It was almost noon and despite my folks showing various signals that it was past their endurance point, I was lost amidst the treasures of kanchi kailasanthar temple, when the jolt of my ( ok loan from Dad) samsung handphone brought me back to my senses.
“Vijay, come over on Kanchipuram Arakkonam route, am waiting near Tirumalpuram railway station. ” It was heritage enthusiast K.S. Shankaranarayanan. We were to go and try and cover the Early Chola temple in Tirumalpuram. Little did i realise what the rest of the day held in store for me. Halfway through, the landscape got the best of my brother’s ford and my folks. Quick decision to send them on their way back to chennai and i shifted to shankar’s vehicle. The next two hours was an amazing experience but that post will follow shortly, as what we witnessed later on during that day, churned our insides out. The image has been haunting me every since, and i sincerely hope and pray that there can be something that we can all collectively do to save this astounding structure from crumbling to dust.
What and where is this structure that i talk of ? Its an area that has surprisingly witnessed two historic battles. ofcourse, the name Pullalur, wouldn’t register as a Panipet would do, however a little flashback – for those who have read Kalki’s Sivagamiyin sabatham – thanks to Pavithra for the online English translation – am sure Sivagami & Gundotharan along with Pullikesi and Narasimha Pallava would come back to refresh our memories.
Sivagamiyin Sabatham – Battle at Pullalur
The site also witnessed an astounding defeat of the British by Tippu and the french in 1780 – read more from Sri Muthiah’s –
The story of Two Obelisks.
Ok, enough of the location, what you are going to see below is possibly a ….
No self publicity here. You will understand the reason for me posing here after a couple of progressive longer shots ! Now, where am ?
Hmm, lets zoom out a bit more.
We were actually returning after visiting the temples in worship in Pullalur, when from inside these bushes Shankar spotted this structure. When we enquired around, the villagers mentioned ” Oh, that’s our tonsured Vimana ( mottai Gopuram)”
It was only when we went nearer, that we could gauge the actual scale of this beauty.
The lower base has been subject to parasitic activity – obviously the bricks have been put to ` better’ uses.
The towering tower really started overpowering us with its imposing presence, like an aged warrior, despite its visible marks of valor, it still held its head high in the skies. We counted six tiers capped by a beautiful shikara ( the top dome is missing now)
There were still a few Sudhai ( lime & mortar) sculptures on the Vimana.
Despite all the destruction around it, centuries of obvious neglect spawning a profusion of vegetation eating into it – the real beauty of this Vimana came to us. What we cannot delivery today, with the best of engineering talent, machines, science, technology, advances in materials – this lonely edifice proclaimed its mastery in silence, with a profound sense of grief and overpowering sadness that enveloped us, touching a raw chord in our hears was its core, which revealed itself to us in a powerful manner as we stepped inside the Vimana.
The engineering skill of the ancients – it was still picture perfect, the sacred geometry of the tiers were still doing their duty. But in that, they seem to place an appeal to us. Duty bound to their task, despite the main deity not being present, they conveyed the essence of the Omnipresent. The Tamil equivalent of the central core of a temple is called the ” karu varai” which essentially means a mother’s womb – such a profound significance for a name and the selfless dedication that is associated with it. Can we do something in return?
