Musafir

After roaming around Mahabalipuram for almost 8 hours, i was damn tired and  desperately wanted an end to the day’s trip. However, there was one place still left to visit and that is the one i am writing about. I hired an auto rickshaw and moved to this place which is at a distance 15 kilometres from Mahabalipuram.

I reached the place and what i see.. A hill with almost 300 steps to the top on which, a very famous temple is situated. I was tired, but adamant. I started off ascending. Thirukazhukundram is an ancient town in Kanchipuram district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is famous for its Hindu temple, Vedagiriswarar temple, popularly known as Kazhugu koil (Eagle temple). The word Thirukazhukundram comes from the Tamil words Thiru (Respectful), Kazhugu (Eagle), Kundram (mount). The town is also known as Pakshi theertham. It has also been known as Uruthrakodi, Nandipuri, Indrapuri, Narayanapuri, Brahmapuri, Dinakarapuri, Muniganapuri in the past. The main attraction here is the large temple located atop the mountain which houses the deity of Vedagiriswarar. There is a temple at the foothills which is dedicated to Thirupurasundari Amman.

There is a very interesting legend here. It is said that eight rishis of the Hindu pantheon were cursed by Lord Shiva to be reborn as eagles. The worshippers begged forgiveness and Lord Shiva showed them some mercy. They were to be reborn as holy eagles, two in each yugam (an epoch of the Hindu calendar) and attain Sayujya mukti by worshipping Lord Siva sincerely. Locals believe that out of  the eight rishis, six have already attained their wish by being born as eagles and worshipping the Lord. The remaining two are said to be the two eagles that have visited Thirukazhukundram daily since time immemorial, in order to worship Shiva and obtain salvation from the curse. It is said that after a bath in the Ganges in the morning, they come to the site at noon for food, reach Rameswaram in the evening for darshan and return to Chidambaram for the night.

I spoke to the priest and he mentioned that both the eagles died at this very same location and attained Mukti. Also it is said that the eagles moved around with the devotees and never harmed any. They just ate what the devotees offered and flew away. We can have an entre view of the surroundings once we reach to the top. Also we can see the entire complex and the 4 gopurams of the Amman temple  below.

The temple is old but the outer construction is new and painted. The pillars and the sculptures inside date the temple to the 14th century AD. Black stone is used entirely inside the temple and the pillars shine in the electric bulbs. Hundreds of devotees throng the temple everyday from all places in Tamil Nadu to offer prayers to the Linga form of Lord Shiva. I attended the evening Aarti of the Lord and came down to the Amman Temple.

There are four inscriptions on the strong room of the Vedagiriswarar Temple. That part of the wall where these inscriptions are found, is disfigured by a number of mason's marks, which are noticed in the footnotes to the texts. These marks consist, in most cases, of Tamil numerals, engraved probably before attempting to pull down the wall with a view to repair the temple. The numerals would indicate the order in which the stones had to be arranged while rebuilding the wall. This custom of marking is still prevalent in Southern India. An example would be the Ekambareshwara Temple at Kanchipuram. At this place the numerals are not cut with the chisel as at Thirukazhukundram, but painted on the stones with tar or chunnam. The alphabet and language of the four subjoined inscriptions is Tamil; but a number of words of Sanskrit origin are written either wholly or partially in Grantha characters.

There is a big mantapa to the left of the temple. Its an old construction and the most beautiful thing is the ceiling of it, where old paintings still awe the visitors. The temple chariot is placed inside this mantapa and even the pillars of this are carved with various forms of gods and goddesses. The construction of the mantapa clearly mark the temple to be one that was commissioned by the Vijayanagara kings.

I then moved inside the temple. The inside of the temple is amazing. Unfortunately, i was not allowed to take any photographs inside as i was carrying my Video Camera. The temple has a long mukha mantapa which leads to an antarala. There are sculptures of warriors on horses on both sides of the mukha mantapa which gives an extra ordinary look to the temple. The garbha griha is big with the Amman shining bright in the lamps as well as electric bulbs.

There is a fresh water pond beside the Amman temple. A conch pops out of this  pond every twelve years and this has been happening ever since the temple has been constructed. All these conchs are stored inside a small room in the Amman temple complex and the visitors are offered to see them for a small fee. It is really amazing to even think that a conch pops out of fresh water.

It was almost 8 in the night by the time i had a darshan of Amman. I went back to my hotel in Mahabalipuram for a nice hot bath, had nice dinner with chilled beer and signed off for the day. I started off early next morning to my next destination, Kanchipuram.

References: Wikipedia and Epigraphia Indica Vol. 3

The Pidari Rathas are two incomplete rathas and similar in style with Pancha Pandava Ratha group, hence could be assigned to the same period. One of these faces east and another faces north. Both are two storeys design where the upper part of the ratha is complete but the lower portion is very little done. Both of them are carved in different profile, one has a square roof and another has an octagonal roof. On the ridges of the roofs is seen floral creepers, similar to Draupadi Ratha. Regular arrangement of mini shrines over the cornice is also found here. In one of the ratha we also see pilasters supporting the cornice, however the other one has not still reached to that state of completion.

The Atiranachanda Mandapa is located at Saluvankuppam, about 4 km from Mahabalipuram on Chennai route. This is an east facing mandapa measuring 28 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6.5 feet high. The façade of the cave is supported on two pillars and two pilasters. Above the cornice we see incomplete horizontal frieze of mini shrines. Inside the are seen three cells, however only the central cell is excavated as a square of 3.5 feet, the rest of two cells are just the wall portions separated by the middle cell. Inside the middle cell is placed a black polished multi faceted lingam, which is seen as a characteristic style of Rajasimha. Another proof to support this cave excavation to Rajasimha is Somaskanda panel on the back wall inside the shrine. Shiva is shown seated with Uma and baby Skanda under a parasol. They are flanked by Vishnu and Brahma on either side. Outside this cell, in the sunk niches, are carved two dvarpalas. Two similar Somaskanda panels are seen carved on the back wall of the mandapa on either sides of the central cell. From the pillars and corbel, it looks that the cave might have been executed during Mahendra/Mamalla’s time however black polished fluted linga and Somaskanda panel inside the central cell suggests the creation to Rajasimha. It would be wrong to assume that the excavation was started during Mahendra/Mamalla’s time and completed by Rajasimha as the cave is still incomplete and also to complete such a simple excavation would not require this much time such as between Mamalla and Rajasimha. We see a long stone Lings outside the Mandapa. Some historians suggest that the current granite was placed inside recently and the the Linga outside was the one that was originally inside the cell.

We have two inscriptions, one on northern wall and another on southern wall, in  this temple. Both are similar inscription, only difference is in their script, one written in Sanskrit and another in Pallava Grantha script. From the inscriptions, we found that this temple was called as Atiranachanda-Pallaveshvara-Griham – Ishvara temple of Atiranachanda Pallava. It is clearly stated that this was excavated as an adobe for Shiva, Uma and Skanda with the ganas. Pallava Grantha inscription runs for seventeen lines while the Sanskrit inscription runs for sixteen lines. In the additional line of Pallava Grantha script talks about the musical talents of Kalakala, another title of Rajasimha. Few verses of the inscriptions are similar to Dharmaraja and Ganesha Ratha inscriptions of Parameshvaravarman I. From the inscription, it is clear that this cave can be assigned to Rajasimha.

Yali Mandapam (Tiger Cave) – This structure is quite different and unique from the other cave shrines of Mahabalipuram. This south-east facing structure is located near Atiranachanda Mandapam. This cave is refined, cut at a height of 6 feet from the ground level and the pavilion is closed on three sides and a 4 feet deep and 6 feet high cavity is excavated in the front. The staircase, to reach the high raised platform, is supported by lion parapets on either sides.

There are two rampant lion pilasters at the corners of this cavity. There is a female rider sitting over the rearing lion. This is the first instance of rearing lion pillar style in a Mahabalipuram cave which suggests that it was excavated during Rajasimha’s time. Also the proximity of this mandapam to Atiranachanda Mandapa also supports Rajasimha as its creator. There are two small niches carved on the either side of  this central cavity, the niches are empty. Around this central cell and the two niches is a surrounding garland like arrangement of eleven vyalas (mythological lion-shaped animal). On the same rock, south of this pavilion, are carved two large elephants heads, above which is a horse-show cavity representing a howdah. If we compare the elephants of Arjuna’s Penance then these elephants heads are very inferior in craftsmanship, even if we take account of the damage done due to saline air. The ears of the elephants are  carved with  Inside these are carved four-armed seated figure carrying what seems like a vajra (thunderbolt) in one of their hands. One figure could be identified with Indra as elephant is his mount. There is a pillar (dhvaja-stambha) in between two elephants. On south of the elephants is a figure of horse, approaching towards the elephants. However that figure is not complete and quite worn out due to the saline air.

On northern face of the same rock is carved a huge lion. In its stomach is carved out a cavity. Some figure was planned inside this cavity, as can be seen from what’s left behind,  however it was left unfinished. This lion is similar to the standing lion inside Shore Temple, in whose chest is carved a cavity and inside is a relief of  Mahishasuramardini.The lion head is quite identifiable however In whole it looks like a crude carving. From all above elements of this rock boulder, it can be inferred that this cave was thought to be dedicated to Durga. This surmise is totally dependent upon the presence of so many lions, who is the mount of Goddess Durga. As stated earlier, this creation is assigned to Rajasimha by most of the scholars.

Mukunda Nayanar Temple:

This temple was buried under 12 feet of sand and was excavated at the same time when Sulvankuppam excavations were carried out. This lies little far from town, on the way towards Sulvankuppam. This is a small temple which is very similar to Dharmaraja Ratha in its architecture and design. This east facing double storey temple, thought assigned to Rajasimha’s period, does not have rampant lion pillars, which are very characteristic features of his style and are found in all the temples attributed to him. The temple has a ardha-mandapa supported on two pillars and two pilasters. The pillars are circular in shape with diminishing diameter towards the upper end. Above the cornice is seen regular arrangement of mini shrines interconnected via cloisters. The corner shrines are with square roof however the middle one is with oblong roof. These mini shrines separates the first storey with the ground one. On the first storey are seen niches on all four sides, however all are empty. The ardha-mandapa leads into a square  garbha-griham. On the back wall of this sanctum is a Somaskanda panel. Shiva is shown seated with Uma and baby Skanda, while Vishnu and Brahma are shown standing behind them. Skanda is shown seated in Parvati’s lap. The style is very similar to the other such panels of Rajasimha’s time. The presence of this panel supports the theory of its assignment to Rajasimha. There is a Shivalingam installed in front of this panel, however it seems to be a later addition.

We have come to the end of the wonderful journey of Mahabalipuram. This place would always have a special place in my trips as this is the first time i ventured into Tamil Nadu. I bid adieu to the land where stones speak history and move to my next destination, Thirukazhukundram.

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