South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c7.51

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