Could it be that It was some kind of a finishing school assignment, a final exam before you could become a “pallava sculpture” Maybe not one but several students worked on it together?

Dear VJ,

I have two takes on this topic. You pointed out very pertinently as to why the Pallava artisans chose animals like the elephant, peacock, monkey, baby elephant as the themes for this particular creation probably because these are non-religious themes. Of course no canon or religious text supports these creations… even though the elephants, monkey, peacock etc. are all euologized as the vehicles or affiliates of some devas and or gods like Indira, Kartikeya, Rama among others.

I tell you something, like I spoke about the carvings (very varied and vast number of characters at that, a good mix of animals and human forms) at Thirumayam, which I associated with Mallai Ananta, and later also spoke about Pallava creations at Thirumayam Siva temples where there are the nandi and mushika (vehicles of Lord Ganesa and Siva plus the peacock) and also the temples at Karur and Namakkal in fact, at the Namakkal temple, there is another Ananta this time it is called Ranganatha itself with a similar theme - carving of the underside of the mountain, same Madhu Kaitabha, Markandeya, Bhooma characters… but this time unlike at Mallai or Thirumayam, at Namakkal Madhu and Kaitabha have come to steal the Vedas, but as they are turning back (they hold the Vedas in their hand - this theme is one of benevolence), their knees touch the feet of Lord Ranganatha and apparently as per legend their sins get washed away… I hope I am not deviating much. Another among this eclectic and illustrious series is the Thiruvellarai temple.. about which there is mention of a grant for maintenance and other donations from kings like Simha Vishnu in 375 AD or so. …. I mean these are among the oldest temple structures (surviving, living and flourishing ones at that) in India where the Pallava artisans either carved mountain stone or other granite like stones which (probably - this is purely my theory) were more pliable. Perhaps by digging the undersides of mountains which is more harder, perhaps the Pallavas wanted to experiment about their ability to create life out of stone. Also a second theory is that the Pallavas (also the Pandiyas) and later the Hoysalas are supposed to be dynasties which had sculpting guilds headed by a head sculptor.. the famous ones from Hoysala country are Jakkannachary (of the Somnathpur Keshava temple) and another whose name I am forgetting. Pallavachary and Cholavachary sculptors are supposed to have contributed to the Chenna Keshava temples both at Belur and Somnathpur. This I mentioned to Kathie also. So when you observe either the groups of the Pallava royal temples at Kanchi or indeed their varied spectacular creations at Mallai… these serve as a pointer to the holding of some sort of a competition (especially in and around Mallai right up to the Mangadapattu caves) among numerous sculpting guilds under the Pallava country. Yet another reason which I too only can speculate is that the non-religious animatic themes point to the fact that after exhausting themselves (in a manner of speaking) with many languid, relaxed yet power postures (Goddes Mahishasura Mardini as well as the Varaha are very good examples of these) the Pallava artisans wanted to prove their prowess with their creations of animals which are equally languid, never straight but with flowing moves or postures, which is very much evident in their beautifully simple, but simply beautiful elephants at Mallai especially the ones at Mallai Arjuna Penance panel look as serene as the Gods. Here too, one feels like taking home the baby elephant.

As I told Kathie, considering that these were created without many of the tools that were available to the Cholas and Later Pandiyans and Vijayanagara artisans (not to speak of the very very softer and utterly pliable chloritic schist stones (also called soft soapstones) that were available in Hoysala country, the mind boggles even more about the unparalleled creativity of the Pallava artisans.

Sad that Koppperunchingans I and II could not fully revive the Pallava Dynasty during the later Chozha period.

What do you say?

எங்கே இருக்கின்றன இச்சிற்பங்கள்
Where exactly are these sculptures…?