Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c7: Chapter II

South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c7

Language
English

Chapter II

c7.1

It is difficult to ascertain the exact time when Saivaism established itself in India as a definite cult. Siva in his aspect of the Rudra is as old as the Vedas. The Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata suggest a period when Saivaism had taken a definite shape. Passages in the Lalita Vistara and other Buddhist works distinctly show that Saiva worship existed in India before the advent of Buddhism; Dr. Barnouf has stated that it existed as early as 600 B.C. In the time of Patanjali, about the second century B.C., images (pratikriti) of Siva, Skanda, and Visakha, made sometimes of precious metals, were kept for common worship by certain persons referred to as the Mayuryas who practised image-making as a profession¹. "The fact that the Mayuryas thought of making money out of the trade in images shows that the demand was considerable". In the invocation to Siva in Mrichchhatika we find that the 'blue-throated' God had begun to be worshipped about the first century A.D., the date attributed to Sudraka. It is not possible to indicate the time when the Saiva faith was first introduced into South India. Probably it came along with the advent of Brahmanism led by Agastya. The Skanda and Brahmanda Puranas represent the pauranic elaboration of South Indian Saivaism and the date of the composition of these Puranas obviously suggests the time of the beginning of Saiva movement in South India. Of the important group of Saiva shrines, those at Ellora were excavated about 760 A.D., while the rock-cut temples at Māmallapuram, of which three are Saivaite, were excavated during the reign of the Pallava Kings, between the sixth and seventh centuries. The Pallava Prince Sivaskanda Varman who lived in the second century A.D., "was an orthodox Hindu with a special devotion for Siva". Mahendra Varman, I. (600-625 A.D.) and Narshinha Varmana, I. (Cir. 625 A.D.) to whom many of the rock-temples are attributed, were also Saivaite. When Hiuen Tsang visited the South in 640 A.D., he found the country was studded with hundreds of Brahmanical temples most of which must have been Saivaite.

c7.2

¹ Patanjali's Commentary on Panini, V-3-99.

c7.3

² Note on the use of images in Ancient India, by Sten Konow in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXVIII, page 145-49.

c7.4

The Pandyan Kings are reputed to have favoured Jainism and the conversion of Kubja Pandya, the ‘hunchback,’ who was by birth a Jaina, is typical of the conflict which raged about the time between a form of Hinduism and the non-Brahmanical faith before the former supplanted Buddhism and Jainism. It is said that Kubja Pandya after he had espoused the Saivaite faith was “cured alike of his physical deformity and spiritual obliquity and took thenceforth the name of Sundara (beautiful) in contradistinction to his former name of Kubja (‘hunch-back’).” The Tamil works which recount the events of the reigns of the Pandyan Kings record a legend about a marriage of the granddaughter of Kulasekhara, the founder of Madura, with the god Siva who is said “to have come down in mortal form to wed the Pandyan Princess and perpetuate that line.” This seems to point to the conclusion that the earlier Pandya Kings were Saivaite before the advent of Buddhism and Jainism.

c7.5

The Cholas were all along strict adherents of Siva and their aversion to the religion of Jainism was the source of constant friction with the neighbouring Pandyan princes, and also the Sinhalese who are referred to as “the enemies of Siva”. The patronage which the kings of the Chola dynasty extended to the revival of Saivaism from the 10th century onward has lent an impetus to South Indian sculpture which has added an unique chapter to the history of Indian Art.

c7.6

Overthrow of Buddhism. It must be remembered that although Saivaism had an earlier history in South India, the period of struggle between Buddhism and Brahmanism (between 500 to 800 A.D.) really represents a general rise of orthodox Hinduism as opposed to a mere Saiva revival. For during this period the adherents of the Vaishnava as well as the Saiva faith have been fighting their battle for mastery against the then prevailing faith of Buddhism and Jainism, and we find constant references to both Pallava and Chola Kings endowing Saivaite as well as Vaishnava shrines which did not assume antagonistic relations until later times under the Cholas. The pioneer of this revival of the orthodox Hindu faith was no doubt the great Saivaite Saint Manikkavacagar who by his life-long struggle against the Buddhists gained the title of “the hammer of the Buddhists”. The music of Manikkavacagar’s melting lyric—the famous *Tiruvācagam* and the faith and fervour which they expressed have for centuries continued to thrill with rapturous emotion the teeming millions of the Tamil country. To the Tamils, Manikkavacagar has always been the saint ‘whose words are precious rubies.’ He was born at Tiruvadavur in the Melur Taluk of Madura, and lived about the sixth century A.D. His famous hymns are still recited in many a Saivaite temple in South India. The story of his spiritual regeneration is well-known. He was the prime minister to a Pandyan King of Madura, and was commissioned by his sovereign to purchase a stud of horses for royal use and it is in that trip that his conversion took place at Tiru-Perum-turai. He was attracted to a grove by the chants of the sacred Saiva Agama where he found his spiritual guru who was no other than Siva himself in the guise of a great sage who at once initiated him. He cast off his rich garments and put on the humble covering of the meek ascetic and smeared himself with ‘holy ashes’ which, as Tiru-jnan Sambandha tells us, symbolize ‘deliverance from desire.’ The story of his spiritual struggle and triumph is told in the graceful verses of the Tiruvacagam one of the cardinal teachings of which is the cult of Bhakti the path of love and the direct operation of Divine grace in the redemption of human soul. “The work is a veritable ‘Pilgrims’ Progress’ from the alluring bondage of the flesh to final emancipation from embodiment.” The passage describing the final consummation is worth quoting :—

c7.7

“Glory I ask not, nor desire I wealth,
Not earth or heaven I crave;
I seek no birth or death; those that
Desire not Sivan never more
I touch. I’ve reached the foot of
Sacred Perum-turai’s king
And crowned myself. I go not forth
I know not going hence again.”

c7.8

(XXXIV, 1.)

c7.9

Describing his teachings Dr. Pope refers to him “as a strange mixture of St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi.” He is said to have visited and exercised some influences with the Nestorian Christians in Travancore who looked upon him as Manes. He settled in later life at Chidambaram where he vanquished in controversy the Buddhists of Ceylon who had come there to overthrow its sacred fame. According to another account he visited Ceylon where this religious controversy was held.

c7.10

Appar.

c7.11

The next important names in the history of South Indian Saivaism are St. Appar and St. Tiru-Jnan Sambandha whose joint efforts virtually dealt the deathblow to the ascendency of Jainism and Buddhism in the South. They lived about the seventh century, the first named being older than his associates. St. Appar in his early life had embraced Jainism and assumed the name of Devasena in the Jaina Sangha which he subsequently left and then reverted to his ancestral faith. He was severely persecuted by his former co-religionists and the Jaina King, but he escaped miraculously from all his adventures. "Thereafter he commenced his peregrinations from shrine to shrine meeting devotees everywhere and confirming them in the faith and enacting sundry miracles, but above all uttering things, and leading a life of extreme simplicity and purity which must have won for him more adherents than all his miracles. The hymns which he composed with reference to the various Saiva shrines which he visited and hallowed with his name are collected in the famous poems called *Devāram* (Garland of praises for God). They are undoubtedly the best devotional lyrics of South India which have won for him the reputation as the greatest master of the Tamil poetry of the century. His visit to Chidambaram has added a special spiritual charm to that famous Saivaite shrine the courtyards of which he weeded with his hoe, as he went on circumambulating the temple. He is very often represented with hands joined in prayer with the weeding implement resting on his left arm (*vide* plate LXLI). As to the spiritual value of his compositions these are popularly known and honoured as the "Written Vedas" as opposed to the Srutis or 'unwritten Vedas' which he made accessible to all people without distinction of caste or creed." This is very well indicated in a parable attributed to St. Appar. He visited a temple in Vedaranyam the front gates of the shrines of which were kept closed. The reason assigned by tradition was that God was worshipped there originally by the Vedas themselves, and they had shut the gates after them. St. Appar at the request of St. Tiru-Jnan Sambandha sang out some hymns which unlocked the gates of the mysterious shrine amidst the music of the heavens and the praises of thousands of devotees. Vedāranyam was originally a *vedic* colony where Agastya the head of the Brahmin emigrants had his hermitage. "There is a simple lesson," says Mr. Nallaswami Pillai, "to be gathered from this incident. Owing to the decay of learning and knowledge in course of time and owing to the encroachments of other religions and influences the Vedas and Upanishads in which all the learning and religion of the Brahmans were stored literally remained locked up" until these Saiva saints opened their portals again.

c7.12

Tiru-Jnana Sambandha who was the younger contem- @H Tiru-Jnana Sambandha. porary of St. Appar lived about the beginning of the seventh century and was a native of Shiyali (Shrikali) in the Tanjore District. He was the famous child-saint who associated himself with St. Appar in his divine mission and called the latter in the affectionate appellation of ' Father ' (Tamil ' Appar '). He is said to have been called to the worship of Siva while still a child and to have died a child. He is often represented in the memorial statues as a nude child holding a pair of cymbals which he received from Siva and with which he went about singing Siva's praise. The story of his initiation is thus narrated: "When he was still a child he went with his father to the Shiyali temple. Becoming hungry he began to cry; whereon the goddess of the shrine took pity on him and gave him a cup of her own milk. His father noticed that he had been drinking milk and asked him where he got it. In reply he broke out into a hymn in praise of the deity which now forms the first of those in the *Devāram*. This incident gave him his name which means ' related through wisdom ' to the God-head. Later he vanquished the Jains at Madura, and afterwards he travelled to more than 200 shrines of which the majority are in Tanjore. Each of his hymns which are in lofty language and are considered to be finer as poetic efforts than those of Appar or Sundara Murti, consisted of eleven stanzas of which the last always referred to himself."'

c7.13

Sundara or Sundara Murti nayanar, flourished about @H Sundara. the eighth century. The story of his illumination and consecration to the service of Siva is briefly as follows:— "Born at Tirunamannallur in the Tirukkoyilur taluk, he was adopted by the King, but brought up as a learned Brahman. When he grew older, a suitable marriage was arranged and in bridal attire, he rode out to the marriage. Then Siva as an aged Brahman came to bar the way and claimed the boy as a family slave. The bond was produced and it was agreed that the marriage must be stopped and the boy must follow the old man as a slave. The boy did so, and he led the way into a Saiva temple where Siva appeared before him and claimed him as his devotee of old and said " My favourite worship is the singing of hymns ; sing Tamil hymns now ". So he sang the first hymn of which the first verse runs thus :—

c7.14

¹ South Arcot District Gazetteer, Volume I, 1906, page 97.

c7.15

O Madman, Wearer of the crescent moon, Lord and gracious One,
How comes it that I ever think on Thee my heart remembering Thee always?
Thou hast placed the Veenai river on the south!
O father dwelling in the fair city of Veenai Nallur.
Since I am Thy slave, how may I deny it ? "

c7.16

He is said to have had two spiritual consorts in after-life, Sangili and Paravai both of whom are associated with him in the temple services, though it was one of them who played a prominent part in his spiritual life. He is of a more human character than his predecessors, not disdaining to accept payment for his songs ; hence the saying attributed to Siva " My Appar sang of me ; Sambandhar sang of himself ; but Sundara sang for gold."

c7.17

The period which followed the advent of the famous poet-saints above-named marked the outburst of Saivaite fervour and fanaticism which found such enthusiastic support under the Chola kings. It has been justly said that modern Saivaism in South India may be said to date from the time of these Saiva saints and is intimately bound up with their memories, glories and deeds of piety. Only those temples that have been hymned by them in their sacred verses (*pedal petta sthalam* as the phrase goes), are now held sacred. Shortly after their death they were canonized and their images were set up in all the important Saivaite temples and divine honours began to be paid to them. In almost every temple special feasts have been associated with them and the greatest feasts in Southern India, the Magiladi feast in Tirivottiyur, the Aruvattumuvar feast in Maylapur, the Arundra feast in Chidambaram and the Avanimulam feast in Madura are all held in their honour. These Saiva *Acharyas*, or *Adiyars* as they are called, in attempting to popularise in the shape of their divine songs the philosophic teachings of the Saiva Agama Siddhanta emphasized personal devotion and service in preference to rituals and formulas and " have lent a catholicity to the Saiva form of worship which invited within its fold all classes of persons without any distinction of caste or creeds. They preached that religion and learning were not the property of only a few favoured classes but it was that of all and everybody." Hence we find among the list of the 73 Saivaite Adiyars only 14 Brahmins the rest having been contributed by the other five castes. The works of these Acharyas were not metaphysical but altogether devotional. "They spoke as the mouth-piece of the whole Hindu people representing Hinduism as a whole against the attacks of the enemies of Hinduism." Their teachings and their hymns bore their fruits during the following centuries from the 9th to the 13th when the wave of Saiva fanaticism practically swept over the whole of South India and part of Ceylon, the strength and magnitude of which could only be compared to the outburst of Buddhism under Asoka and of Vaishnavism under Chaitannya. There are evidences to show that Saivaism of South India of this period spread its influence as far as Java. Old temples were recovered from the Jains and new and larger shrines and temples were constructed. The strings of temples which were built during this period by the Saivaite princes of the Chola dynasties constitute one of the best schools of Indian architecture. The patronage which the Chola princes accorded to religious sculpture was no less than that given to architecture. It may be supposed that the primitive *linga* could hardly afford any scope to the sculptors' art. One is surprised to find, however, the innumerable forms and conceptions of Siva, Pārvati, Subramanya and other deities which were associated with the Saiva cult in South India. They have supplied an ever-increasing array of Saivaite images a complete iconography of which, no doubt borrowed from the Saiva scriptures and *purānas*, are incorporated in the Sanskrit handbooks for image-makers.

c7.18

¹ Coomaraswamy, *Selected example of Indian Art*, page 16.

c7.19

In each temple while the *Dhruva-bera* or the *Mula bigraha*, the phallic symbol, remained a fixture, it had its accompanying secondary series of bronze images known as *Utsava bigrahas*¹ or *Bhoga murtis* (ceremonial images) which in order to stimulate the imagination of the populace were taken out in gorgeous processions and had been the subject of elaborate ceremonials. Ordinarily they are placed in rows in long *prākāras*, or corridors round the main shrine or in the passages leading to it, and form a veritable sculpture gallery in the procession-path of the pilgrims. We learn from an inscription of Raja Raja² that on the first day of the religious fête "musicians used to proclaim by the beat of the drum that the image of such and such deity will be carried in procession on three days including to-day.” By far the most important group of these *Utsava murtis* are those now existing in the famous rock-cut temple at Trichinopoly, in the Jambukeswar temple at Trichinopoly and in the Brihadeswar Temple at Tanjore.

c7.20

¹ 'Utsaba bigrahas' are also known as the 'Bhoga murtis' cp. Kolggai devar 'the god who is to receive the offerings.'

c7.21

² Hultzch, *South Indian Inscriptions*, Vol. II, part II, page 126, No. 26.

c7.22

The Chola kings have done for South Indian art what the Pandyan kings have done for South Indian literature. It was early in the 9th century that the Cholas emerged as the ruling power in the South. Between 846 and 1135 A. D. Chola power was practically supreme. Of the long list of rulers, the kings who specially distinguished themselves as patrons of art are (1) Tondman Ilandiyam, (2) Parantaka (907-947), (3) Raja Raja, (4) Rajendra Chola (1011-1042), (5) Rajendra, II (1052), (6) Kulottunga III (1178-1215). The majority of the Chola princes whose master passion was for building temples which they endowed with lavish gifts have lent an impetus to South Indian art which is in some sense remarkable. It cannot be said that they were the pioneers of the worship of Saiva images in the temples. For, it cannot be doubted that the worship of the images of the various forms of Siva existed several centuries ago and the Natarāja temples of South India are anticipated in the image of Siva conceived as Natarāja in the Badami and the Ellora caves and also in the Pallava temples. The work on *Silpasastras* and iconology used by the image-makers of the south are all written in Sanskrit and must be attributed to the period of the composition of the Sanskrit *purānas* in South India. Besides, the practice of image-making which was confined to a special caste of artificers known sometimes as Kammalar, Sthapathis, Visvakarmas and Rathakarikas, points to a high antiquity; for considerable time must have elapsed before the craftsmen who took to their profession specialised in their arts and emerged as a distinct ethnical type having a special place in the social structure. The history of this artistic caste in South India has been very ably set forth in Dr. Coomaraswamy’s “Indian Craftsman.”

c7.23

Devadanas, ‘Gifts to the gods.’ To study the growth of Saivaite art during the Chola ascendency it is important to consider the various forms of *Devadānas* (lit., gift to the gods) or religious endowments which the Chola princes inaugurated and, in some cases, revived with a passionate ardour for which it is impossible to find a parallel in any other part of India. Every battle that they won or every piece of land that they added to their kingdom was followed by magnificent gifts to the temples. Raja-Raja the builder of the famous Brihadeswar temple at Tanjore endowed villages after villages from the revenues of which the various services and festivals in the temple were appointed to be conducted. "No one who reads the long list of villages and lands or images and utensils, of gold and costly jewels presented to the Rajrajeswar's temple, which are inscribed on its walls, can fail to admire the solicitude of the king to provide for every want of the temple on a most lavish scale. Superb diadems and rubies; priceless necklaces of lustrous pearls and bright coral beads, bracelets, arm-rings, girdles, anklets, toe-rings all of gold set forth in precious stones and various other ornaments too numerous to mention were supplied to adorn the idols. Likewise dishes, cups, plates, bowls, pitchers, salvers, kettles, water-pots, flywhisks, and betel-leaf boxes wrought in pure gold were furnished for the daily service. Even the trumpets and parasols were made of gold; and although every kind of ornament and utensils made of the most costly materials have been supplied, the pious king was not satisfied until he had showered at the feet of the god flowers made of gold. A complete staff of servants and officials was appointed for the temples, such as goldsmiths, carpenters, musicians, dancing girls, astrologers, accountants and treasurers and lands were granted for their maintenance; sheep, cows, and buffaloes were given to supply milk and ghee; grants of money were made for the purchase of articles required for the daily service and whole villages were assigned to furnish annually the rice required for the sacred offerings. Of the many titles assumed by Raj Raj Chola none was more appropriate or more truly expressive of his purpose and sincere piety than the epithet *Siva-pāda Sekhara*, i.e., "he whose crown is the feet of Siva."'

c7.24

Raja Raja whose gifts were typical of the religious charities of the South Indian princes reminds one of Henry VIII whose gifts of images, pictures, jewels, relics, plates and stuff, etc., to the Church of the Westminster Abbey have become proverbial.² Raja Raja and his son also enthusiastically patronized the Saivaite devotional works, *e.g.*, the *Devaram*, *Tiruvāsagam*, *Tirumurai*, etc., by providing for their recitations in the temples on stated occasions called *Adhayan utsabas*, the 'festivals of recitations' and many of their inscriptions record gifts of lands for endowing these sacred recitations which included the Sanskrit epics and *purāṇas* as well as the Tamil hymns.¹

c7.25

¹ 'Raj Raj Chola', by Kanaka Sabhai Pillai, *Madras Review*, Vol. VI, page 110.

c7.26

² Lethaby, " *Westminster Abbey and King's Craftsman*," 1906, page 40.

c7.27

¹ E. Hultzch, *South Indian Inscriptions*, Vol. II, page 252, No. 65.

c7.28

Of special importance were the gifts of images and lamps to the temples, for which the examples set by the royal princes were followed extensively by the rich merchants and also by all classes of the people high and low who vied with each other in bestowing these sacred gifts. The images which generally formed the subject of these pious gifts fall into three classes: (1) The ‘ceremonial images’, (*utsaba murtis*) being the various forms of the main-deity. Sometimes special temples were built by private citizens who set up gold, silver or bronze images for which the temples were constructed. (2) The images or quasi-portraits of the Saivaite canonized saints. The images of these saints are found nearly in every temple. The Tanjore temple contains many such images. In the great temple at Nanjangode near Mysore there is a complete series of images of all the Saivaite saints. (3) The images or memorial portraits of the donors of the gifts or builders of the temples. They are generally conventional in type and are figured in the worshipping posture and do not seem to be actual portraits. The Queen of the Chola King Gandharaditya had the figure of her husband carved in the temple of Tirunallamudaiyar. There are similar portraits of the Nayakka princes at Pudu-mandapa in Madura and also at Rameswaram. The metal portraits of Krishnaraya of Vijayanagar and his queens found near Tirupati in the North Arcot District are very well-known. The portrait of Venkatachalapati discovered in Tirumalai (plate LXXV), is perhaps the best of its kind hitherto known, except perhaps the Chandeswara in the Colombo Museum which can hardly be called a portrait. Some memorial portraits of King Kadavarkone and others in worshipping posture have been discovered at Tiruchen Kattangudi in the Tanjore District (plate LXXIII). In one of the inscriptions the Pallava King Gunabhara is described as having set up an image of himself in the rock-cut temple at Trichinopoly. However interesting these portraits may be for historical enquiries, most of them have very little value for artistic purposes except as illustrating the practice of setting up this class of images in the temples by the donors themselves or their relatives. The object of such installation must be found in eminently pious intention rather than in any desire for self-advertisement.

c7.29

These memorial portraits were possibly a development of the earlier practice of attaching an effigy of the donor at the foot of an image set up by the pious devotees, a practice which has also survived in many of the South Indian images, *e.g.*, in the image of Subramanya (plate LIV). The gifts to the temples, though generally made from devotional motives sometimes owed their origins to a desire to win divine favours or assistance in worldly accomplishments by the donor. As we learn, for instance, from an inscription of Vallabhadeva, a military officer of Deva Raya, II, of Vijayanagara (1446-47) on the east wall of the central shrine of the Raj Rajeswara temple at Tanjore, that he presented to the God at Tanjore certain gold and silver ornaments "with the desire to accomplish the conquest of the world (*dig-vijaya*)."

c7.30

In ancient Greece, among votive objects or *anathemata*, figures representing human persons were also very common. These represented the dedicators themselves or others in whom they were nearly interested; some of them "represented the victors at the athletic games and were set up in temple precincts and were intended rather as thank-offerings than as means of glorifying the victors themselves". It is very interesting to read the accounts of these gifts of images in the innumerable inscriptions which have been discovered in the various temples in South India. They are not confined to the royal personages alone but people from all classes of society had been their donors, as will appear from the inscriptions to which we will presently refer. The spirit of these votive offerings is very well rendered in the famous lines of Lucian :—

c7.31

"Thine own fair form's sweet image take,
Than this no choicer offering can I make."

c7.32

Amongst votive offerings in ancient Greece similar gifts of images are also recorded.³ The statues of Artemis generally offered at childbirth were more common than other images. As nearest equivalent in Christian Church may be cited, the Catholic custom of making relic-holders in the shape of busts and statues. An inscription dated the 48th year of the reign of King Kulottunga, I (1069-1119 A.D.), records that Nanurruvan Malaiyam a native of Kiliyur of Tirumunaippa set up an image of Natarāja in the temple of Neyvanai and made a grant of land for offerings.¹ An inscription from Tiruvilimilai states that the mother of the chief Rajendra Chola (A.D. 1012) set up a copper image of Algiyamanavala (a Vaisnava saint) in the 10th year of the king's reign.² Another inscription on the same stone bears a record which registers a gift to the same temple and to the setting up of the image of Sri Krishna. Similarly, a gift was made in the 11th year of the reign of Raj Raja Deva, III, to a shrine in the temple of Kovilur by the citizens of Vikkirma-barana-puram in Umbarnadu, and in the 31st year of the same reign another grant was made to the shrine of Surya Deva by the citizens of Pirantaka-puram. A record of the 11th year of the same reign refers to the setting up of an image of the Saiva devotee Manikkavasagar in the third *prākāra* (gallery) of the temple of Tiruvilimilai.³ It is Raj Rajeswar who is said to have set the first example of setting up the images of the Saiva saints in the temple of Tanjore.⁴

c7.33

¹ South Indian Inscriptions, page 339, Vol. II, part III.

c7.34

² F. B. Tarbell, A History of Greek Art, 1896, page 124.

c7.35

³ "Greek votive offerings" by W. H. D. Rouse, M.A. (Cambridge University Press), 1902, at page 254.

c7.36

¹ Madras Government Epigraphist's Progress Report for 1908-1909, page 95.

c7.37

² Ibid, page 93.

c7.38

³ Ibid, page 101.

c7.39

⁴ Hultzch, South Indian Inscriptions, page 66.

c7.40

The list of these grants could be easily multiplied at length but we shall refer to a few more. From a record in the 12th year of the reign of King Raja Raja I, we find that Nakkan Nallattadigal, a member of the community, called Raj-Raj-atterinja kai-kkolar presented an image of silver to the temple of Koneri-raj-puram. Similarly an inscription of the time of Kulottunga Chola, II, records that the image of the goddess Uma-parameswari was presented to the temple at Tirimalam which was founded in the 15th year of the reign of Rajendra Chola, II. The Chandeswara shrine in the Uma Maheswara temple at Konneri-Raj-puram was built of stone in the 15th year of the reign of King Kulottunga⁵ by a private individual who had his own figure and that of Chandeswara cut on the west wall of the shrine. The references to the gifts of *Utsava Murtis* are also numerous. We shall refer, here, to only one example. A grant to the temple of Lakhsmi Narsinha Murti at Narasinhapuram states that an agent of the king named Tippara Pillai of Conjeeveram set up at this place the image of Lakhsmi-Narsinhamurti on which occasion he granted lands to Bramhanas, to servants, to the reciters of the *purānas* and the Vedas. An image called Prahlad-Purandara which was to be carried out in processions was also presented to the temple on the same occasion.¹ More numerous, however, are the references to the gifts of lamps which the pious devotees thought of special merit. These lamps or deepas are of two kinds—those which were used for the ceremony of arati (the waving of the lamp) and those which were kept burning before the images throughout the nights, as a symbol, as it were, of the burning devotion of the donor. And we read in the inscriptions various endowments and arrangements made for the burning of these lamps.² There is a curious reference to a fine imposed at the time of Kulottunga III. A grant of his time records an accidental death in a deer hunt, the punishment for which was a fine to be utilized for burning a perpetual lamp in the temple for the merit of the man who was killed “ in order that he may escape the possible mischief of the revengeful soul of the victim.”

c7.41

⁵ Madras Government Epigraphist's Report, 1909-1910, page 88.

c7.42

¹ Madras Government Epigraphist's Report, 1910-1911, page 86. ² Seven Chola inscriptions (No. 123-129) have been copied by the Government Epigraphists in the Siva temple at Tiruppayanam near Tirupadi. All of them record gifts of lamps to the temple. ⁴ Madras Government Epigraphist's Report, 1909-1910, page 95. ⁴ Nedu-nal-vadai, I, 101. ⁵ “Greek Votive Offerings” by W. H. D. Rouse, 1902 (Cambridge University Press), p. 117.

c7.43

Many of these lamps were artistically conceived in the form of a female figure holding the burner, the donor of the gift being suggested by the figure. These were known so far back as the first century of the Christian era as will appear from a reference to them by V. Kanakasabhai Pillai in his ‘Tamil 1800 years ago’ (Madras, 1904). “Lamps in the shape of a female statue in a standing posture, holding with both hands the receptacle for oil and wick, appear to have been in common use in the Tamil country” (page 38).⁴ In celebrating the yearly festival in honour of Indra the Chola King Killi-valvan is reported to have announced with the beat of the drums his directions : “Arrange in front of your houses lamps borne by statues.” These are now known as the Dipa-Lakshmis or ‘beauty lamps’ and they have inspired the South Indian bronze-workers to produce some of the finest pieces of sculpture of the period. (Vide plates XXXVI & XXXVII.) The practice of presenting lamps to the temples was also current in ancient Greece. After the sack of Thebes, Alexander consecrated to Apollo at Cyme a hanging lamp which Pliny describes.⁵

c7.44

This practice of bestowing gifts of lamps and images to the temples originated in the belief in spiritual efficacies to the donors of such endowments which are supported by

c7.45

Lamps texts of the *Sāstras* in each case. For instance the spiritual merits attaching to the gifts of lamps to the temples are prescribed in various texts collected by Hemādri on *Deep-dāna* in his *Dān Khanda* (Vol. I, p. 939-46, Bibliotheca, Indica, 1873), one of which is worth quoting: "*Deepadān-adparam-dānam na-vutam-na-vabisyati*," i.e., there has been and there can be no better gifts than the gifts of lamps. Of the various texts bearing on the directions for presenting images of various gods collected by Hemādri the most important deal with the gifts of images of Bramhā, Vishnu, Siva, Dakhināmurti, Gopāla, Garuda and others, and the images are sometimes given in groups and referred to as *Trimurtidānam, Chaturmurtidānam, Panchamurtidānam*. As a matter of preference golden images are recommended and silver and copper images are stated as optional gifts.¹ The gift of the donor's own images (*ātma-pratikritidāna*) is also recognized by the Sastras, the authoritative text being that of *Vabishyottara purāna*, which goes on to state that the image of the donor should also be accompanied by the donor's favourite relatives (*Priya-jana-sahitām*). Thus the various portraits of Kings are associated with their Queens or sons (*vide* plate LXXIV), a practice which has its parallel also in Egyptian sculptures, e.g., Mycerinus and his wife (Boston Museum), and Shemka and his wife and son (Louvre).

c7.46

¹ "*Sailajād lohajam Srestham Kartrinām-tu-falamtatha Lohajāduttamam swarnam madhyamam rajatam bhabet Tāmrajam Kanyāsam Khyātam tesu tesu falamtathā*," i.e., metal images are better than clay images, though the spiritual benefit to the donor is the same, of metal images those of gold are the best, next come the silver ones and then the copper ones, the spiritual merit being the same.

c7.47

Sthapathis. It is apparent that under conditions such as these when princes and peasants combined to load the temples with such numerous gifts the demand for images should be great. The demand had its supply and had kept alive with unstinted patronage, a school of sculpture and bronze workers who are commonly known as *Sthapathis*. No doubt they existed long before the Chola ascendency, but the work which the religious patronage of this period thrust upon them gave an impetus to their art which undoubtedly attained their highest water-mark between the 10th and 13th centuries. These sculptors generally associated themselves in villages solely populated by them. During the earlier times many such villages existed in the District of Tanjore, one of which has survived to this day. In the village of Swamimalai,² on the Cauvery three miles west of Kumbakonam, there still exists a group of families who have been practising the art of image-making in bronze and stones as a hereditary profession for generations past. In fact this little group of artists now form the only remnant of the great school of South Indian bronzes. Most of these artists were experts in casting images in all sorts of materials, but a majority of them specialised in the art of casting images in metals as most of the gifts to the temple consisted of images cast in silver, copper or bronze. It may be supposed that the sculpture of the Chola period was essentially Saivaite in its character. No doubt, it is true, to a certain extent, that Saivaism has contributed some of the artistically fine pieces to the various examples of Indian bronzes. The sculptors were, however, employed as freely by the Vaishnavas as by the Saivaites, and we find, some of the images of Krishna and the Vaishnava saints are as characteristic examples of South Indian bronze sculpture as any Saivaite image. Vaishnavism had been springing into activity in South India about the same time when Saivaism was trying to overthrow the Buddhist and Jain religion. In fact many of the Vaishnava Alawars or saints are contemporaries and some are predecessors of the famous Saivaite saint Manikka-Vasagar and others. In some cases the Vaishnava and Saiva sects combined in their campaigns against the non-Brahmin religions. The religious activity which finally overlapped Jainism in the South about the 8th century was generally Hindu in its character in which the Saivas and the Vaishnavas took equal parts. The schism between the two sects became pronounced during the advent of the Chola kings one of whom is reported to have persecuted Rāmānuja; but a period of toleration followed and there are many references to kings who endowed Saivaite and Vaishnava temples with impartial bounty. In many of the principal temples dedicated to Siva we often meet with, as at Chidambaram, a special shrine with an image of Vishnu in the same enclosure. As Fergusson has noticed, one of the peculiarities of the Tanjore temple is that all the sculptures on the gopuras belong to the religion of Vishnu while everything in the courtyard is dedicated to the worship of Siva. However, Saivaism seems to have been the older and the predominating cult in South India, and many of the mannerisms of Saivaite sculptures have been imitated by the artists of the Vaishnava schools. ' Sivalaya' literally meaning 'the

c7.48

² *Tanjore District Gazetteer*, Vol. I, 1906, p. 221. The meagre notice in the *Gazetteer* absolutely ignores the existence of this school of sculpture.

c7.49

Saivaite and Vaishnavite images.

c7.50

¹ *Vide* p. 56.

c7.51

abode of Siva' is a generic term used in South India to denote, in common parlance, a temple corresponding to the Tamil word 'koyil.' The principles of temple-worship according to Vaishnavite or the Bhāgabat school are laid down in the *Nārada panca rātra*. In the chapter dealing with *Charyāpada* rules are laid down for the method of making the holy statues and the rituals connected with their consecration.¹ In the *Pādma tantra*² there is an express direction that the all-pervading Vishnu should be worshipped in images to be constructed by artists according to the rules of the *sastras*. Sankracārya also gives five methods of worshipping the supreme Lord Bhāgavat Vāsudeva :—(1) *Abhigamana* or going to the temple diety with the speech, the body and the mind centred on him; (2) *Upādāna* or collecting the materials for worship; (3) *Ijyā* or worship; (4) *Svādhyāya* or the muttering of the usual mantra; (5) *Yoga* or meditation. So that the theological basis of Vaishnavite art was as elaborate as that of Saivaite art. The Vaishnava theologians distinguish the following five aspects of the godhead :—(1) Parā, transcendental; (2) Vyuha, cosmogonical; (3) Vibhāva, incarnational; (4) Antaryāmi, immanential; and (5) Archā, worshipable.³ The Saivaite schools recognize three conceptions, viz., 'Sakala,' 'Niskala' and 'Isha.' 'Sakala' corresponds to the 'archaic' or worshipable form, 'Niskala' answers to the *parā* or the transcendental idea, and 'Isha' represents the cosmogonical or the immanential aspect.⁴

c7.52

¹ "Vaishnavism and Saivaism" by Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, in the *Encyclopaedia of Indo-Aryan Research*, Strassburg 1913, at page 40.

c7.53

² "*Tasmat sarbatmana Vishnum-pratisthapyatipujayet Silpur nirmite-bimbe sastra drstena bartmani*" Pādma-tantra, III, p. 26, 7.

c7.54

³ 'Aratha Pancak' by A. Govindacarya Swami, J. R. A. S., 1910, page 576.

c7.55

⁴ 'Sakala nishkala-misha Bwāgata Tribidhamiba bapu paramesthhina' (Kāsyapiyam)

Linked texts (19)