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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 !

Cheranmadevi Ramaswamy Temple…a wooden pillar away from…

Too much is too many…maybe it the bane of our heritage treasures. How else but to explain the sad plight of this delightful gem living precariously on the banks of the Tambraparani, its life blood slowly draining away, having stood for a thousand years, it makes a mockery of our grand visions of cultural renaissance and ingrained spirituality – The Ramaswamy Temple of Cheranmadevi. They called it the Nigarili Chola Vinnagar – Abode without parallel ! read on to see its pathetic state for surely it will not be long before the newspaper headlines lament its demise and pseudo enthusiasts will cry fowl.

The pillar sculpture of Hanuman, in all his humility, affectionately held by his Lord Rama seemed an regular rendition when we entered but as we finished and returned, the posture seemed to gather a new meaning.

As we stepped in, there was nothing extraordinary about the front porch and it resembled any of hundred of temples we see in our villages.

But as we took the few steps towards the main shrine, what awaited us made us hold our breath.


its not often you get to see a pristine pre 10th Century Vimana, a Pandya one at that.

Thanks to Pradeep, we had some inclination of what to expect and the introductions to the Priest had ensured that we could do our work unhindered.

For starters – the temple is unique for its one of the very few Astanga Vimana shrines – three tiered Vimana, with forms of Vishnu – Standing, seated and lying in the three sanctums lined one on top of the other.

At the entrance of the main sanctum, we were greeted by one of the most stunning bronzes – Rama group.

When we wanted to climb to the upper storey, the priest asked us again – if we really wanted to go up ! Little did we realise why he did that, till we saw the narrow stairs and got swarmed by a colony of feisty bats whom we disturbed.

Restaurants with roof top gardens seem to be the fashion these days, but it was really heartbreaking to see a stunning edifice left to rot like this.

As we turned towards the Sanctum in tier one, we spotted this.

The central beam had cracked and the weight was being held by the wooden pillar. My heart filled with dread at the thought of what might happen if it gave way.

And in the midst of all this, there he was seated ( please note he is not carved out of stone but made of stucco – and hence the fractures can be easily mended)

The intricate stucco work and the faint colors seemed to remind us of his glory days. Even the walls seemed to have outlines of vestigial paintings.

We willed ourselves to climb to the next tier and there he is, sleeping peacefully on the coils of his devoted sesha, his two consorts in attention, hoping against hope that some good still lived in the hearts of the people he loves.

As we stepped out, we looked again at Hanuman – he seemed to asking us to help, but not wanting his master to know, for the Lord’s answer would be ” I have the entire universe for me !!”

A Chola Pandya Temple in Cheranmadevi and its secrets – part 1

The very mention of the name Cheranmadevi seemed to take us back in time and the sites that greeted us on the 16 odd km drive from Thirunelveli complimented the thought process, for the visual imagery seemed to indicate that time had in some mysterious way stood still as the world rolled on for many centuries. Along the banks of the Tambraparni river nestled this very unassuming town or rather village which Pradeep kept insisting we visit on our Pandya Tour, and when someone with his flair and passion recommends, we were sure that we were in for a treat.

A bountiful monsoon had already metamorphosised the semi arid belt around Tirunelveli, spreading a soothing green blanket on both sides of the road with the river bringing her shades of brown, black, green and at times blue. A new bridge disoriented our driver but eventually we did reach the spot. There were many items on the agenda in Cheranmadevi but Arvind and me headed for the one under the care of the ASI – the Bhaktavatsala Perumal Temple, right on the banks of the river. We did stop every few meters to seek directions and double check if the previous guide was indeed correct, since the progressively narrowing path had no boards, a profusion of thorny scrubs that were intent on claiming back the road and were being ably aided by the village folk with their daily supply of vital essential nutrients ( yuk !!! – our driver wanted to drive straight into the Tambraparni for a cash wash right after !!!). At long last we did see a board but it was not the usual ASI patented rusty grilled blue board ( you know what i mean !) but a shiny metallic transformers inspired board. Our hearts skipped a beat ( non ASI sites are a pain to procure photography permits !!), but the board was indeed an ASI one ! a new avatar maybe.

The entrance tower was incomplete but what was on display was classy.

The temple has many inscriptions and as per the board, Rajendra Chola 1 figures prominently. The artistry on display was splendid, despite the intricate ornamentation they were not garish or over cooked.




There was this really cute slim pillar which made me break my own rules to pose in front of it

The piece de resistance ofcourse was the relief of an unique seated Narasimha with a high Sesha crown.

We went in and our good fortune the priest was such a darling. We had a fantastic darshan of the presiding deity Sri Bhaktavatsala perumal.

In continuing our education into architecture of the temples in Pandya region, we realised that the Vimana was the next place to cover,we wanted to climb on top of the Artha Mandapa, but it soon proved to be a daunting task – we grossly underestimated the height and climbing up a frail steel ladder that even at its precarious incline did not quite reach the top. But before that a mystery unfolded inside the temple, for i could not spot the ASI man nor Arvind. They seemed to have vanished into thin air inside a granite block built mandapa right in front of the Sanctum !! To add to the suspense, i seemed to be hearing voices from beneath the floor ! Aha, there is the secret ….

to be continued…