Monthly Archives: March 2012

Some Macabre attributes !

To even try to comprehend Hindusim, let alone setting off to understand it, is a task that many dread to attempt and few have succeeded. The evolutionary tales of this unique religion is lost in pre history and the trails n tribulations of a continent in constant churn. The vestigial remains of its early forms are a distant reminder of its yet unclear origins and when many western scholars first sampled the religious art , their initial impression was not palatable as per their set canons. Have seen many arguments risen subsequently wherein with a wider exposure, the first reactions have watered down and the art has been appreciated more though questions on the religion still persist. To be honest and fair, to someone who is not exposed to the zillion things that one got to know about the Hindu pantheon – the fanged gods, chopped heads, gory depictions of religious self sacrifice, demons impaled on lances, a garland of skulls, an infant fetus as an ear ring, ‘naked’ Gods etc do present a picture that is not pretty.

It is hardly surprising that to even to someone who has been brought up amidst its folds, the cult of Shiva especially, presents a very difficult and complex question – a seemingly paradoxical representation of God – the Destroyer, the one who lives near the abode of the dead, surrounded by Ghosts and goblins as his assistants, smeared with the ash of burnt bodies. That much for his anthropomorphic form, to talk of his ‘other’ slightly darker followers – the Kalamukas, Kabalikas , Pasupathas, Kaulas, of his fiery Bairava forms and then to the more popular manifestation as the Linga, has spawned another stream of contradicting arguments.

To add to the above, I am trying to present a few more to fan the fire of arguments, for that is the beauty of this religion which does allow one to question the very essence of its core !

Apart from the tales and legends, a few vestigial attributes seem to attest to the notion constant evolutionary nature of Hindusim. Thanks to Late Sri. Ganapathi Stapathi’s wonderful work – Indian Sculpture and Iconography for showing us that the creative tradition kept alive these subtle concepts to this day.

We see below an intricate sculpture of Bairava form of Shiva from Halebidu, the heights of Hoysala art, every inch is intricately carved.

Hoysala art is truly a problem of too many and majority of today’s tourists would rush past without even a second glance due to the profusion of art on display and maybe to the call of the horn of the tourist operator’s hurried itinerary bound luxury coach driver. Even for the few who do stop and look, the attribute held in his left hand is truly macabre.

It was with a certain trepidation that I decided to look it up in the book and was surprised to see it listed.

Quote:

” Katvangam: This is a staff fashioned out of the leg or thigh bone, on which a skull has been fixed. A snake, coiled around the staff, emerges with its hood raised from one of the eye sockets. This implement is similar to the mace, and, instead of the thigh bone, the staff maybe made of wood. Usually an accessory of Kapalika Shivaite images, the Katvanga is also an instrument of Shiva. sometimes, it can also be adopted as a staff for Yogis or rishis. The staff should be 2 face lengths high and 2 viral thick: the skull should be 5 viral wide and 7 viral long.'”

Not only was the description apt but the illustration was picture perfect. Thanks to our artist Raghavendra Prasad for rendering it clearly for us

While we were discussing this, our good friend and fellow heritage enthusiast and expert Photographer Swami came up with another gem and kudos to him for spotting this. A Brahma from Somnathpur

The question was the attribute held in Brahma’s right hand.

Thanks again to Prasad.

Being the destined ‘ Creator’ to find him with this ‘weird’ implement was baffling. Back to the book again.

Quote:

“Siruk, Suruvam: These ladles or large spoons are considered to be Brahma’s instruments. They are used to pour oblation ( ghee) into the sacrificial fire. On the final day of the yagna or sacrificial rite, the ladle is used to pour various oblations into the sacrificial fire in a ceremony known as purnahuti. The siruk is made of wood and is shaped like an ordinary spoon. The suruvam has a square, box-like scoop, adorned with a cow, elephant or other such animal head at its extremity. The length of the ladle may be taken as one muzham or cubit.

Since Brahma is considered to be the symbolic priest or chief for the sacrificial rite, these ladles represent Brahma in his Vedic identity. Further, the ladles are symbols of the rite itself.”

Quite interesting depiction and lot of questions emanating out of it. But first to set out to find a Suruvam with an Elephant head !

A Chola Pandya Temple in Cheranmadevi and its secrets – part 2

Secret Chambers, Buried Treasure, Vaults with untold wealth, tunnels that run for hundreds of Kilometers, Kings escaping from inside a granite mandapa – are all stuff of legends. Having been brought up on a healthy dose of fiction, most of us would have dreamed of being in such a situation and no wonder it news & rumors continue to capture the attention of the masses to this day. So when we were given a chance to explore one such within the Bhaktavatsala Permal Temple in Cheranmadevi, it was a dream come true and we literally jumped in.

It is quite true that most ancient temples did have some sort of secret chamber to protect their wealth, not just to hold their treasures – that they had in plenty as not only Kings, but chieftains and the rich, showered them with gifts. These the temple utilised as a kind of village bank lending money and collecting interests. It also helped that despite frequent wars among the kings, temples were relatively insulated from pillage till the advent of Gazhni upnorth and Allaudin Khilji down south. These chambers then became the refuge for the Gods themselves, as they were the easiest to hide the movable deities

For more interesting reading check this from Dr. R. Nagasamy – Underground Secret Treasuries in Ancient Temples

The last para is quite hair raising...” Lastly the late T. G. Aravamudan, the noted numismatist, and the author of ‘Portrait Sculpture in South India’ narrated to this author on more then one occasion, his experience in the Great temple of Tanjore, In his young age, he was once taken blind folded, through an underground passage in the Great temple of Tanjore. When he reached the secret chamber and his eyes opened, he found a large number of Chola bronzes of exqusite beauty stored there. He was able to recollect that the passage through which he went seemed to be between two granite walls. Later he made several attempts to locate the entrance to the passage in the temple but failed. It is not unlikely that many such underground secret treasure chambers exists but their discovery will remain only a chance find. “

Back to our little secret, the chamber is right underneath the arthamandabam in front of the sanctum

We managed to beat the power situation in the State till then, but then suddenly as we turned away towards the exit, it claimed victory – thereby taking us back in time by many centuries – to understand how it would have looked then – dark.

There right by the site of the door, it would have been impossible to spot in that lighting – but ASI had removed the false stone door and replaced it with a steel hinged one for our benefit.

The layout of the entire contraption was pretty awesome – the door opened to a sheer drop of about 7 feet. about a feet from the bottom, there would have been a false wall – which gave way to a narrow tunnel – just about enough to let me crawl and then it turned right ! Claustrophobic – was the word, am not particularly fond of dark passages and this was pumping my adrenalin rush through the roof.

The small path then opened to a decent shaped room – about 4 feet in height but pretty wide.

It was pretty dark – the powerful flash of the camera and the trusted 3 cell EverReady torch, tried their best to help us out.

With all the excitement of being inside an authentic relic chamber giving us a high, we were a bit disappointed at seeing an empty room, but if only it could tell us its tale !

Sans a Spade, without a crowbar – How to bring down a Temple !

I know. Its a shocking title. But what we are going to see today deserves such ! When we say India is full of innumerable treasures littered around ( literally) – i didn’t know it would be so true. Me and Shankar were scouting for interesting sites in and around Arakkonam in his hired cab when at a distance we spotted a familiar shape. Could it be it?

We screamed at the driver to stop and sprinted across the fields much the disdain of the grazing cows. As we edged closer the colossal structure seemed to take vishwaroopam in front of our very eyes.

A familiar rustle and a shiny tail slithered through the vegetation as we kept walking towards the ” Trees”. The snake must have been bemused as he failed to register anything in us. We were too shocked already to do so.

A magnificent brick temple was being pillaged by nature and humans. Its a testament to the wisdom of the ancient architects that they could build such with just bricks to withstand and stand despite this.

The memory of the slithering snake fresh we edged gingerly to the entrance to view the inside.

How many times have you seen a small innocuous plant growing on top of the temple Vimana or Gopura, How much effort it would take to get a few volunteers to clear and clean them at that stage. Because it was not done see the impact.

The trees are practically splitting the entire temple into two as though driving a wedge into them. Its a pity that such a beautifully designed and constructed brick temple has fallen prey to this due to our gross negligence.

The real loss must be seen to believed. The size of this temple dwarfs the 20foot pole next to it, but then the trees have won this battle.

The villagers ofcourse have no problem, they have floated a new temple ( which was already listing to one side even before consecration) right next to the ailing edifice, painted bright yellow., but no amount of such can erase the responsibility of ours of robbing India of another of its heritage treasure, entombed in vegetation.