is dedicated to Siva.

Mahendra calls the shrineLalitankura-pallavesvara-griham.

Lalitankura, meaning charming-offspring, is one among the many titles of Mahendra.

This name is found engraved in the temple.

Lalilankura Pallavesvara Griham

Sculptures

The sculptural content includes two Pallava dvara-pala-s

guarding the garbha-griham and

the famous Gangadhara panel in bold relief.

Inscriptions

The cave contains some important inscriptions.

Mahendra engraved 80 of his titles in this shrine, mostly on the pillars.

But, more important is a poem of eight stanzas,composed by the king himself,in Sanskrit, written in the Grantha script.

Grantha script

Grantha, or more appropriately, Pallava Grantha, is a script used in the Tamil country

to write Sanskrit.

It is also the mother script for Malayalam, and script for most all the languages of the East:

Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Thai, Laos, Khmer, Combodia, Vietnam etc.

This happened through the political and cultural conquest of the East

by the Indian rulers, starting with the Pallava-s.

Temple facade

Just beyond the entrance to the Uchchi-p-pillaiyar templelies the cave temple

The cave is supported by four pillars.

The façade looks rather simple.

Pillars

The pillars are plain, square in cross section at the bottom and top, but eight-sided in the middle.

They become more and more sophisticated later on.

Pillars

Beautiful geometrical shapes are found on the pillars.

PillarsTitles of Mahendra, mostly in Grantha, some in Tamil,

are engraved on them.

ChaLisappuruTu ChiLundhu(Grantha)

Chittirakkarappuli(Tamil)

Mandapam

Beyond the pillars is a mandapam,and in the rear the hall is another set of pillars.

On the eastern wall of the cave, is the garbha-griham and on the west is the celebrated Gangadhara sculpture

Garbha-griham

The typical Pallava sanctum is a cube of 9-foot each. There are two pits, one for the lingam to be installed.

The reasons for the other pit is not known.The sanctum is guarded by two dvara-pala-s.

Dvara-pala-s

Two two-armed guards,in semi-profile

stand with one leg bent and the other planted

firmly on the ground, carrying a massive club.

Their dress, ornaments and sacred-thread reflect

the contemporary fashion.

Gangadhara sculpture

On the western wall is the celebrated Gangadhara panel.

In the center is Siva as Gangadhara with attendant figures.

Gangadhara sculpture

On either side of the panel, are written eight couplets,

in Sanskrit in the Pallava Grantha script.

It is a great poem composed by the king himself and

explains the Gangadhara sculpture

Gangadhara

The four-armed Siva is standing

with His left leg on the ground.

His right foot is held up by the head and an arm

of a crouching Siva-gaNa.

Siva’s upper right arm holds a strand of His tresses

into which Ganga is descending.

Ganga is shown asa small female figure

with folded hands.

GangadharaHis lower right hand holds

the tail of a serpent. His upper left holds

an akshara-maala and the lower one rests on His

hip.

His sacred-thread is vastra-yajnopaveeta.

The ornaments are: coiled valaya-s around the

wrists, elaborate keyoora-s

above His elbows, makara-kuNDala-s on both

ears, a broad necklace and

an udara-bandha round His belly.

Gangadhara

Siva’s head-dress is an elaborate jaThaa-makuTa,

a rather unusual one.

It is decorated on the front and held in position by a coronet.

On the top right side is the moon and

at the left-bottom is a skull.

Gangadhara

His veshTi, reaching up to ankles

with the central fan-like pleat of the kachchha

hanging between legs, every fold clear and crisp, is worn the way it is done

today; a tradition of continuity.

Round His waist He wears a kaTi-bandha.

Another uttareeya hangs loose in a loop in front and has tassels on either side.

Now let us follow the other actors in this scene.

The crouching gaNa supporting the right leg of the Lord with his head and palm is Kumbhodara.

He holds a serpent on his right hand.

To the right of Siva’s makuTa is an animal.Because of the prominent hump it could be a bull.

Is it taking the place of vRshabha-dhvaja?

Or is it a dog? A dog is found in other Gangadhara-s,

the Pallava and the non-Pallava,and this has not been satisfactorily explained yet.

Below, kneeling on either side of Siva, are two identical figures.

Also two others are seen in adoration on both sides.

All these four figures are attired very similar to the Lord.

Who could these people be, in the royal dress in Siva’s camp?

The customary Vishnu, Brahma and the deva-s are not found witnessing the grand spectacle.

Behind the two kneeling figures are two identical rishis, identified by their huge jaTha-s and bearded face.

Their inner hands are raised in veneration.

This bas-relief is an outstanding composition.

It is also the earliest composition in the Tamil country.

That the artist could achieve aesthetic excellence on his very first attempt is astounding.

This must have inspired his illustrious son, Narasimha Varma,

to attempt the world’s first open-air bas-relief in Mahabalipuram, a feat never attempted there after!

The whole composition is an illustration of total balance.

It exudes the Pallava grace, every square inch of it.

Every character is perfectly modelled.

There is no overcrowding, no dramatisation.

It is beauty in simplicity.

We have not understood the reason for the unusual attire of Gangadhara.

We haven’t identified the four princely figures,and the animal atop.

The poem written on the sides gives some clue.

Inscriptional Poem

The inscription, an 8-stanza poem

by Mahendra in Sanskrit,

was first translated byHultzsch in 1890

and his reading is more or less followed

even today by most epigraphists.

But I will be following the interpretation of Michael Lockwood

Gist of the Poem

Let me give the gist of the poem,which, of course, does reflect

the poetic beauty of the composition.

Author says:The God, when approached by the author

to take an earthy abode, wished to see the fertile lands of

the Chozhas and the river Kaveri.

Author adds:The choice of the hill also served another purpose.

It justified Siva’s name a Gireesha.

Wouldn’t you call this vanity of Mahendraattempting to justify the Lord’s name?

Gist of the Poem

Author continues:The mountain became Siva’s chief jewel.

Then the author established an idol of Siva on his own image and made himself immortal.

The second line perhaps explains the princely attire of Lord Siva.

Gist of the Poem

Now the author becomes mischievous.

The author adds:Ganga, the daughter of Himavan,

now fearing that the Lord may become infatuated with the river Kaveri,

left Her mountain-dwelling to reside here.

Some hold that ‘daughter of Himavan’

would mean Parvati.

Gist of the Poem

Did you notice that the cave overlooks the Chozha fields,

but not the river Kaveri?

Did Mahendra cheat the Lord too!

Gist of the Poem

Dhvani is a feature of poetry that contrives two levels of meaning: a direct meaning and a suggested meaning.

This suggested meaning that appeals to an aesthete is really the soul of poetry.

This poem has both direct and suggested meanings.

So also the sculpture, which is novel.

Dhvani in the Poem

Dhvani in the Poem

Mahendra contrives the double-meaning skillfully using his titles that are also

the names of Siva.

Gunabhara, Purushottama and Satya-sandha are some of them.

Ganga could also mean Kaveri. And so on.

For example, in the last stanza, when the author says that this abode of

Satyasandha is His chief jewel, can be taken to mean that this is

the crest-jewel of King Mahendra, for Satyasandha is a name of Siva and

also a title of Mahendra.

Dhvani in the Poem

Dhvani in the sculpture

Some hold that the sculpture has a contrived meaning too,dhvani in stone, a unique Pallava feature!

Let us follow this line of argument.

Mahendra says that he has made Gangadhara in his image,which would explain

the unusual princely dress of the Lord.

The central figure can, then, be taken as Mahendra himself,and then we shall attempt to follow

the suggested meaning of the composition.

Dhvani in the sculpture

Then, it is argued, that the royal dignitarieson either side of Mahendra

would be their feudatories:the Ganga-s, suggested by the theme of composition

and by the presence of descending Gangaandthe Kadamba-s, who used dog-emblem,

suggested by the figure dog shown on the right!

Does this look a little too contrived meaning?

Dhvani in the sculpture

Gangadhara Composition

The Pallava dynasty seemed to enjoy teasing. Many of the Pallava monuments present puzzles,

both intended and unintended.

Before we conclude, let me quote the last stanza from the poem.

शि�ला�क्षरे�ण जनि�ता� सत्यसन्धस्य भौ�निताकी� ।சி�லா�க்ஷரே�ண-ஜநி�தா�-ஸத்யஸந்தா4ஸ்யபெ�ள4தா�கீ.

śilaaksharENa-janitaa-satyasandhasya-bhautikee

मू�र्त्तिः��� की�र्त्तिः��मूय�ञ्चा�स्य की! ता� ता��"व ��श्वता� ॥ மூர்த்தா�: கீர்த்தா�மயீஞ்சி�ஸ்ய க்ருதா� ரேதாநைநிவ சி�ச்வதீ.

muurtih keertimayeeñchaasya-kRtaa-tEnaiva-śaaśvatee.

This bodily image [of Satyasandha (God/king)] was created out of the stone inscription of Satyasandha [poet-king].

By the same imperishable character, an embodiment of His/his fame was made imperishable.

With this poem in stone was a unique tradition of temple building

ushered in the Tamil countrystudding its landscape

with countless icons of art and piety.

Thank you

S. Swaminathan

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