Tag Archives: somaskandar

Tracking the evolution of the Pallava Somaskanda – Part 2

In the previous post, we saw stylistically the earliest and latest somaskanda images.

Today, we are going to see why the Somaskanda Panel in the Dharmaraja Ratha is the earliest available panel of this form.

Lets take a look again at the Somaskanda panel from the Dharamaraja Ratham and the sketch.

To compare it with say a typical Rajasimha style Somaskanda – we have a beautiful almost perfect specimen from the Rajasimeshwara Temple in the shore temple complex ( the shore temple is a complex shrine comprising of an earlier Vishnu shrine buttressed by two shiva shrines – the Rajasimeshwara and Kshatriyasimeshwara shrines – the Kshatriyasimeshwara too has a Somaskanda but we will see that in a subsequent post)

A sketch to assist you in finding the differences. Lets see if you can point out the characteristic differences between the two Somaskandas.

A further twist to the various puzzles that abound in Mallai, the Ramanuja Mandaba is the most complete of the structures but due acts of vandalism – its like a slate that’s been wiped clean. Someone has chiseled out the door guardians, the three relief panels inside as well.

But as they say no crime is perfect, the chiseled out panel does leave an outline. The central shrine clearly shows the outline of a Somaskanda

Lets try and trace that and see what style is it – the Dharamaraja Ratha style or the Rajasimeshavara style.

To assist you, i am giving some additional outlines of the Shiva and Umai sides of the Dharamaraja Ratha Somaskandar

Hope you dont need any further clues. Lets test your observations skills.

Images courtesy:

Varalaaru.com. and Mr Ashok

Tracking the evolution of the Pallava Somaskanda – Part 1

Friends, thanks for following the posts and offering your encouraging words. Please note these are not thoroughly researched or expert opinions, but merely our path of learning which we are sharing with you. We do not want to say that this is correct, but this sharing is more to inspire many more to walk this path. We try and take care to make sure that we do not publish something that is grossly wrong, but if and when mistakes or another reading is there, we encourage readers to enlighten us as well. Why this long disclaimer for this post, you may ask, well the post is like that.

Today, we are to see part one of a series on the evolution of the Pallava Somaskanda icon. At the outset, we offer our thanks to Dr Gift, whose online resource is heavily relied on in this series.

http://www.cmi.ac.in/gift/Archeaology/arch_somaskanda.htm

This series is aimed at asking questions and find simple yet logical solutions, but the puzzle is indeed big. So without scaring you away, lets jump into the introduction of this series. The Pallava Somaskanda.

The basic argument which will be used in this series is evolution and see how the sculpture evolved into its current form. What is its current form? Borrowing these beautiful bronzes to show the form in its final evolved iconography


To study their features and compare we will also show you tracings ( copies) as line drawings

This is current day bronze. But do we have the first first / earliest or atleast earliest surviving prototype. Yes, we do have. Its in the upper tier of the Dharamaraja Ratha of the five ratha complex in Mamallapuram.


Since this is an intro post, we just let it sink in. In the following posts of this series we will travel around the region, and try to find a logical sequence to the evolution of this image.

Photo credits:
Special thanks to www.Varalaaru.com and www.exoticindiaart.com for the images

My first discovery !cracking the puzzle of 3 Somaskanda panels

Friends, it gives me immense pleasure in presenting one of very first discoveries which sees the light of day today. Though this occurred more by chance and had found this about two years ago, at that time i had nurtured hopes of publishing it as a research paper in some academic journal. Its only later that i realised how complicated such pursuits are and also the fact that but for the emotional high such a recognition would garner, its reach would be very much limited to a select few. However,today thanks to you all, my dearest extended family and the internet, poetryinstone shall deliver this baby after a gestation of over two years.

I had wanted to write about the Pallava’s contribution to evolution of iconography as a series – and started with the Mahendra trail. We did see some interesting developments in cave architecture, like the nataraja icon. But as we study later Pallava structures, we cant but miss some of their signature contributions, namely the Somaskanda, Gangadhara and Mahishasura Mardhini. The Pallava Somaskanda is such a signature piece occupying almost every rear wall of their main shrines, that its hard to miss them.

But this article is not about the normal Somaskanda panel in the rear of the Garba Graham ( sanctum sanctorum ) but a very unique puzzle of not one but three panels in the Atiranachanda Mandabam cave of the Saluvankuppam complex. The cave itself is a puzzle of gigantic proportions and many scholars have discussed it.

Just to run through it would mean to point out to viewers that the basic cave and pillar designs are very early Pallava period, while inscriptionally ( on both the sides there are running verses which you can touch and feel the passing of time in front of you) Rajasimha Pallava claims to have constructed this temple for Siva. He calls it Atiranacanda Pallavesvaragram, after one of his many fancy titles Atiranacanda ( Ati – great, rana – battlefield, chanda – expert – thanks to swaminathan sir))


Would suggest below article of Dr. Nagaswamy for readers who want to see the sheer labour of such geniuses.

http://tamilartsacademy.com/books/mamallai/new-light.xml

It would be worthwhile for readers to compare the facade of the Atiranachanda with earlier structures we saw on the Mahendra trail. But that is the subject for another post and study.

We come back to what is to me a very great discovery, the subject of this post. To bring you upto date with the basics, what exactly is this Somaskanda. Literally it means ` with Uma and Skanda’ meaning ( Sou – with, Uma – Parvathi and skanda – Muruga) Shiva with his consort and son. ( why only one son!!, well that is another controversy which we briefly touched upon in the post ` There are no Ganesha images in mallai’.

Since Pallava’s ` claim’ to have been the first to start building temples of stone ( or atleast without using lime, mortar, metal , brick or wood – mandagapttu [post! )…the early structures had predominantly an empty central shrine with the diety crafted in wood in a panel at the back. But slowly they realised that the wooden deities perished in no time, they tried crafting them in lime and mortar. But then as their confidence in working in stone grew, they graduated slowly to reliefs and then to sculpture. They replicated the wooden panels in stone sculpting them directly onto the rear wall. Thus was born one of the cutest forms of the divine family, with shiva seated ( sometimes on Nandhi) on the right and Parvathi on the left with baby skanda initially on her lap (There are many variants to this form and Dr Gift Siromomony paper below postulates a new theory !!)

http://www.cmi.ac.in/gift/Archeaology/arch_somaskanda.htm

The cholas later went on with the theme to craft some beautiful bronze somaskandas.

Back to Atiranacanda Pallavesvaragram, not many realise that the structures we see today in Mallai, were submerged if not totally in sand before they were escavated in the late 18th C. ( by this I mean even the popular five rathas complex), but to understand this better take a look at this print ( thanks to the British Library Archives)

Compare to how it looks today.


Now, look closer, am highlighting the main areas for us to view.

We take quick peek into its corridor – on closer inspection you see two beautiful somaskanda panels on the walls. This is a great anomally since the somaskanda panel is almost always found inside the main scanctum sanctorum.

To understand this better, lets peep into the central shrine of the same cave. Do you notice the Shiva Linga and then the rear wall adorned with the Somaskanda panel.

Why then would the sculptors sculpt two additional panels in the outer corridor?

A chance photograph of the freshly escavated mandabam in the late 18th C, thanks again to the British Library Archives, provides us the vital clues.


There were two additional Shiva Lingas on the corridor and hence the sculptors had sculpted the panels on the walls behind them. This my friends is my first discovery!! call me an armchair or desktop archaeologist for that.

What happened to these lingas now?, even their bases don’t exist now. There are two free standing statues in the foreground, one a headless trunk of a seated deity and another a beautiful sculpture. They are not to be found now, just this small rubble on the outside!!

So now you know the answer to the puzzle of the 3 somaskandas, but throws lot more questions. If the structure was intact in the late 18th C, when and why the susequent vandalism.