Pallava Cave Temple on Rockfort in Tiruchirappalli

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Lalitankura Pallava Griham A Pallava treasure on
Tiruchirappalli Rockfort
S. Swaminathan (sswami99_at_gmail.com)
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Pallava Art Heritage
There are two iconographic compositions which
owe considerably to the Pallava-s
Somaskanda and Gangadhara. Both these have
captivated artists through the ages.
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Somaskanda
This depicts Shiva and Parvati seated on a
throne, and Skanda on His Mothers lap. Brahma
and Vishnu are standing behind the throne as a
mark of homage to the divine family.
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Somaskanda
Somaskanda, is a Pallava conception. The image
is found in almost all Shiva temples of South
India from the Pallava period onwards.
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Somaskanda
This sculpture from Kanchipuram is a Pallava
composition of the 7th century.
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Somaskanda
Later the Chozha artist expressed himself
eloquently in bronze
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Somaskanda
The theme attracted painters through ages
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Gangadhara
The lord acquiescing to the wishes of
Bhagiratha and subduing the mighty Ganga has
been a fertile field for creativity.
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GangadharaPudukkottai Pandyas 7th Century
In this early representation, a relaxed
Siva holds a tress into which a prostrating
Ganga descends
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GangadharaElephanta Vakatakas 8th Century
Bhagiratha is seen on the left kneeling and
praying. Ganga is above the Lord. Siva stands
firm receiving the torrent. Brahma, Vishnu and
others gather to witness the spectacle. The
smiling Parvati has Her head turned slightly
away. Is she jealous and angry that another
women is given shelter?
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GangadharaKodumbalur Irukkuvelir, 9th century
Poetic is this composition. Sivas face is
suffused with a tender, but mischievous smile on
receiving Ganga, while Parvati moves away in
mock anger.
The sequel is shown in the niche below. The
lovers are reconciled. Parvatis face is lighted
up as she is encircled by the arm of Her Lord
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GangadharaGangai-konda-chozhapuram Chozhas,11th
century
In this panel Siva does not take chances. He
holds tenderly His consort while receiving the
mighty Ganga.
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GangadharaTiruchirappalli Pallavas 7th century
This is the earliest in Tamilnadu and is a
creation of Mahendra Pallava. The composition is
not only poetic, but carries meaning at more
than one level and presents a puzzle
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Monuments in TiruchirappalliRockfort Complex
The shrines of Tayumanavar and of the
Uchchi-p-pillaiyar are well known. But there
exist three monuments that are of greater
antiquity and are important art treasures.
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Jaina Natural Cavern
The oldest is a cavern, a holy resort of Jain
ascetics. There are stone-beds where the holy
men practised severe austerities and a number
of inscriptions on them. The earliest inscription
in Late Tamil Brahmi of the 3rd century AD is
now lost. Only three inscriptions in Early
Vattezhuttu are extant and these are dated to
the 5th century AD. These mention the name of
the patrons of the Jaina ascetics.
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Pallava Cave Temple
At the entrance to the Uchchi-pillaiyar Temple is
an Early Pallava temple in which is the
celebrated Gangadhara panel
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Pandya Cave Temple
At a lower level is a cave temple, excavated by
the Pandya-s in the 8th century. This is believed
to have been designed following the Hindu
Shanmatha doctrine of Adi Sankara.
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Now let us visit the Pallava cave temple
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The Pallava Cave TempleImportance
The Pallava-s introduced excavating hard rock
in the south in the 7th century. This cave
temple is one among the earliest cave temples
of the Tamil country. This is the southern most
cave of the Pallava-s. Like the other Pallava
monuments this cave temple also holds some
puzzles.
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Lalilankura Pallavesvara Griham
The cave temple built by Mahendra Pallava, is
dedicated to Siva. Mahendra calls the
shrine Lalitankura-pallavesvara-griham.
Lalitankura, meaning charming-offspring, is
one among the many titles of Mahendra. This name
is found engraved in the temple.
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Sculptures
The sculptural content includes two Pallava
dvara-pala-s guarding the garbha-griham and
the famous Gangadhara panel in bold relief.
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Inscriptions
The cave contains some important
inscriptions. Mahendra engraved 80 of his titles
in this shrine, mostly on the pillars. But,
more important is a poem of eight
stanzas, composed by the king himself, in
Sanskrit, written in the Grantha script.
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Grantha script
Grantha, or more appropriately, Pallava Grantha,
is a script used in the Tamil country to write
Sanskrit. It is also the mother script for
Malayalam, and script for most all the
languages of the East Java, Sumatra, Borneo,
Thai, Laos, Khmer, Combodia, Vietnam etc. This
happened through the political and cultural
conquest of the East by the Indian rulers,
starting with the Pallava-s.
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Temple facade
Just beyond the entrance to the
Uchchi-p-pillaiyar temple lies the cave
temple The cave is supported by four pillars.
The façade looks rather simple.
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Pillars
The pillars are plain, square in cross section
at the bottom and top, but eight-sided in the
middle. They become more and more sophisticated
later on.
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Pillars
Beautiful geometrical shapes are found on the
pillars.
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Pillars
Titles of Mahendra, mostly in Grantha, some in
Tamil, are engraved on them.
ChaLisappuruTu

ChiLundhu (Grantha)
Chittirakkarappuli (Tamil)
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Mandapam
Beyond the pillars is a mandapam, and in the rear
the hall is another set of pillars. On the
eastern wall of the cave, is the garbha-griham
and on the west is the celebrated Gangadhara
sculpture
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Garbha-griham
The typical Pallava sanctum is a cube of 9-foot
each. There are two pits, one for the lingam to
be installed. The reasons for the other pit is
not known. The sanctum is guarded by two
dvara-pala-s.
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Dvara-pala-s
Two two-armed guards, in semi-profile stand with
one leg bent and the other planted firmly on
the ground, carrying a massive club. Their
dress, ornaments and sacred-thread reflect the
contemporary fashion.
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Gangadhara sculpture
On the western wall is the celebrated Gangadhara
panel. In the center is Siva as Gangadhara with
attendant figures.
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Gangadhara sculpture
On either side of the panel, are written eight
couplets, in Sanskrit in the Pallava Grantha
script. It is a great poem composed by the king
himself and explains the Gangadhara sculpture
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Gangadhara
The four-armed Siva is standing with His left
leg on the ground. His right foot is held up by
the head and an arm of a crouching Siva-gaNa.
Sivas upper right arm holds a strand of His
tresses into which Ganga is descending. Ganga
is shown as a small female figure with folded
hands.
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Gangadhara
His lower right hand holds the tail of a
serpent. His upper left holds an akshara-maala
and the lower one rests on His hip. His
sacred-thread is vastra-yajnopaveeta. The
ornaments are coiled valaya-s around the
wrists, elaborate keyoora-s above His elbows,
makara-kuNDala-s on both ears, a broad necklace
and an udara-bandha round His belly.
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Gangadhara
Sivas head-dress is an elaborate jaThaa-makuTa,
a rather unusual one. It is decorated on the
front and held in position by a coronet. On the
top right side is the moon and at the
left-bottom is a skull.
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Gangadhara
His veshTi, reaching up to ankles with the
central fan-like pleat of the kachchha hanging
between legs, every fold clear and crisp, is
worn the way it is done today a tradition of
continuity. Round His waist He wears a
kaTi-bandha. Another uttareeya hangs loose in a
loop in front and has tassels on either side.
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Now let us follow the other actors in this scene.
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The crouching gaNa supporting the right leg of
the Lord with his head and palm is Kumbhodara.
He holds a serpent on his right hand.
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To the right of Sivas makuTa is an
animal. Because of the prominent hump it could be
a bull. Is it taking the place of
vRshabha-dhvaja?
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Or is it a dog? A dog is found in other
Gangadhara-s, the Pallava and the
non-Pallava, and this has not been satisfactorily
explained yet.
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Below, kneeling on either side of Siva, are two
identical figures. Also two others are seen in
adoration on both sides. All these four figures
are attired very similar to the Lord.
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Who could these people be, in the royal dress in
Sivas camp? The customary Vishnu, Brahma and
the deva-s are not found witnessing the grand
spectacle.
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Behind the two kneeling figures are two identical
rishis, identified by their huge jaTha-s and
bearded face. Their inner hands are raised in
veneration.
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This bas-relief is an outstanding composition. It
is also the earliest composition in the Tamil
country. That the artist could achieve aesthetic
excellence on his very first attempt is
astounding.
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This must have inspired his illustrious son,
Narasimha Varma, to attempt the worlds first
open-air bas-relief in Mahabalipuram, a feat
never attempted there after!
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The whole composition is an illustration of total
balance. It exudes the Pallava grace, every
square inch of it. Every character is perfectly
modelled. There is no overcrowding, no
dramatisation. It is beauty in simplicity.
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We have not understood the reason for the
unusual attire of Gangadhara. We havent
identified the four princely figures, and the
animal atop. The poem written on the sides gives
some clue.
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Inscriptional Poem
The inscription, an 8-stanza poem by Mahendra
in Sanskrit, was first translated by Hultzsch
in 1890 and his reading is more or less followed
even today by most epigraphists. But I will be
following the interpretation of Michael
Lockwood
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Gist of the Poem
Let me give the gist of the poem, which, of
course, does reflect the poetic beauty of the
composition.
Author says The God, when approached by the
author to take an earthy abode, wished to see
the fertile lands of the Chozhas and the river
Kaveri.
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Gist of the Poem
Author adds The choice of the hill also served
another purpose. It justified Sivas name a
Gireesha.
Wouldnt you call this vanity of
Mahendra attempting to justify the Lords name?
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Gist of the Poem
Author continues The mountain became Sivas
chief jewel. Then the author established an idol
of Siva on his own image and made himself
immortal.
The second line perhaps explains the princely
attire of Lord Siva.
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Gist of the Poem
Now the author becomes mischievous.
The author adds Ganga, the daughter of Himavan,
now fearing that the Lord may become
infatuated with the river Kaveri, left Her
mountain-dwelling to reside here.
Some hold that daughter of Himavan would mean
Parvati.
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Gist of the Poem
Did you notice that the cave overlooks the
Chozha fields, but not the river Kaveri? Did
Mahendra cheat the Lord too!
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Dhvani in the Poem
Dhvani is a feature of poetry that contrives
two levels of meaning a direct meaning and a
suggested meaning. This suggested meaning that
appeals to an aesthete is really the soul of
poetry. This poem has both direct and suggested
meanings. So also the sculpture, which is novel.
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Dhvani in the Poem
Mahendra contrives the double-meaning
skillfully using his titles that are also
the names of Siva. Gunabhara, Purushottama
and Satya-sandha are some of them. Ganga could
also mean Kaveri. And so on.
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Dhvani in the Poem
For example, in the last stanza, when the author
says that this abode of Satyasandha is His
chief jewel, can be taken to mean that this is
the crest-jewel of King Mahendra, for
Satyasandha is a name of Siva and also a title
of Mahendra.
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Dhvani in the sculpture
Some hold that the sculpture has a contrived
meaning too, dhvani in stone, a unique Pallava
feature! Let us follow this line of argument.
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Dhvani in the sculpture
Mahendra says that he has made Gangadhara in his
image, which would explain the unusual
princely dress of the Lord. The central figure
can, then, be taken as Mahendra himself, and
then we shall attempt to follow the suggested
meaning of the composition.
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Dhvani in the sculpture
Then, it is argued, that the royal
dignitaries on either side of Mahendra would
be their feudatories the Ganga-s, suggested by
the theme of composition and by the presence of
descending Ganga and the Kadamba-s, who used
dog-emblem, suggested by the figure dog shown
on the right!
Does this look a little too contrived meaning?
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Gangadhara Composition
The Pallava dynasty seemed to enjoy teasing.
Many of the Pallava monuments present puzzles,
both intended and unintended.
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Before we conclude, let me quote the last stanza
from the poem.
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?????????? ????? ??????????? ??????
? ??????????-?????-????????4??????4????.
silaaksharENa-janitaa-satyasandhasya-bhautikee ??
??????? ?????????????????? ???? ????? ??????? ?
???????? ?????????????????? ?????? ?????
???????. muurtih keertimayeeñchaasya-kRtaa-tEnaiv
a-saasvatee. This bodily image of Satyasandha
(God/king) was created out of the stone
inscription of Satyasandha poet-king. By the
same imperishable character, an embodiment of
His/his fame was made imperishable.
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With this poem in stone was a unique tradition
of temple building ushered in the Tamil
country studding its landscape with countless
icons of art and piety.
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Thank you
S. Swaminathan