Tag Archives: Vishnu

I take your hand – for eternity

To depict a wide gamut of emotions into metal casting calls for exceptional skill. who better to attempt it than the Chola craftsmen and what better scene than the drama of emotions during a wedding – the wedding of the divine parents at that. Yes, today we are going to see a stunning bronze composition – the wedding of Meenakshi with Sundareshwarar. We already saw the metamorphosis of Tadagai – the three breasted warrior queen of Madurai into Meenakshi , a stunning shy lass – true to the prophecy, at the sight of her prince charming – Shiva as the epitome of manly charm – Sundareshwarar.

Imagine the situation of such a wedding, throw in the bride’s brother – Vishnu here and his consort Lakshmi giving off their priced possession to Shiva.

Take a look at this bronze now from the Tanjore Raja Raja Museum.


The bridgegroom – heart swelling with pride, a mischievous smile on his lips, majestic in his poise, triumphantly taking the hand of his beloved.

The bride – embodiment of grace, head bent in his shyness – experiencing the first touch of her beloved as she feels his powerful hand close on top of hers, and her left hand flying up to hide her reddening cheeks.

The symbolisation of taking the hand has lot of significance – for its a promise to be with her, to protect her and live as one – for eternity.

The perfection in this composition, flows through every inch , every curve of the bronze – a visual delight.

Sadly, its all held inside glass cases and its hard to bring out the splendor in more depth and detail.


But i have with me a gifted artist, Mr Prasad – who has sketched this for us ( he says it was his early attempt – but to me its masterclass!!!)

Sketching bronzes is no easy task – for you are not sketching just a piece of art , you are sketching a deity and to bring that grace onto paper – calls for exceptional talent.

I am blessed to be even be born in the soil that brought forth these masterpieces.

Images courtesy: Our Satheesh n various on the net.

Perur – sculptures of the great hall – a tribute. Part 1

Ever since i laid my eyes on this masterly creation, its been a personal crusade to bring out its beauty for all to see. Its taken almost 10 years and was it worth the wait n effort that went into it. I do hope you will agree with me once you complete reading this post.

We are going to see today the truly remarkable sculpture of Shiva in his Urdhva Thandava pose.

For starters, this is a pillar sculpture – meaning the entire composition is of a single piece of stone – the Kanaga sabhai with its collection of 8 such brilliant compositions was commissioned between 1625 CE and 1659 CE in the reign of Rajah Sivathiru Azhagaathiri Nayakkar.


Why all this effort, you might ask, for this pinnacle of artistic beauty, the very epitome of sculptural excellence, is lost to many – hidden behind a steel cage. I hope patrons who read this, could get together and maybe sponsor a glass casing instead of this ugly steel monster.



Its quite late for such a fantastic exhibition of stone work – considering the relatively lesser quality workmanship seen in the post chola, Pandya 13- 14th C CE – but, the sculptures here are proof that this art form survived and thrived till the 16th Century -possibly reaching its pinnacle in this very hall.

To visualise the true grandeur of this amazing structure, we are helped thankfully with a old plate from the British archives.

Thanks to varalaaru.com we also found this sketch by great artist Silpi.

Now, that we have a macro view of this mind blowing composition, lets go closeup to view what it hides within itself. Place on record our sincere thanks to the temple EO, who after hours of convincing, felt our passion for this art and not only allowed us to photograph these gems but also opened the grill gates for us….we were in for a true feast – come partake in our pleasures.

This sculpture is unique in many aspects and to truly understand them we need to go closeup – mean real closeup – for , its said that Siva’s dance cannot be comprehended by lesser masters. It is only the great ones like Brahma, Bharata, Hari, Narada or Skanda who can understand or appreciate his dance.

An inscription on the cave temple at Saluvankuppam has a verse to elucidate not only the distinction of Siva’s dance, but also to enumerate the great celestial exponents of natya and sangita and their ability, as the right audience, to appreciate Siva’s dance: yadi na vidhata bharato yadi na harir narado na va skandha boddhum ka iva samarthas sangitam kalakalasya (Epigraph. Ind. 10, p. 12).
From the Book:
NATARAJA – THE LORD OF DANCE – Dr. Sivaramamurti

It is not only these great gods and goddesses, the creators each in his or her own important way, that are the witnesses to applaud the dance of Siva, but they enthusiastically also join in creating the orchestra for him, by playing the musical instruments. At the very sign of his brow, Vishnu takes up the drum mardala, which, with is noble rumbling notes, like the cloud inspiring the blue-throated peacock to dance, starts the musical sound. With his louts hand, Brahma takes up a pair of cymbals, ostensibly to keep time to the dance of the victor of Kama

Whats so special here is the depiction of Brahma.


He is shown here with 5 heads and is holding the attributes of Shiva – the Axe and the deer !!

Like a musician, who, during his song, stops for a while, and draws attention to the tala or the rhythm beat, Siva the great dancer, pauses for a while, to sound the drum himself in between, to show the correct adjustment when necessary

Another uniqueness in this sculpture – was tempted to use the word panel here, but then this is no panel – its a monolith for that matter, is the depiction of Karaikkal ammaiyaar.

Such masterly depiction of the shriveled breasts, the loose folds of skin across the neck and throat – to show an old lady, prematurely aged – giving up her beauty to become a ghost. Read previous links for her !!

ofcourse, we do have a very chubby Muyalagan underneath his foot, cradling his snake.

Its becoming a long post, but its a crime to break it into two or three parts, for the beauty and charm of this piece of art is too sublime to be enjoyed in parts. I will try and use less descriptive words and more pictorial speech.

The face of a youthful shiva – complete with a double chin, the carved curves of the nostrils….

The beauty of the limbs – even to the detailing of the reverse kneecap. Oh, the fingers, lines, nails – cuticles…



Another beautiful aspect to notice – the feet – the toes – top and bottom view, the ring of the sandal and on the other side, the grace of the inwardly turned hand and the delicate mudra of the thumb and forefinger !!






The row of arms on both sides are a sight to behold with the myriad of attributes.

Such detailing in the hands and the attributes, some a quite unique and am yet to find their names and significance.

Especially this one


Normally would get some props to give our readers an idea of the scale of the composition – it would be a key for miniature panels and even went with the elephant for the big temple door guardian, but this natural prop blew me away.

Maybe, the skill of the sculptor fooled our winged friend who is blunting his fangs in vain to draw blood from this !!!

If you like what you have seen and would like future visitors not to be deprived of a chance to drink in this distilled essence of artistic brilliance, please pass on the word – to patrons who can raise funds and the cry – to change the grill to atleast a glass panel.

Mallai Trimurthi cave – a puzzle

An interesting sculpture chat !! ( Thanks to N for allowing me to post bulk of the conversation with some minor enhancements)

N: Hi vj, visited Mallai yesterday

Me: just seeing ur album, thanks for the credits.

N: Please do put in your comments to the photos

me: will do. a trick question for u, since you have posted the trimurthi mandabam photos, can you identify the deities in each of the 3 shrines

N: Brahma vishnu shiva

me: hahaha, pl look carefully and confirm sir,if it were so easy would i ask you

N: hmmm

me: how do identify a deity inside a shrine. In pallava times, you use two methods, if the deity is present – look for its attributes, if not present try and see the attributes of the door guardians. since both are present, check each shrine for this

N: i want to use Friend Help :-/ Can u tell me

Me: no sir, u try first, its important – for you to spend some time viewing

N: the middle one is shiva, where the linga is

me: s, you can see the Axe of shiva in his right hand. The left hand seems to be holding a rosary. The Linga seems to be a later implant !!

N: the lady outside is Mahishasuramardhini

me: s, Durga. The ornate work on top of her is spectacular

N: the god with tall crown is vishnu
The other is one is Brahma

me: hmm, Vishnu is simple – you can see the conch and discus. how do you say the other is brahma

N: Trinity is completed by Brahma .. That is y thrimurthi isnt it VJ

me: haha, mallai is full of puzzles. What is the most characteristic feature of brahma images?

N: 3 heads

me: can you see 3 there

N: no

me: what is the right door guardian holding in his hand ( left hand)

N: Not Clear

me: do you notice anything unique in the dress of the inner deity

N: X shaped belts

me: have u seen this anywhere for brahma??

N: and kind of lion cloth, No … i didnt

me: do you notice anything different about the crown

N: it has kind of horn

me: i think i can make this chat conversation into a post by itself

N: what is the peculiarity, tell me Vj

me: can i make this as a post, this chat conversation?

N: Yes
But dont disclose my name B-) 😉

me: N, doesnt disclose right!!

N: Yes, i dont want extra fame 😉 it is pointed in form

me: haha, the right door guardian is holding a Shruk(a long handled laddle)used for pouring ghee in a sacrificial fire, connected to vedic sacrifice /ritual. The left holds a flower /bud. So the assumption of yours – that is denotes brahma is partly correct.The door guardians are rishis, elderly men with beards, all go well with the brahma concept, but inside the deity is not bearded, but a young one

N: yes, Tell me

me: further the conical head dress, the x belts – are features of a warrior god who is said to have taught the vedas to brahma

N: Skanda

me: Can you look closely at the photos and see what the two flying ganas are holding?

me: its skanda – in his brahma sasta form

N: brahma sasta form means

Me: I am no expert, but this wonderful article and photos will clarify the head dress and the X pattern.

Murugan research article – all credits to the site

“The deity is shown wearing a short conical basket-like head-gear (karanda-makuta) with a thick giralet of flowers (kannl) around the base. According to ancient Tamil tradition, kannl was the attribute of the warrior.8 The deity also wears the double shoulder-string (channavīra), another attribute of the warrior. Both the attributes, found mostly in the earlier sculpture of the Pallava period, emphasise the fact that Murukan was essentially a warrior-god. “

The site listed above is a fantastic resource of Skanda/Muruga and would recommend a serious read for everyone.

Part 2 of – An interesting Sculpture chat on some confusing sculptures

What an interesting exchange on the previous post ! forced me to put this part 2 of that debate.

Lets take a look at the sculpture under question again


Is the sculpture indeed that of Hanuman holding the Bana l

Arguments for:

The Bana lingam legend, the facial features.

Arguments against

No tail, presence of two ladies on both sides, presence of Vishnu’s attributes ( but this is not a clear case as Cheenu’s rightly pointed out there are instances !)

What other sculptures could it represent

Macha Avatar

But there is a matcha ( fish) avatar sculpture right next to this sculpture.


We had arguments for this image as well, but the depiction of the eyes and the typical mouth kind of settled the issue.

Lets see them in closeup again ( thanks Arvind once again)

Compare this macha avatar with the earlier sculpture, both can’t be the same for sure.

Varaha Avatar – Vishnu

A Definite possibility. Lets take a front depiction of Varaha from Ahobilam to compare.

The depiction of a spherical ( ok egg shaped) earth is not found in sculptures even upto 200 years after this representation. Take a look again, its too defined a sculpture for an artist to err in the shape ( for the finesse in carving the conch and the discus).

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While, its definitely a case in point to the two ladies. We see all the avatars and even Brahma sporting such attendants or consorts.

Now, we come to this interesting sculpture. its Kurma ( Turtle) Avatar

Lets study its features more closely

There are some legends related with Vishnu seeking Shiva’s help ( Kachbeshwarar form). But is this and the original sculpture similar. Lets study the face features once more side by side.

Well definitely not the same – clear from the eyes especially. I tend to side the argument for Hanuman more based on these.

An interesting sculpture and how a little bit of vandalism can lead to confusions, yet some tell tale signs help assist in proper identification.

Hey,who is this. Except for the face, everything is Ganesha. But the face …Hmm, lets take a closer look

Stumped you. Well dont rake your brains yet, is this a composite Ganesha combined with Varaha / Hayagreevar ….

No my friends, take a closer look at the top left ( of the sculpture)

Its the broken trunk, with the tip holding his favorite modhakam. Just a case of part of the trunk being broken !! Its our darling Ganesha only.

Srivatsam – the mole that adorns the chest of Vishnu

Thanks to a chance visit to the local museum along with Sakthis, we are seeing an amazing Chola stone sculpture – Vishnu. Working with granite is a true test for a sculptor, to bring out the soft benevolent grace of Vishnu into the hard stone – working with a iron chisel shaping his supple cheeks, hammering away at his immaculate ornaments, it must have been so fulfilling to him to come out successful in this test of his skill with zero place for error.

Sadly, this museum exhibit has been subjected to some deliberate acts of vandalism – a nose cut would be inappropriate to use here, but such stone sculptures would have had to be scrapped and not suitable for worship !! Its a painful realisation of human need and greed , a human hand created such a thing of beauty while another destroyed it, Gold, God and Glory are indeed engines of great motivation and destruction.

Letting aside the disfigurement, the beauty of this sculpture doesn’t shed its secrets easily to a casual viewer. Leonardo da Vinci apparently said that ” There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see”

What is there to see in this sculpture. Not wanting to go into too much depth, will take a perfect ( to be read as non disfigured one) later to discuss the different aspects.

One is his brilliant lion motif belt buckle.

The other is more interesting and one which we studied in the bronze cast figures. The Mole – srivatsam being represented here as a triangular projection.


The sculptor took great care to depict this, for you have to watch a stone worker work to chip away with his chisel removing layer upon layer to create this effect or projection in stone.

Can we study this in comparison to the bronze and maybe check in other collections and see how this mark evolved!!

A mole that adorns the chest of Vishnu – Srivatsam

Today we are going to see a bronze – not any bronze, but a spectacular Chola bronze. They are world famous for their beauty but its not just beauty that sets them apart. What is it in a Chola bronze that makes them so special?

Is it the craftsmanship, the artistic work, pleasing lines, attention to detail, expressions – no, its all of this put together plus something more. Maybe once you finish this post you will be able to understand what i am trying to convey.

To start with, lets take a look at the bronze, it stands in the Delhi Museum.

Vishnu – the protector. We have seen various forms of stone sculptures, but working in bronze, frees up the craftsmen to really pour out his heart. We have already seen in the earlier post on Bronze Umai of Singapore Museum, about the Lost wax method. But here is a beautiful verse from a unique Devotee, one who fell in love with the Lord, or rather who made the Lord fall in love with her!! Aandal
( A chance search yielded a ref to the verse in English

My beautiful lover, it is as if he has put clay around me and
poured molten metal into my heart.

and thanks to Sri Dhivakar we have the actual verse below)

The verse in transliterated Tamil with meanings below

PASURAM 10.8
mazhaiyE! mazhaiyE! maN puRam pUSi uLLAi ninRa
mezhugu URRinARpOl URRu nal vE’nkaTattuL ninRa
azhagap pirAnAr tammai en ne’njattu agappaDat
tazhuva ninRu ennai tagaittuk koNDu URRavum vallaiyE

Oh rainy clouds! like the clay which embraces the wax mold, which on being fried in the oven melts the wax, The azhagar of tiruvenkatam has embraced me outside, and is melting me inside out and destroying me. Wont you first unite me with Him so that I can embrace Him closely just as I am imagining in my mind, and then shower your rains.

The protector that he is, how does the craftsmen bring the benevolence and love in his face. A face that should be so radiant that it can charm every devotee.

Not only that, he is Alankara Priya. Meaning, loves being dressed up.

Now, we have seen the beauty, but the detailing ( hey i am coming to the topic just now)

Watch carefully. A test to your observation skills as usual.

Ok, a hint, watch closely, just above the right breast.

What is that. Not a barcode or a casting defect. Its the birth mark or mole of Vishnu. Read this sanskrit verse to know what it is ( thanks to Geetha Amma)

durdAntha daithya visikha ksahtha-pathrabhangam
veerasya tE VibudhanAyaka baahumadhyam |
SrIvathsa Kousthubha RamA VanamAlikAnkam
chinthAnubhUya labhathE charithArTathAm na: ||

Oh Dhaiva NaayakA! The unrighteous asurAs fight with You in battles and
wound Your chest with their arrows. You destroy them and yet bear the welt
originating from those arrows of the asurAs like a reminder of those
victorious battles. These arrow marks criss crossing each other on your chest
appear like a varNakkOlam (geometric patterns with different hues). On the
same Chest are seen the blue birth mark (maRu) celebrated as SrIvathsam,
the red gem known as Kousthubham, the wild flower garland revered as
VanamAlai (garland made up of wild flowers) and on top of every thing adorning
Your chest is golden-hued MahA LakshmI, who defines your auspicious
svabhAvam and Svaroopam. All of these special adornments on your chest shed
multiple reflections on the VarNakkOlam caused by the asurA’s arrows.
adiyEn’s mind enjoys the sevai of that valorous chest marked by so many
auspicious lakshaNams and considers itself as the most fortunate among all chethanams.

Now ladies and Gentlemen, thats how you enjoy a Chola Bronze.

A creator’s creation creates his Creator’s likeness – then who is the creator

Today we head back to Pullamangai – Brahmapurisvarar temple. A treasure trove of miniature panels and we are going to see a whole ….lost for the right phrase to describe it!! Want to say something that will sound – like when Steve Irwin lands up on a viper’s nest or a pool filled with crocs. Isn’t she a beauty! Crickey, she’s a fiesty one!! How else to describe these. One particular sculpture, where the master sculptor – the master creator that he is, has tried to create the creator likeness. Well, if a creator creates his creator’s likeness – who is the creator. Read on to understand why i say this.

A very important legend is sculpted into these panels. The legend of Shiva – the one without an end or a beginning, the omni potent and omni present, the legend of Lingothbhava. This is a very important sculpture and a concept that was entwined into later temple building canons to occupy a permanent position on the the Shivaite temple architecture – into the Vimanam, positioned on the rear of the sanctum.

The objective of this post is not to hurt anyone’s sentiments, but just a simple reproduction of the legend as required to explain the sculpture.

There are ofcourse umpteen things to notice in this panel.

To start with we see the whole composition from far. There are 4 different parts of this sculpture and we will take each one in detail to view and study.

The main Lingothbhava sculpture.

The legend first – For the uninitiated, Hinduism’s basic trinity play a big role here – The creator ( must be five faced before this episode) Brahma, The preserver Vishnu and the destroyer Shiva. The story goes thus, once there arose an argument between Brahma and Vishnu, as to whose role / job was bigger and thus who was numer uno. As they kept on arguing, a huge pillar of fire emerged in front of them and a heavenly voice declared that whoever can find the start or end of the pillar is the best. Brahma took the form of a Swan and flew upwards to reach the summit and Vishnu took the form of a Boar and started digging down to find the base. They continued for ages without any success, when finally Vishnu gave up. Brahma on the other hand, noticed a flower falling down. He asked where was it coming from and the flower replied that it was falling down for ages from the top, not wanting to give up, Brahma convinced the flower to lie and brought it as proof to Vishnu to state that he had won the wager and collected the flower from the summit. At this point, from inside the fiery pillar Shiva burst forth and plucked out the lying head of Brahma ( he became 4 faced henceforth), and since he had lied, made a ruling that henceforth he wasn’t fit for worship ( so you generally don’t see Hindu Shrines dedicated to Brahma in India). Incidentally the said flower was also made unfit for worshiping within temples henceforth.

Both Brahma and Vishnu accepted that their ego had made them not realise the obvious that it was Shiva in front of them and he was Aaadhi andan ( endless, no beginning , no end). Now we return to the sculpture to view the characters.

Brahma flying upwards, Vishnu as the Boar boring down. Shiva (sadly badly mutilated) bursting from inside the pillar.

To the left and right, of this main panel – we see amazing sculptures of Brahma and Vishnu.


The facial features of Brahma are so exquisite – despite the legend, the sculptor has not once missed to shape the creator’s likeness – So, if a creator creates his creator’s likeness – who is the creator

Hey, this is not a movie or play, to end with the title. We have more beauties to take notice and enjoy.

We have some spectacular miniatures below the main panel, which we will see one by one. The panels first

We have already seen the famous Chandesaanugrahamurthy sculpture from Gangaikonda cholapuram. He is a pint sized beauty of the same. Shiva is shown fondly bedecking a flower garland on Chandesa’s head.

The next is Vishnu lying down on the coils of Adisesha with Lakshmi and another attendant.

This looks like Shiva and Paravathi – The posture seems to resemble Shiva as Gangadhara

The other side, we have three attendants, heavenly beings or royal persons


Next to them, is a very interesting miniature again – Shiva as Maha Sadhashiva. or is it Brahma??

Down below, we come to the last miniature in the panel ( there are of course some lovely Yaali rows which we will see in another subsequent post)

This has Shiva and Parvathi , kind of sitting on a throne with one leg bent ( upto the Knee) and kind of casually put on the throne. Its so amazing that they could sculpt to this detail in this scale. There is a cute Shiva Ghana by the side as well. Well inorder to truly appreciate the greatness of this we got to give you our signature photo – a scale comparison.

Satheesh’s masterstroke …another miniature from the same temple but with a car key by its side.

Picture courtesy’s are for our inhouse specialist Satheesh and Varalaaru.com archives.

Reaching the limits of Sri Vaikundam

Today we are seeing another lovely sculpture panel from mallai – the spectacular thirvikrama panel. Though his name has come to be associated somehow with this art site, we do get to see the great man – Mahabali.

Have sought the help of some learned friends to help bring this post to you. You can split this post into three, the pure sculptural beauty, the expert understanding of the concept beautifully blending with the storyline and lastly the underlying spiritual explosion.

Photos : courtesy Sri Venkatesh ( during the ponniyin selvan group tour to mallai) and myself during a rushed run through this march for some closeups. Content assistnace : Sri Venkatesh again.

As usual we start with the panel in the whole.

As in the post of the Varaha panel, instead of sounding repetitive, instead of focusing just on the hand poses. we are going to look at the characters depicted and finally the beauty of the sculptor depicting Thiruvikrama.

The story first; the powerful King Mahabali is planning to do a great Yaaga ( sacrifice) under the advise of his Guru ( teacher) Sukraacharariar. This could catapult him above the realms of Indra and the King of the immortals seeks Sri Vishnu’s help to stop this.

The lord, does this without shedding a drop of blood, by cleverly utilising the King’s generosity and honor. It was common practise those days to seek the blessings of learned men by giving them alms. Vishnu descends as a young ascetic – a dwarf and seeks alms from the great King. Initially the great King is misled by what is apparent and is almost agreeing to the request – the request is for three feet of land. Considering the diminutive size of the requester, the demands look simple. But the experienced Sukrachaariar looks through the Lord’s disguise. He warns the King against accepting the same,but the King, righteous that he is, keeps his word. The teacher in his eagerness to save his king takes the form of a bee and blocks the spout of the pitcher ( kamandala) – so that the alms granting which is traditionally confirmed by washing off all your claims on that. The dwarf seeing this picks up a blade of grass and inserts into the spout and blinds the guru. Finally the alms is completed and time comes for the Vamana to measure his three feet.

The lord now reveals his true form, he instantly transforms from a diminutive dwarf to Thiruvikrama – a cosmic giant. The first step he takes measures the earth. The second step Bali offers him the Heavens. The Lord in one sweeping move, lifts his leg staright up and spans the heavens. There is no Terra firma left for the last step, that the King offers his own head in an act of total submission to the Lord ( is it not what is the ultimate goal of devotion / bhakthi). The Lord grants him his, takes the third step on the King’s head – consigning him deep into the nether world.

The core concept in this story taken by the mallai sculptor is the massive form of Tiruvikrama spanning the Earth and the Heavens with just two steps. How the sculptor has handled this in his composition is the highlight of this panel. We will see the characters one by one.

We fist go bottom up – analysing the different characters surrounding the main pose of Vishnu.

The lower portion shows four seated persons.

Since the Lord has just taken the second step, we can safely assume that one of them is King Mahabali and the other his Guru Sukraacahariar. The subtlety of this panel, is that of the four seated people, the two seated closest to the Lord, are still looking down, the two to the right and left extreme, are just starting to look up….the sculptor is showing the sudden transformation of the Dwarf Vamana to the cosmic expanse of Thiruvikrama.

We are slightly spanning up. To the two sides of the Lord, to his left at his waist level and to his right, just above – we see two flying figures. Who are they, they seem to the beholding the splendor of the Lord. Closer inspection reveals a very important clue, both of them have circular orbs around their heads. ( the one to left is smaller and lower). Did you get it


Its the Sun and Moon. The sculptor is bringing in a concept of size – that the Sun and Moon are just at the level of the waist and the Lord towers above them.

An interesting inclusion in the panel is found to the extreme left just above the moon. An unique portrayal in a more unique pose. Who is this? Speculation by some if that this is Trisangu ( the Rishi who wanted to ascend to the heavens with his human form, who was helped by Sage Viswamitra to attempt it. As this defied the set nature, he was kicked out by Indra, as he was falling down, the sage uses his powers to stop his inbetween and create a new heaven for him.

But is it he who is sculpted. Definitely the pose of the sculpted person doesn’t befit one who is in heavens. We searched more and found one more important character in the same Vamana episode – the son of Mahabali, Nammuchi, who tries to stop Vishnu from taking the steps. The Lord just kicks/flings him and he is said to be launched into orbit. Now look at the panel – the figure seems to fit this model, of someone who has been kicked into orbit. This particular incident has been sung by Perialwar as well.

To the left, the sweeping second step – you see an interesting depiction of Brahma, holding Vishnu’s hand with his left hand and offering ablutions to Vishnu’s foot.

The same position to the right, we see Shiva seated on a lotus pedestal. witnessing the grand spectacle.

There is another interesting character coming into frame a the top left – just beside Brahma. A bear on a drum, is he jambavan, one of the immortals. He doesn’t seem to fit into the scheme of things. Anther more interesting interpretation is that he is one of the Nithya suris – Thumburu of Srivaikuntam. The sculptor’s view is that the expanding Vishnu reached Sri Vaikuntham !!
Now lets look at the main sculpture. The spectacular Tiruvikrama, the main character.

Such poise and grace, its such a feat to depict someone standing on one leg, throwing out his other leg like a Bale dancer – the thrown leg on tip toe. The expression on the face is sublime.

The beauty of his hands, holding the various ensigns – his conch, his discuss ( chakra – in deployment mode ), the sword, the short sword or mace, the long bow – each shows the mastery of the sculptor’s knowledge of anatomy.

I was simply bowled by this particular frame, his belly button, just a subtle chisel mark but something that has survived a 1300 years.

The depiction that i loved most was the left leg, flowing under the hand.

The final touch of the sculptor ofcourse was the right hand, on first look it seems as though the Lord is balancing by holding on to the frame, but is it that. Looks like he is resting on the outer limits of Sri Vaikuntham and asking the question – where next !!.

Garudanin Kathai – Thirukurungudi

Garuda and Hanuman were my favorite characters and i used to get drunk on Amar Chitra Katha books. They had some wonderfully illustrated color pages and text.

So today, i share one such story and support it with a sculpture from Tirukurungudi ( thanks to our latest contributor – Sri Giridharan – who has shared his vast collection of photos – we will feature more of his contributions in the coming weeks). Garuda is so well know not only in India but all over south East Asia – Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam….
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The story of Garuda’s birth and deeds is told in the first book of the great epic Mahabharata. Garuda’s father was the creator-rishi Kasyapa. His mother Vinata and her sister Kadru – both gave birth in a strange manner. Vinata laid two eggs and her sister a thousand. In due course the 1000 of Kadru hatched into snakes, anxious that her eggs had still not hatched, in her haste Vinata tried to open one of her eggs. Sadly, the baby was only partially formed – he advised his mother to be patient with the remaining egg, and flew off to be the charioter of the Sun – he is called Urud or Aruna. ( incidentally his sun is our famous Vulture Jataya who valiantly fought Ravana while he kidnapped her in his flying chariot).

The sibling rivalry between Vinata and Kadru was intense. One day both of them saw the divine white horse – Uccaihsravas, which is one of the precious items that emerged from the churning of the milk ocean ( along with Koustubam – the jewel that adornes the chest of Vishnu). Vinata was struck by its fabulous white mane, while the wicked Kadru was jealous of her and tricked her into a bet. She said the white horse had a brown tail, Vinata was sure that it was pure white – and so accepted the bet – if it were brown she and her sons would be enslaved to Kadru. Kadru now sought the help of her snakes sons – who quitely went and covered the tail of the horse – so that next day when both the sisters went to the garden they saw Uccaihsravas with a brown tail ! Vinata had lost the bet and her son was destined to be born into bondage.

Wisned by the experience Vinata waited patiently for her remaining offspring – Garuda first burst forth from his egg, he appeared as a raging inferno equal to the cosmic conflagration that consumes the world at the end of every age. Frightened, the gods begged him for mercy. Garuda, hearing their plea, reduced himself in size and energy.

Resolving to release his mother from this state of bondage, Garuda approached the serpents and asked them what it would take to purchase her freedom. Being mortally scared of Garuda and his powers, the snakes named their price – nothing less than the drink of immortality – elixr of Amrit. It was a superhuman task for the Gods guarded Amrit, since it was the source of their immortality. They had ringed the elixir with a massive fire that covered the sky. They had blocked the way to the elixir with a fierce mechanical contraption of sharp rotating blades. And finally, they had stationed two gigantic poisonous snakes next to the elixir as deadly guardians.
( There is another version of this legend which says the snakes wanted Garuda to bring them the moon whose spots were filled with Amrit)

Now, we take a detour to a offshoot and the sculpture part of this post, before returning to the main plot. As he had just hatched, Garuda was ravishingly hungry, and sought out his mother to feed him. The mother not used to feeding birds, advised him to go to the seashore and find beings to eat – but warned him not to harm any Brahmins and if he did so, he would have a terrible burning sensation in his stomach. Garuda went to the seashore and ingested a whole village of fisher folk – including their animals, houses and all. Suddenly he felt a burning sensation in his belly and realised his folly, he spat out the Brahmin, who requested him to spare his wife ( a fisherwomen!) – Garuda did as his command and went to meet his father Kasyapa for advise on feeding.

Kasyappa advised him to proceed to a lake where an Elephant and a Tortoise were fighting. The tortoise was said to be eighty miles long ! and the elephant one hundred and sixty !! Garuda swooped on them and caught them both in his claws and perched on a huge tree to devour them ( the tree was eight hundred miles high !! wow). However, the weight of all of them broke the branch and to his horror Garuda found many Rishis praying ( tied upside down) on the branch. Lest he harm them, he swiftly caught the branch in his beak, still holding the elephant and the tortoise in his claws, flew to a nearby mountain peak – there he let loose the rishis and finished his meal of the two foes!!!

Now, for the sculpture, adding the Amarchitra Katha shots as well.




This lovely sculpture is from Tirukurngudi – watch the detailing of the strength of Garuda, the elephant and the tortoise and he branch in his beak with the upside down rishi’s. Amazing.


The rest of the legend for those interested to now – Garuda hastened toward the abode of the gods intent on robbing them of their treasure. Knowing of his design, the gods met him in full battle-array. Garuda, however, defeated the entire host and scattered them in all directions. Taking the water of many rivers into his mouth, he extinguished the protective fire the gods had thrown up. Reducing his size, he crept past the rotating blades of their murderous machine. And finally, he mangled the two gigantic serpents they had posted as guards. Taking the pot of elixir, he launched again into the air and headed toward the eagerly waiting serpents.
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En route, he encountered Vishnu. Rather than fight, the two exchanged promises. Vishnu promised Garuda the gift of immortality even without drinking from the elixir, and Garuda promised to become Vishnu’s mount.
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Flying onward, he met Indra the god of the sky. Another exchange of promises occurred. Garuda promised that once he had delivered the elixir, thus fulfilling the request of the serpents, he would make it possible for Indra to regain possession of the elixir and to take it back to the gods. Indra in turn promised Garuda the serpents as food.

At long last, Garuda alighted in front of the waiting serpents. Placing the elixir on the grass, and thereby liberating his mother Vinata from her servitude, he urged the serpents to perform their religious ablutions before consuming it. As they hurried off to do so, Indra swooped in to make off with the elixir. From that day onward, Garuda was the ally of the gods and the trusty mount of Vishnu, as well as the implacable enemy of snakes, upon whom he preyed at every opportunity.

Thirukurungudi Photos: Mr. Ashok and Mr Giridharan
Tirukoilur Garudan pic: Mr. Sathiyan

Two Demons plot against a sleeping Vishnu – Mallai

Today we are going to see a very interesting legend in sculpture – most visitors would have seen this sculpture in mahabalipuram, but dont stop to notice the legend nor the sculptural beauty of this masterpiece. One of the earliest acts of valor of Vishnu. The Anantasayana Panel in the Mahishasuramardhini Mandabam. I am grateful for Mr. Swaminathan’s guidance to understand this panel.

Before we see the legend, for a change we see the main sculpture once and a superb piece of stone work that often goes unnoticed.

The depth of this panel carved into hard rock and the masterful depiction of these two key players in the legend is unique – it full of life, as though its a scene being enacted before our very eyes.

Now, lets see the legend. Vishnu has absorbed the Universe in Himself after the destruction of the Creation ( which he does once every cycle is complete), he is supposed to be sleeping (because he has no work to do!). He has delegated the work of creation ( for the next cycle) to Brahma and is into deep slumber in the Ocean of Milk. His bed was the coils of Ananta, the god of serpents. This Sleep is the state of deepest meditation of a person, when there is complete cut off from the external and also internal perceptions.

At this moment – The demons Madhu and Kaitabha are said to be generated from the ear-wax of Vishnu.The two demons slip out of the ears of the Lord and attempt to destroy Brahma, the clear perception about the Creation, and try to enforce a world view in terms of categorization by names and forms,disturbing thus the very act of creation. . These two demons are difficult to conquer.

(Madhu in Sanskrit means honey. It is the extra sweet feeling that things are more than right. Kai in Sanskrit means
‘noise’. Kaitabh represents the inner noise resulting from the feeling of inadequacy. The evils represented by Madhu and Kaitabha erode the inner essence compromising effective engagement.Madhu denotes form of anything. Kaitabha denotes name of everything – )

The threatened Brahma requests the Supreme Goddess to help. Vishnu, aroused by the Goddess, destroys the demons. ( its a long story and inorder to justice to the panel i have shrunk it)

Now lets return to the sculpture:

Vishnu reclining in a trance -watch how the sculptor has brought the serene /dream like peaceful emotion into his face.

He is sculpted with two arms – His right arm is out-stretched and seems to be cluthing something? his left arm is bent at the elbow ( sadly broken) He has his head and chest slightly raised. His left knee is slightly bent though other parts are stretched flat. Is he about to get up? He is adorned with a beautiful crown ,necklaces and ear rings.

His bed or couch – Anantha – what a majestic portrayal of his five headed hoods forming a protective canopy over the sleeping Vishnu. Such depth into the carving and such fluid lines.

Below the feet of Vishnu is the goddess, a depiction of great beauty. ( some version say its Bhu Devi, but is she the Goddess requesting Vishnu to wake up?)

Above the reclining God are two flying figures and below him are two more. These are the weapons of Vishnu shown in human form, ayudh-purusha-s. Of the two flying figures, the dwarfish figure, Panch-janya, on the left is conch and the other charming Kaumodaki represents the mace (gada). The two below are two handsome youthful figures represent discus (chakra) and sword (nandaka). Some identify these two as Markandeya and Bhrigu.

The threatening asura-s, Madhu and Kaitabha, are having a stealthy, but animated, discussion. The one on the right is ready to strike at the Lord. The way they talk over the demons shoulder and how it has been sculpted into stone is magnificent.