Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.81

c2.81

(9) Tirukkalukkunram or Pakshitīrtham, as it is called in Sanskrit, is a small town 9 miles south-east of Chingleput railway station on the road to the Seven Pagodas. The town is situated at the foot of the picturesque Vēdagirisvara hill and contains a large Siva temple, and another smaller Siva temple on the summit of Vēdagirisvara hill [Plate V (a)]. The latter is approached from the south by a steep flight of stone steps which half way up, diverges east and west, forming a pradakshina, or processional path meeting at the top of the hill. The flight of steps which ascends the eastern side of the hill about 50 feet below the summit, passes a rock-cut Pallava temple known as the Orukal mandapa [Plate V (c)]. This temple is excavated in the eastern face of an enormous rock which juts out from the slope of the hill on this side. The facade faces the east and is simple and severe in style. It has no carved projecting cornice and no large panels at the exterior ends of the facade containing figures of doorkeepers, and in this respect as well as on plan, it resembles the Pallava temple at Mahēndravadi. In the centre of the facade are two plain cubical pillars of the usual kind dividing the facade into three openings of equal size. The central opening is approached by a double flight of stone steps as the floor of the temple is about 5 feet above the natural ground level. On plan the temple consists of a hall 22' 6" in length, 17' 0" in width, and about 9 feet in height with a second row of pillars similar to and in line with those of the facade. Cut in the back or west wall is a small square shrine chamber 8 feet in length and 7 feet in width with a little doorway facing the east. The shrine contains a large cylindrical granite linga mounted on a yoni pedestal of the usual kind and the walls of the interior are free from ornamentation. As the floor of the shrine is about 3 feet above the level of the hall the shrine entrance is provided with a small flight of rock-cut steps. On each side of the shrine doorway, is a niche containing a crudely carved figure of a doorkeeper. The latter have only two arms and are portrayed with one hand resting on a huge club and the other on the hip. Their pose, style of headdress and position on each side of the shrine entrance indicate that they belong to the Mahēndra period. Above the shrine doorway is the usual heavy projecting cornice moulding but without the dormer window ornament, and below it two plain horizontal bands. Below the niches, on each side of the steps, the exterior base of the sanctuary is ornamented with two rows of simple plinth mouldings similar to those belonging to the shrine chamber of the Trichinopoly temple which it closely resembles. Standing figures in bas-relief of Brahmā and Vishnu flank the exterior sides of the sanctuary and are carved in panels on the back wall of the hall. Both figures have four arms and the image of Brahmā which is on the south side of the sanctuary is portrayed with a peculiar coiffure which is almost spherical in shape and unusual in style. The image of Vishnu is similar in style to figures of that deity portrayed in some of the later sculptures adorning the temples at the Seven Pagodas belonging to the Māmalia period. These two images appear to be later than the two doorkeepers guarding the entrance into the sanctuary. If so, the original temple must have been dedicated to Siva and then at a later period, converted into a place of worship for the three gods of the Hindu Trinity—Brahmā, Vishnu and Siva. No ceremonial worship is conducted in the temple now, but pilgrims still bow before the linga which is believed to represent Siva, who according to the local stalapurana cursed two rishis dwelling on the hill and turned them into birds. These sacred rishi-birds are still held to visit the temple on the hill regularly at noon and receive morsels of cooked food from the hands of one of the priests.