Vettuvankovil at Peruneccuram aka Kazhugumalai

Continued from here.

December 18, 2009

The Srivilliputur temple gopuram - 192 feet high I think!

About a hundred kms south of Madurai lies a rocky outcrop now called Kazhugumalai - The abode of Eagles.

It was here that the Hayagriva group was headed, post lunch on a lovely clear December day.

The morning had been spent at the Srivilliputur temple. Looking at the temple in the early morning light I had a feeling of deja vu - hadn't I seen this somewhere? Somebody explained that this is the temple that is used as the state's insignia. Oh yes, all my Tamil Nadu Textbook Society books had them. (Yes, yes I did go to a matriculation school.) Twelve tiers, but no deities or gods. The parrot made from leaves which is placed in Andal's hand and given away as prasadam the next day. I believe there is a family that has been making these parrots for 5 generations now.
Unembellished chaitya window at Srivilliputur temple

Tulsi garlands sold to devotees for offering to Andal, born of mother Tulsi and father Water

I learnt of Periyalwar, Andal, tulsi garlands, Chaitya windows, wooden galleries and much more!

Most important was the palkova of Srivilliputtur. Oooh, it is delicious I tell you, and my family will vouch for it. I wish I had brought back some more!


Lunch at Rajapalayam and we were stuffed to the gills by our gracious hosts. The thought of climbing this rock was not very inviting!
We did set off up the slope though, and I had no inkling of what awaited us atop the rock. Prof V and Vani from Madurai had all-knowing smiles as if to say "Wait and See!"

The green agricultural fields stretched below us, with small splotches of blue water here and there.

What we came upon at first - the Vettuvan kovil - was the most beautiful rock-cut temple I have ever seen. I just stood and stared speechless at this carving of the Pandya period from the eighth century.

We came up above it, that is to say the temple was cut into the rock below us, and we saw this dome, with the intricate, delicate garlands coming down the sides, framing the chaitya windows and the other sculptures.

It seemed like the sculptor was one happy soul, there was a joy and lightness to the carvings and the decorations.

Then, why was it unfinished? There is no deity in it and the lower levels remain uncarved. There is some folklore about it, but I thought the idea of a father killing a son because of a sculptural dispute a bit extreme. So what could it be? Did the king get dethroned, the sculptor die? Who knows.

The Vettuvan kovil as you see it when you arrive on top of the rock

An even more birds-eye view, from further up the rock

Dakshinamurthy Once we had got over our initial amazement of the beauty of the whole, it was time to take a look more closely at the individual sculptures.

Prof Venkatraman remarked that this was arguably one of the earliest examples of a typical Hindu temple, with Dakshinamurthy, Narasimha and Brahma on the three sides of the vimanam and Siva and Uma on the fourth.

Dakshinamurty facing south (I know, I know that's obvious), is shown playing a drum. That is a bit unusual I have learnt since he's usually depicted playing the veena or in serene meditation.

The front two arms are missing now - either lopped off by vandals or just destroyed by time, but the demon underfoot can be seen quite clearly. The demon of ignorance stepped on by the personification of awareness, wisdom and knowledge.

Dakshinamurty now always figures on the south-side of a Shiva temple, but (it seems) there are few temples where he is the main deity. India (and the world) is sorely in need of more Dakshinamurty-driven contemplation I think!
Bramha

Then there was Brahma the creator, with his four heads. (I could see only two actually!) A weaponless Hindu deity. I never thought of it that way. Hmmm.

The lotus base of Brahma very different from what D Murthy sits on.

And then I saw Narasimha, with the characteristic lion head/man's body, which even I could recognise!

The Vishnu avatar, very popular in south India and the one deity with many a temple.

As children we all loved his savage victories over evil, and the deity was obviously a popular depiction because we found him in Siem Reap at the Banteay Srei temple clawing Hiranyakasapu to death!
Narasimha claws Hiranyakasapu - Banteay Srei, Siem Reap

The Banteay Srei temple is another story in itself!

We walked down to the lower part of the temple, and gained a different perspective of the sculptures. It was lovely. We were almost eyeballing some of the ones that were at head height. Its not a very tall temple, and one has to stoop to enter the sanctum which is just a bare, dark cave.

The Vettuvan kovil also had lovely Nandi bulls, dancing maidens and intricately carved chaitya windows.

Originally, these were actual windows in a chaitya or Buddhist prayer hall, and were horse-shoe shaped, openings if I'm not mistaken, for the monks to look out and for light to come in. It subsequently became a decorative aspect and a kind of good luck motif in Hindu temples.

I was fascinated by the difference between the chaitya window at Srivilliputur and that at Vettuvan kovil.
One of the ornate chaitya windows at Vettuvan kovil

Looking up at the vimanam
Siva and Uma - the northern face

The rock had more surprises for us - a whole frieze of Jain carvings, but I will stop here, and leave that for my next post!

What Mahabalipuram is to Pallava art, Vettuvan kovil must be to Pandyan stone art. An ASI board at the site links it to the period of Parantaka Neduchezhiyan.