Tag Archives: Vishnu

A unique depiction of Vishnu Fish incarnation

Today we are to see a very unique depiction of Vishnu in his fish incarnation. Matsya (Fish in Sanskrit) was the first Avatar of Vishnu in Hindu mythology. Matsya Avatar or the Fish Incarnation is the first of the ten Divine Incarnations or Dasavatars of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu is the Preserver of the Universe in the Holy Trinity or Trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in Hinduism.

A Kalpa, meaning one cycle of existence, with a span of 4320 million years, in Hindu Mythology, is equal to one day of Brahma, the Creator of the Universe. On the verge of completion of each Kalpa, and one day of Brahma, Brahma falls asleep. When he does so all of Creation, dissolves into his sleep, signifying the end of Creation. Except, the Vedas are immutable and beyond destruction. Their habitat is inside Brahma. They contain the instructions for Creation, and are hence indispensable to resume the Divine Creational Process. Bhagvat Purana, reports, that once Brahma yawned and the precious Vedas, flowed out of his lips.

Matsya Avatar Meanwhile, Hayagriva, the Asura or demon, scheming to gain the desired immortality, a prerogative of the Devas or gods, was wandering nearby. He instantly stole the Vedas and devoured them. Such insidious intent of the Asura, precipitated a crisis. Vishnu, who feigned Nidra or Sleep, witnessed the entire offence. He was speculating on how to retrieve the treasured Vedas, when he located the pious King Satyavrata, offering prayers to Vishnu, with his waist deep down in water. Satyavrata is also called King Manu.

Vishnu immediately assumed the shape of a tiny fish and swam into Satyavrata`s hands. Vishnu, in the disguise of a fish, entreated Manu, who is virtue personified, to save him from being engulfed by the big fish. The kind Manu put the small creature inside a vessel, full of water. Overnight, the fish outgrew on a surprising scale. Manu had to shift him from the vessel into a bigger tank. But the fish continued growing abnormally. It requested Manu for larger space to live, and Manu accordingly kept it in a pond. Manu, exhorted by the enlarging fish, then dropped it in the greater expanse of a large lake. However, the growth rate did not stop escalating. Finally, the bewildered Manu, impelled by the fervent appeal of the mammoth fish for enormous space, placed him in the ocean. But the fish urged Manu, not to leave him in the ocean. Otherwise, the gigantic ocean-beings would swallow him. It was then that the devout Satyavrata, already amazed by the extraordinary growth-speed of the magical fish, pledged it to disclose its actual identity.

Lord Vishnu made his Celestial Revelation before the awed Manu. Satyavrata, instantly bowed down before him and wished to know the reason behind the Lord`s appearance in the frame of a fish. The omniscient Lord, informed him about the forthcoming Pralaya or Destructive Forces that would vanquishing the Earth, with Great Deluge- “I have manifested for the protection of this universe and for the destruction of the wicked. Just a week from now, the ocean will rise and inundate the entire Universe. At that time you will see a spacious boat approaching you. Do collect all the seeds , plants and animals required for the next spell of creation and get into the boat and wait for me. Take Vasuki, the King of Snakes. The Sapta Rishi or the Seven Sages will also be with you.”

Matsya Avatar left to accomplish its mission. He tore apart the Asura Hayagriva, and collected the lost Vedas.

As had been predicted by the Divine Fish, an all-annihilating flood occurred. Meanwhile, a boat appeared where Satyavrata was waiting with the seeds, plants and animals, and the Sapta Rishi, to take refuge in the boat amidst death`s clutches. When everybody had boarded the huge boat, the boat was fastened to the Fish`s horn, with Vasuki serving as the rope ( as i remember reading in Amar Chitra Katha). They sailed in the turbulent water, all through the night of Brahma`s single day. Vishnu thus, rescued life from ceasing. He also by giving shelter to all the creatures, maintained the flow of life that will perpetuate in the next Created Cosmos.

The Matsya Avatar of Vishnu focuses the perpetual love and concern of the benevolent Vishnu,

Ok, but generally vishnu is depicted with a human form waist up and a fish form – ( as is evident from this pillar from srirangam)

But today we see a unique depiction with the forms reversed. Fish upper body and a human lower body – this is from Belur. A very unique and cute sculpture.

chandra and others had doubts if this was depiction of Varaha ( boar avatar). appending the relevant sculptures from the same location

Origins of the Srirangam Vimana – story in sculpture

Today, we are going to see a very rare and unique sculpture. It gives me great pleasure to present this post, since it brings out the true essence of our blog site. We had earlier seen the amazing pillar sculptures of Sesharaya Mandabam, while i was posting about this in mintamil forum, Sir Srirangam Mohanarangan, asked me about a unique sculpture in one of those pillars. I did not have it then and hence requested my ever resourceful friend Mr. Ashok to source it for me. Being such an ardent enthusiast, Ashok made the trip and ensured that i get the correct pictures ( he did get many more – and we will see this in subsequent posts). Writing about the foremost of shrines of Vishnu and one of the most revered of holy places gives me great joy, i thank the will of God for making this possible.

Rudra expounds to Narada the origin, growth and greatness of Srirangam thus:

When God created Brahma from his navel and deputed him to create the earth the latter was at his wit’s end when he saw a sheer expanse of a water. When he was thus perplexed God came to him in the form of a swan (hamsa) and saying ‘Om’ disappeared. Then Brahma worshipped God saying ‘Om’. Once again God appeared to him as a swan and preached the Vedas, which were stolen away by the two asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha. Brahma, unable to trace them even after an elaborate search, appealed to God, who appeared to him in the form of a fish, killed the asuras in His manifestation of a horse (hayagriva) and disappeared after restoring the Vedas. Then Brahma created the universe.

He was displeased, however, with his creation, for he found that everything was transient and disappeared in course of time. He went to Ksirasagar (‘Ocean of milk’) and worshiped God, who appeared to him as a tortoise. Brahma was puzzled and prayed to God to show him His real form. Thereupon God advised him to worship Him by repeating the Astaksara or the eight-lettered mantra (Om Namo Narayanaya). Brahma, so doing, lost himself in penance and contemplation. As a result of his penance the Sriranga Vaimana sprang from the Ksirasagar radiating luster allround.5 (The expression Sriranga Vimana is used to denote the turret as well as the oval shaped sanctum beneath it, containing the image of the reclining Ranganatha. The turret, the sanctum and the image form a single whole and are inseparably associated with one another.) It was borne by Garuda. Sesa, the Serpent God, had spread his hood over it. Visvaksena, with a stick in hand, cleared the way for the God. The sun and moon were fanning the deity with chowries. Narada and Tumburu followed singing. There was the Jayaghosa of Rudra and other gods and the ‘Dundubighosa’. The celestial courtesans danced. Clouds rained flowers. There were great hurrahs and tumult.

Brahma awoke from his penance and prostrated himself before the vimana. He stood up saying the four Vedas through his four mouths and was lost in amazement. Sunanda, a celestial watch at the gate (dwarapalaka), told him that the three lettered Vimana, ‘Sri-ra-nga’ was the result of his penance, that God was resting with His consort inside and that he could see Him and worship Him. Then Brahma worshiped the Almighty for a long time. Finally the God spoke to him thus: “Listen O Brahma! I have appeared as a result of your penance.” Then he explained to him the four types of idols and vimanas, – (1) Svayamvykta – created by God, i.e., God Himself choosing to come down as an idol, (2) Divya – created by the Devas, (3) Saiddha – created by a great seers and (4) Manusya – created by mortals. “The Vimanas of the first class, viz., Svayamvyakta will appear in eight places – Srirangam, Srimusnam, Venkatadri, Saligram, Naimisaranyam, Totadri, Puskara and Badrikasrama. Rangavimana is the first and the earliest of these” Speaking of the second class of idols the God said, “I will come to Kanci as Varadaraja, where my idol will be installed by you. Ananta will instal my idol in the south, Rudra in Kandikapura, Visvakarma at Nanda, Dharma at Vrisabagiri, Asvini at Asvatirtha, Indra at Cakratirtha, etc. So also great seers will install me in certain places and men everywhere.” Then the God explained to Brahma the procedure for conducting the worship and lay down in the characteristic pose at Srirangam and kept silent.

Brahma took the vimana from Ksirasagar to his abode in Satyaloka and established it on the banks of the Vraja. He appointed Viwasvan, the sun god, to do the daily puja of the God. After Viwasvan his son Vaivasvata Manu continued the puja. Iksvaku, a son of Manu, became the king of Ayodhya and found it difficult to worship the vimana at Satyaloka. Hence he did penance, which extended over hundreds of years, and obtained the permission of Brahma to take it to Ayodhya. After Iksvaku his descendants worshiped the God. Rama gave the vimana to Vibhisana, who established it on the banks of the Kaveri.

At this stage Narada asks Rudra to give details of the above account, viz., the coming of the vimana to Srirangam. Rudra replies:

Vasista told Iksvaku, his disciple, the origin of the Sriranga Vimana and added that after being worshiped by him and his generations, it would establish itself in Srirangam and be worshiped by the Cola monarchs. As advised by his guru Iksvaku did penance near the former’s asrama with the object of bringing the vimana to Ayodhya from Satyaloka. Indra, the king of the gods knew the purpose of the penance and consulted Brahma about the possibility of their losing the vimana. Brahma went to Visnu, who told him that it was His intention to go to Ayodhya and thence to Srirangam. Then Brahma brought the vimana to Iksvaku on the back of Garuda. Iksvaku carried the vimana to Ayodhya, established it between the rivers Sarayu and Tamasa, built a shrine and organised worship.

Dasaratha, in the line of Iksvaku, performed the sacrifices of Asvamedha and Putrakamesti for which celebrations he invited monarchs of all India, one of whom was Dharmavarma, the Cola. Dharmavarma saw the Rangavimana, knew its history and wanted to have it in his country. So, when he returned home he began performing penance on the banks of the Candrapuskarani.6 (A tank in the Srirangam temple.) The risis around said to him, “Nearby lies your old city in ruins.7 (The reference is to Uraiyur, the capital of the Colas.) Rudradeva burnt it in anger. Close to it there was a risi-asram, where we had congregated under the leadership of Dalbya risi, who worshipped God. When God appeared to him, he requested Him to stay there and sanctify the place, to which the latter replied that in His avatar as Rama, He would come to that place as Ranganatha, for the sake of Vibhisana. We are expecting the Sriranga Vimana even now. Hence your penance is unnecessary”. On hearing this Dharmavarma stopped his penance and retired to Nisula.

Rama worsted Ravana in battle, crowned Vibhisana king of Lanka and performed the ‘asvamedha’ sacrifice in Ayodhya. To it all were invited including Dharmavarma. Rama presented the Rangavimana to Vibhisana out of his munificence as the latter was very much helpful to him in his fight against Ravana.

Vibhisana bore the vimana on his head and, on his way to Lanka, stopped at Srirangam and placed the vimana on the banks of the Candrapuskarani. The risis immediately informed Dharmavarma about the arrival of the vimana. The Cola king came to the spot and received Vibhisana with great delight. The latter bathed in the sacred waters of the Kaveri and worshipped the vimana. Dharmavarma also performed puja and requested Vibhisana to stay with him for a few days. To this Vibhisana did not agree and said that an utsava had to be performed in Lanka the next day. The cola replied that the festival might as well be performed in his own country and that he would meet all the expenses. Vibhisana then agreed to stay, and the festival was begun and celebrated for nine days in a grand fashion. After a stay of a fortnight Vibhisana started for Lanka. To his utter amazement and sorrow the vimana had got itself fixed to the spot where he had placed it and had become irremovable.8 (According to the popular local version Vibhisana had been instructed by Rama not to place the vimana on the ground. At Srirangam Vibhisana entrusted it to a Brahmana boy for a short while. The latter placed it on the ground as the former did not return in time, as promised. When he returned Vibhisana found the vimana on the ground and irremovable. He became angry and chased the boy, who ran up the rock on the other side of the Kaveri. He was no other than Ganesa (Uccipillaiyar). See also Parameswara Samhita (10:279-281) ) Vibhisana shed tears. The God then said to him, “This place is good, so also its king and people. I desire to stay here. You may retire to Lanka”. He also related to Vibhisana the sanctity of the river Kaveri. “Visvavasu, a Gandharva of the Vindhyas, met on the hill side a congregation of river goddesses and made his obeisance to them. Immediately a debate arose as to whom it was meant. All except Ganga and Kaveri withdrew from the contest. Both the disputants went to Brahma, who declared that Ganga was superior. Kaveri did penance as a result of which Brahma granted to her a status of equality. Still dissatisfied she is performing penance at Saraksetra. To give her the first place among the rivers I have to raise her sanctity to the utmost by remaining in her midst. I will recline here facing your country. You may go back to Lanka.”

Dharmavarma built a shrine for the vimana, the surrounding prakaras and organised worship.

Long post, but here come the pillar sculpture. You can see Vibhisana in his royal bearings – crown and staff, lovingly carrying the Srirangam Vimanam. Sadly this amazing treasure trove of sculptural beauty – the sesharaya mandabam is currently neglected and used as a …..ok, dont want to end a good post on a sad note, we see that in a subsequent post. Enjoy the sculpture for now.

The vimanam pictures ( for comment of shiv) – images are from the net

source: http://www.thiruvarangam.com/history.html

From Tamil Nadu to Cambodia – Karaikkal Ammai


This amazing sculpture is from Khao Preah Vihear, Cambodia. We have already seen a few amazing sculptures from this, today we are seeing a very unique lintel freeze of Shiva as Nataraja. From a distance you can see the lovely depiction of shiva with his ten hands, creating a feel of the cosmic dance.

As we explore more, under him, we see a beautiful depiction of Vishnu as Sesha sayana – reclining of his seprent anantha, with his consort lakshmi lovingly massaging his feet ( badly damaged though). You can also see brahma seated on his lotus pedestal that emerges from Vishnu’s navel. To their right are two cute parrots, and on top of them a mythical beast and a rider. To their right we see two monkeys?

Thought of stopping at this, but as we look closer at the dancing Shiva, we see two spectators ardently enjoying his dance, though their heads have broken off – the statue maybe headless but not clueless, the body parts of the person on to his right – show that its a lady. Now our task becomes is simple, how many ladies have been granted the privilege of watching shiva dance – it could only be the famous Karaikkal ammaiyar. We have some magnificent bronzes from the cholas. Leaves us in no doubt as to who is depicted. We will see the legend of this great devotee in a coming post, but she did ask for her beauty to be taken away by the lord. Maybe this was part of the disfigurement. She is often called as the ghost lady.

We will see in another post, the detailed life history of the great lady and why she got the ghost form




But how did such a very south Indian character ( sadly even many tamils would not be able to remember her) reach Cambodia. Could it be the handiwork of our craftsmen, chances seem remote as the facial features of these sculptors are more south east asian than indian. Maybe they were trained under the same canons of art or the religious scriptures, verses, literature traveled that far.

images courtesy
http://www.sundial.thai-isan-lao.com/phanom_rung.html

Enchanting Ascetic, Mesmerising Mohini

One of our viewers commented on the post of Sri Dhivakar, as to why despite lots of Shiva Bhikshadana forms being present, why i chose to depict only a few? A very good question and the answer is, inorder for the depth and beauty of his post to reach the audience, i kind of underplayed the sculptural content. Well it does give me a chance to run a sequel to that post.

So here you have Shiva Bhikshanda, you heard the story previously, now see how the master sculptor not only depicted the main form but also brought in the entire scene into his sculpture.

The Kailasantha temple in kanchi, is the grand creation of the great pallava kind Raja simhan, the temple was addressed as the big stone temple, but Great Raja Raja chola himself. Coming from someone who built the grandest of temples it quite a compliment and its not an exaggeration.. Every panel in the magnificent creation is sheer poetry and a delight to watch. Lets take the great shiva bhikshadana panel in long shot. Its beautifully framed by the famous prancing lion yaalis of raja simha. What grace and what artistic brilliance. Before we go into the main sculpture, we can see the left hand index finger of shiva pointing up – whats is it pointing to, the amazing dance of shiva ( see the similarity in the depiction to the one we saw in the mallai olakaneshwara temple)

Ok, lets come back to the composition. Shiva is the charming ascetic, the form of the sculpted youth exudes youth, vitality, the nakedness of his lower body, the grace of his bent knee, the slight flex of his left foot with the sandals, the broad shoulders, the nonchalant manner in which is right hand rests on his staff, the begging bowl stuck into his palm, the mischievous grin on his face – all portray youthful exuberance.


Not being content with this masterly depiction, the sculptor continuous with his story board, two rishi wives, are charmed by shiva, captivated by his grace and prostrate at his feet. Seeing this an angry rishi is rushing at shiva, raising his left hand to strike him.

Is there a reference in verse to this, yes there is.
4th Tirumurai

has the instruments such as kokkarai, cymbals and vīṇai to measure time when the youth dances.
adorns his waist with chank beads.has a cobra of five hoods.
remove the snake-bite, 5 he is in vakkari a shrine nāka īccaravaṉār has a form in which the waist is naked without cloth and caused the wives of the sages of tārukāvaṉam to be infatuaged with love.
Translation: V.M.Subramanya Aiyar–Courtesy: French Institute of Pondichery / EFEO (2006)

Ok, but what about the Mohini we saw earlier -thats from the Kanchi Devarajaswami temple pillar. Her you can again see the skill of the sculptor and more so his playfull intelligence.

The rishis are not only drunk on the bewitching charm of Vishnu as mohini, but are also getting drunk on the beverage which she is serving. They are thus shown in various stages of intoxication.

Is there a reference in verse to this, yes there is

2nd Tirumurai


you spread yourself into many living beings and worlds you absorbed them into you at the end of the world you created all the living beings which had a short respite, to be born again, in order that they may be get respite for a short while from their Karmams yourself and the noble-minded Māl who bent the wild lime tree got separated and joined together you desired the cremation ground where corpses come and felt joy in staying there
Translation: V.M.Subramanya Aiyar–Courtesy: French Institute of Pondichery / EFEO (2006)

Sculpture from an Author’s perspective

I have been very fortunate to have been under the tutelage of many great souls, who lovingly embraced me and took it on themselves to educate and encourage me. Their list is long and in that long list the forerunner is Mr .Dhivakar. A master story teller and author of three superb works of historical fiction in tamil – Vamsadhara, Thirumalai Thirudan and Vichitra Chitan, i invite him to give us a history author’s perspective to sculpture.
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Over to Mr. Dhivakar.Vamsadhara.blogspot.com

I am sure that vijay’s effort at showcasing the art of sculpture in such a splendid manner, will resurrect this forgotten art and place it on the high pedestal that it truly deserves, for how better can we pay tribute to the greatness of these great craftsmen who managed to craft such masterpieces in the hardest stone with just a chisel and hammer.

Tamil Nadu has a had a long foray into this art form, starting from the early 6th Century, sculpture held the sway of the land till the 15th C CE dotting the landscape with thousands of temples, with brilliant sculptures, the countryside resounding with beautiful sounds of chisels hitting stone. Though the art form is still alive albeit in a much smaller spread, lending their art to the new temples that are coming up, but there still exists a wide gap between sculpture of today and then. The ancient works of art were based on strong concepts brought forward in the many myths and moral stories, sung in our literature, these amazing works were art were like moving cinescapes bringing forth the crux of the story, thereby forever etched in our memory. The sculpture would chose a good quality stone to showcase the good moral and hence his creation would stand the test of time, have stood and would still stand if not for the wanton acts of us humans. In comparison the modern works of art are bereft of this liveliness, take this new statue in a temple in Atlanta, its a beautiful work no work with excellent proportions, but something is lacking. It doesn’t move you, evoke a sense of awe inside you, for here lies the mastery of the ancients, to breathe life into stone and make it speak – stories.
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The ancient sculptors were not just exhibiting their art but had a deep understanding of our culture, our heritage, literature incl devaram, thiruvaasagam, aazwar works, epics incl Mahabarath, Ramayan – they were multifaceted individuals. They had read and re read these works so as to infer the essence of these works and translate it into works of art, leaving behind a rich repository of sculpture for future generations.

Such beautiful interplay of literature with art is finding its release in this site and based on vijay’s request, i am presenting one such interesting story supported by his pictures.

Bitchandavan ( literally meaning divine beggar)
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Shiva means love, shivam means old, one who has no end nor beginning,such are the many epithets that sing the praise of shiva. Shiva means nature as well. for he graced his benevolence on this world by subduing the raging Ganges which threatened to inundate the world in her fury, by catching her in his two locks of hair and then once she was truly subdued let her out as a humble stream to enrich the earth. He who has the moon as a head ornament, is also portrayed with a deer, ax, cobra , holding the flame in his hands, wearing a tiger skin dress and stamping the demon ( muyalagan), is demonic instincts also part of nature ?. How did he get to have so many items from nature as ornaments?

Generally legends and mythological stories are grounds to be threaded with care, for quite often later additions have spiced up the original versions, however there are still some left in their pristine forms –
which educate us not only of intellectual heights of those times but also give us a brief idea on the morals and lifestyles prevalent those days. And if we have the good fortune of the shivaite foursome singing the praise of these in the thevaram – thrivasagam, its a double treat. Their words were spontaneous truths encased in the best of tamil diction. One such is the humbling of the rampant pride of the saints who occupied the forests of Tharukavanam. It was due to this that Shiva adorned himself with these amazing ornaments.
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From time immemorial santhana dharma has been the unwritten code so associated with religion in india and no greater souls to preach this than the great saints, who resided in the fringes of humanity, in peaceful groves inside dense forests, where their simple living served as living testaments to the faith and heights of human intelligence mixing with the divine. They were our great ancestors, who lived by the great vedas, propounding the divine knowledge of being one with
God, teaching us the right path. Their selfless yet simple life and pure devotion to God made him reside with them.

Generally speaking, the rishis /saints/ ascetics/monks are all great souls, but at times they too fall prey to the vanity of the human mind, leading to some unwanted disturbances creeping in. One such
excess was what occurred to the saints of Taarakavan.

Their single minded devotion to the vedic culture and the fact that the pure essence of the vedas bestowed on them tremendous power – to control the elements, and with great power comes great evil. They had the ascetic energy to control anything including the devas, and hence sought anything and everything from inside the vedic altar, so much so that they started ridiculing the gods, Shiva and vishnu no longer occupied their senses, for they saw no need in praying to them, for every want of theirs could be fulfilled by their innate power.

when men step out of line, nature has his better half programmed to bring him back to the right path, but the women folk of tharukavan were also so drunk on the fulfillment of their every wish, that they
too sided with their menfolk. The mortal pleasures satiated their every wish and soon they were enjoying these pleasures coming their way without much effort.

Their chastity and the power that their chastity brought on their husbands,filled their every thought. Since the multitudes shuddered to face the wrath of their chasteness, their fertile minds led them to
believe that even if Gods as shiva and vishnu did exist, they too would be powerless against them. This added to their already inflated egos.

Shiva and vishnu decided to bring this spectacle to a halt and teach them a good lesson. So shiva descended on the forest, as a charming ascetic – his brilliant golden body radiant in its nakedness, carrying just a bowl and begging the rishi wives for alms. His charm was so overpowering and the sight of his youthful body sent the women raving, for an instant even forgetting their chasteness and followed his madly.
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Vishnu, at the same instant, descended as a charming enchantress, mohini – as she walked her swan step, the Rishi lusted after her, their minds loosing control over their bodies. When they both met each
other, they realised their folly.

The lady’s dropped their heads in great shame, but the rishi’s were mad with rage. immediately they summoned all their powers, and out of their sacrificial fire, they brought forth a tiger ( this was a very sinister and darkest form of yogic practise. As a last resort this was attempted by Indrajith and advised of the dire consequences by Vibeeshana it was stopped by Rama’s arrow)

Back to the forest, the evil tiger was killed by Shiva without as much as breaking a sweat and to add insult to injury, he skinned it and donned it on over his golden sheen body. Immediately the rishi’s
brought forward a horned deer with poisoned horns and a sharp axe -Shiva nonchalantly held them in his two hands. Then they brought forth poisonous cobras – which he wound around his body as ornaments. Finally, not knowing what more to do, the rishi’s threw the sacrificial fire itself at him, which he calmly caught in his begging bowl. On seeing these, their resolve was shattered and they humbly prostrated at his feet.

These deer, ax, fire etc find repeated mention in thevaram and thiruvaasagam verses.

Thus the rishis, in spite of having committed the gravest sins, falling from grace – as they were to be the examples for future generations, yet the lord did not punish them, but only reformed them with his
benevolent grace, so that we may understand the true greatness of him.For what use is the sun without his light, the fire without heat, the flower without fragrance. True sculpture too must be seen – as the confluence of art with godliness. See Bhikshadhana in this context and you would be able to truely appreciate the divine art form of sculpture.

Dhivakar

An Intro Post on Tirukurungudi – a guest post Mr. Kannan

For all the long years that was in my motherland, i had not yet discovered by true thirst for my language, thought the love for art was there since long. It was a chance introduction of one of well wishers Sri Divakar who brought me into a forum that made me realise the beauty of my mother tongue and like a toddler learning to walk, i relearnt my mother tongue, trying to find my release through the amazing mintamil forum. I was egged on during those initial stages of just a few lines on sculpture to deeply analysing and inferring literature, bakthi and their interplay with sculpture – was catalysed by the interactions i had with Mr. Kannan. a stunning academic whose love for the language and the great devotional hymns, amazed me. As luck could have it, Mr Ashok my photographer friend came up with a set of amazing sculptures from Tirukurungudi, one look a them and i decided inorder to do justice to the mastery of these beauties, the right person to write about them would be Mr Kannan. Grateful to him for agreeing to do so and come up with such a great post in such a short duration. Read on and enjoy…..

It often amazes me! You and me look at a rock, a barren hill as stone. But an artist sees a temple inside. How else could we have those marvelous cave temples in Mamallapuram, Ajanta and Ellora?
There are plenty of stones around us. But only an artist sees God in a stone. A poetry is hidden in words. Poetry is hidden in stones as well. I shoot a butterfly on the other day. It was so beautiful that I felt that this butterfly is nothing other than a Haiku written by the flower! Can we say this? Yes! we can. Beauty and order are the
essence of creation. Whenever there is beauty there is poetry. Vijay has rightly called his blog “Poetry in Stone”.

But of course most of us don’t see a poetry in rock or a flower. We need to develop those aethetics. Tirumular a saint poet of India says that when you see a wooden elephant, at that moment you ‘see’ only an elephant and not the wood. In the same way, when you see nature, you see only the elements but not the god. This is certainly an art. To see a poetry in stone and God in everything.

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Nammalvar, the poet saint of southern India expresses it in a different way. He visited Tirukurungudi. He saw God there. He saw ONLY god and nothing else. Not even the ‘seer’. Only ONE existed. He says
then “If then, how dare I call myself an entity?” I think Nammalvar is correct. After seeing these beautiful sculptures, one forgets oneself. Only the Poetry in Stone Exists.

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The popular belief is that Sriman Narayanan decends now and then as Avatars on earth, as it is one of the playgrounds for him (Leela Vibhuti). Among the most popular Dasavatar (ten) Vamana is celebrated by saints and poets. As it reflects the sentiments of Tirumular and Nammalvar beautifully. Pali was a great ruler,in fact, he was referred as ‘Mapali’ the great one! All the worlds under the heaven was his (in fact, he owned the heaven as well). He naturally forgets God, the creator. This story repeats after his great grand father Hiranya who was a tyrrant and egoist. He was slayed by Vishnu for the same reason. However, Pali is also the grandson of Prakalatha, a well known devotee
of Vishnu. So, Vishnu didn’t kill him but he wanted to show him a lesson. He came as a dwarf and asked for three feet of land as alm. Without relizing the fact that he was God himself, Pali promised HIM his land. Next moment HE grew so big that the entire known universe is under one feet and the unknown universe under another feet. Even Brahma the creator of universes got baffled by this enormous BEING. He realized that HE must be the ‘real’ creator and so he washed HIS feet using water in his kamandala. The water flew in the heavens there after as “Akasa Ganga”. Later Siva brought that to earth for earthly uses. The God who resides in Tirukurungudi is none other than this
huge entity. This beautiful myth is captured in stone.

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HE appeared once to the call of Gajendra. Under distress Gajendra called for help. He requested the roots of all roots to appear in front of him to remove his distress. So he called “Adi Mulame” (the
one from it everything springs, the undifferentiated ONE). Before THAT appeared everything else such as all the Devas, Trimurthi, Rishis and Munis appeared. Why? They wanted to see who THAT one was? At that moment Sriman Narayanan appeared in his Eagle cart (Garuda vahanam)
majestically. This story is depicted as poetry in stone as well.
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However, the most interesting one is Krishna stealing butter. The most popular myth of India and elsewhere. Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu as well. However, with a difference. While rest of all avatars are magnificent and majestic. This one is ‘down to earth’. A playful child, mischievous to the core. Naughty and charming. Nothings escapes his charm. Not even the cattle and trees in Brindavan. Krishna is embodiment of beauty, simplicity and benevolence. He undertook major tasks for the benefit of people around him like a child play (the samhara or the destruction of evil in this avatar is unparalleled) mainly to make himself accessible to his dear ones as a child companion to play with. That’s why Krishna is accepted by everyone without cast, creed and religion. This beauty is etched on stone with the same charm in Tirukurungudi.

When poetry emerges, it charms, it enchants and it mesmerize. At that moment only poetry exists. Paranirvana, Satory, Moktsha. Don’t you feel that at this moment in this blog?

When the buying stops the killing will stop as well

We read often in newspapers about idol theft, but nothing prepared me for this.
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Kbal Spean is a an amazing treasure trove of Hindu Art deep into the jungles of Cambodia. We see an entire river bed carved into a thousand stone lingas ( will feature in a separate post). across the small water fall we see a lovely bas relief of Vishnu in his characteristic sleeping pose, with Brahma the creator emerging from his naval via a lotus flower, Lakshmi his consort by his feet…three shrines are depicted to the right and a separate depiction of Brahma to the left…
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Now come the looters – art thieves -who first took away the face of Lakshmi. The local papers published these pictures….but guess no action taken, at least on the positive side when the looters struck again. This time taking away the face of Vishnu.
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What a sad sight. Anyway some good soul has restored the monument through in a crude manner.. the loss is indeed too great to even comprehend. Guess until the buying stops the killing wont stop for these as well.951

Two versions of the same story, or are they, a comparison of two special depictions of Varaha ( boar) incarnations – mallai and Udayagiri

One of the favorite depictions of the Indian sculptor was the act of saving the earth ( lady earth…booma devi) by Lord Vishnu – who takes the form of a boar. There are many different depictions of this but to see the beauty of the sculpture and the delicate interplay of sculpture with literature is seen in these two forms…

what started off as comparison between the varaha images in udayagiri n
mallai lead to this post . Was always fascinated by so many depictions of this scene n had
wrongly surmised that canons for such sculpture was not existent then.

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For eg, u hv already seen the mallai explanation when the lord is lovingly embracing mother earth

( ok he is lovingly nuzzling her)….

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but in udayagiri she is shown as dangling from his tusks……The mallai sculpture brings out the delicate emotions as the lord gently lays down the earth on his lap….( ok this image needs a seperate post by itself)

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It was only after i read Andaal’s verses that I realised both were
correct……just that they were two acts of the same story

Aandaal had ….. Fallen in love with the lord n composed some of the most divinely inspired verses on the Lord …of her love to him

She sings thus…. The lord who sleeps in srirangam n stands in
tirupathy who took the form of the shameless boar having dug up the
earth from the deep depths … Seeing her beauty just swallows her up
( like a boar would do witha tuber he found) but immdly realises his
folly spits her out….n seeing her disheveled beauty embraces her in
his broad shoulders…… N then continues that he wears the victory
garland vyjayanthi mala for the feat of restoring the earth.

Now if u look at the pictures… Udayagiri is the first act n mallai the next.

Amazing action sculpture pillars of Srirangam Temple, conculding part

Ok, we finally come to the mazing detailing in these pillars…though small in size these miniatures are amazing specimens to the stonecraft of the artist…such grace, proporation and design..one fault would have left the entire pillar to be discarded…such was the democles sword hanging on their heads…

Just to give you an idea of their overall placement take a look at the whole pillar once again…bear in mind these are single stone and support the roof the pillared hall…

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Normally in south indian temples you would see a vast variety of mythological creatures, half beast half animal…called yaazhis…these would be of Garangutan proportions…but here they too are in miniature..down to last detail. See the sensual grace of the maiden standing coyly with a hand on her hips

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See the puppy like elephant rushing towards the Lord ( Gajendra !)

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Hanuman is in all his humbleness listening to a discourse of the Lord

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The Lord Vishnu on his elephant thone….see the lovely work on the onamental canopy on top of them.

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The Lord carried by a flying Garuda…his vehicle.

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Hanuman trying to do a la Garuda….( but see his humble grace not letting go of Vishnu’s feet!!! Truly he was a great devotee)

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The Lord seated majestically on his throne and hanuman on his feet ..praying.

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He with his consort Lakshmi

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This is a puzzle…looks like a royal coronation ceremony…you can see Hanuman and Garuda on the two sides bringing in the scared pots filled with holy water….lakshmana too in the frame..

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The churning of the Milky ocean is depicted….due paucity of space instead of showing the lord supporting the mountain as a turtle..he is shown holding it up…..but why the two monkeys…

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Next too is a puzzle… A puppy beholds the charming youth who has lovingly slung a fawn over his sholders….seems he has got a thron stuck into his feet….a lady beholds him..

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Some battle/action scenes thrown in to boot….what a treasure trove…

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A delightful Boar

The Boar incarnation of vishnu is a spectacular depiction found in many places across India. But nothing is as spectacular as this unique form in the Lakshmana temple in Kajuraho.

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At the outset, it looks like a normal boar, but as you go near, you realise that this is no normal boar….

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Every inch of this sculpture is covered with thousands of miniatures…

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from the curved tusks to the upturned ear….every inch of space abounds with carvings….

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of the thousands of celestials who witnessed the amazing feat of the boar in rescuing the goddess earth …..from the nether world…a common ruse among indian sculptures is to depict a naga …a snake man….to depict the under world….unfortunately we have lost the torso…you can yet see his lovely winding tail between the legs of the boar….( you might recall the sculpture from udayagiri which we saw earlier — where you can see the naga)

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not only has the boar lost much of its beauties incl its tail to vandals…and nature…but its also lost its prize…for what is left of the goddess earth are her two feet….though firmly grounded….sad

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