Author Archives: Vijay

The first ever depiction of Nataraja in stone in South India – Seeyamangalam – Avanibaajana Pallaweshwaram

On the mahendra trail. ( some disjointed conversations – mostly as it is but some are imagination)

Saturday 8.45 AM. Somewhere in a dusty road from Dindivanam to Vanthavaasi.

Chandru : Is this the right way. Let me check, pull over please. Hey, is this the route to seeyamangalam
Villager: you took the wrong turn on the bridge
Driver: Oh, we will turn back

Venkatesh: hey, there is the Bridge. Go straight
Chandru: There there, you can see the ASI board.

Anonymous: Guys, can you pull over for a minute, need to relieve myself.
Gang: Me too, pull over. There by the shade of the big tree.

Ragothaman: are you guys done, we got to hurry. ( satheesh got a flight to catch)
Vj: Satheesh, can you pass me that packet of Grant sweets savories. Roasted masala peanuts, wow, send that to the front as well.

Narayanaswamy: small village coming up, lets check if we are on the right route
Chandru: Hello, is this the way to the cave temple.
Village lady: Take this path, turn right and then head straight. YOU DON’T HAVE TO ASK ANYONE !!!
Chandru: thanks, take that turn

Venkatesh: hey, there is a hillock
Gang: where? Where?
Satheesh: But the road is leading away from the hills !
Chandru: Yes, lets check again, pull over by that man. Hey, cave temple…
Villager: Oh, you passed it
Driver: But we came that way only.
Villager: you took wrong turn, keep to your right just after the village
Driver: ok, just see the back, am reversing. ( very small mud road for an Innova car)

Chandru: Take that exit.
Vijay: yeah yeah, that look like headed in the right direction

Chandru: Atlast we are there

Vj: But sir, we came to see Mahendra Pallava cave temple, the first every relief sculpture of dancing Shiva as Nataraja ! But this one is a full fledged structural temple with towers ( Gopurams and Vimaanams)

Chandru: The cave is the nucleus of the temple – its Mahendra’s and he named it Avanibaajana Palleswaram. Later kings built the structures around the main cave shrine.
Vj: oh, ok ok. Understood. But not a soul in sight….

Venkatesh: come come, lets go
Vj: Hi venkatesh, fancy hat a la indiana jones, after some treasure is it.
Venkatesh: No sir, this is my favorite hat, picked it on a trip to srilanka!!! Hey someone is coming towards us..

ASI staff: Hello
Chandru: Hello, morning
Vj: Hello, we want to go inside, we have come from very far!!!
ASI: sir, you can view everywhere, but the main shrine is locked. The key is not with me, its with the priest. You can peep through this key hole for a view.

Vj: hello, we have come from very far to see the main cave shrine only. We know Mr ########### and Mr. ###########, do you want me to call them over phone to give you instructions!
ASI: Sir, I will give you the priests handphone number Sir. You can try Sir. Sir, You are dropping all VIP names sir !! ( count the number of sirs now)
Vj: give the number, we are all very eager.

Tring tring: hello, we are at the temple. We are large group, can you come.

Vj: Guys, good news, says he will be here in 5 min, lets go around meantime and see the others.

Vj: Chandru sir, why did Mahendra Pallava choose such a god forsaken sorry desolate place for this excavation.
Chandru: good question vj, don’t have the right answer, but one common feature of all Mahendra cave sites are a small hillock near a water body. Maybe the serene atmosphere inspired him.
Vj: oh, where is the water body in this case
Chandru: there, you can see. Since its not rainy season, not much water. You climb that rock , you will get a better view
Vj: Hmm, whats that sir, a very lovely small shrine on top of that rock.


Chandru: It’s a later construction. Shrine of Lord Muruga. Care full while you climb!!
Vj: wow, rock cut steps ( after climbing half way only the steep nature of the climb dawned on me)

Ashok; Hey vj, I am also coming up
Chandru: in rainy season, this would be filled with water. Can you see that pillar like stone in the centre of the lake bed. It would look like a shiv linga standing on the water surface. Did you know that the main diety of this temple is called Thoonaandavar ( pillar god) – some works suggests that it could be this stone pillar that gave it its name !!!



Vj: Wow, what a sight. Careful guys, its slipper especially while you get down – don’t trust my knees, better to slide down – wearing jeans anyway. Don’t laugh guys, let me see your courage and style when you attempt to get down. Hmm.

Ragothaman: lets go around the main shrine. There are some culverts here,
Satheesh: Vj, come here, remember your post on the rock cutting techniques in mallai. See similar holes are found here.
Vj: wow, lets take a few photos. Wait, let me put something against it to give our readers a sense of its relative size.
Nothing handy, here let me put my inhaler !!

Chandru: Hey, here comes the priest. Lets go in

Goat Herd: Hello sirs, where are you from. Did you see the damage to the vimaana – the yaali on one side was struck by lightning. We are asking everyone to help to repair it, but no one is coming forward !!

Ashok: Oh, when did the lighting strike….

Priest: Here sir, let me open it

Chandru: See how the later Mandabams are plush against the rock surface.

Satheesh: Its pretty dark in here
Priest: Its much better now sir, earlier it used to pitch dark and lots of snakes as well. I used to let a mongoose inside first to check. They removed the outer roof and redid it. Now we get some light and air, but along with it dampness as well !!

Vj: Chandru sir, even this hall pillars are not Mahendra style ( what is mahendra style ….we will carry a separate series on that)
Chandru: Wait vj, the main cave is still further ahead.
Vj: hey, there, I can see a Mahendra pillar

ASI: sir, no photography
Vj: Hey, we wont take pictures of the main shrine. We want to take only the outer sculptures, pillars etc. please. We know Mr. ###########
ASI; hmmm

Satheesh: vj, come here. There are more sculptures here. Look on top, there is a Makara thorana. There is a Gana riding the mythical beast as well.

Vj: One minute, did you notice the right side door guardian’s head dress. He has horns but….( we will discuss this later as well)

Chandru: do you see the designs on the pillars.

Vj: wow, the majestic lions. They have started fluting the pillar capitals as well ( so, we there pillars without these earlier. To be discussed in subsequent posts )

Narayanswami: Guys, see these sculptures on the two sides
Vj: Satheesh, the book you borrowed from Sps sir, Dr Kalaikkovan’s Mahendra Kudavaraigal, can you check. Looks like two guys with fly wisks

Satheesh: These are listed as Amalaiyar
Vj: What is that !! Got to check. See those waiting ladies as well with flower baskets

Ragothaman: Chandru sir, there is an inscription on this pillar, but doesn’t look like tamil.
Chandru: Its Pallava Grantam. It’s Mahendra pallava’s inscription.

Vj: great, satheesh see if the reference is there in the book
Satheesh: Oh, yes, let me read it

This temple called avani baajana was raised by lalitanguran through his good deeds like ornaments in a jewel box.

Vj: great, 1300 year old verses singing the praise of Mahendra
Ragothaman: There are more inscriptions on this side of the pillar but in a different font
Chandru: They are tamil verses of later pallava kings – Danti varama and nandhi varma
Here see this pillaster to the right. Here is the famous dance pose – the first ever dancing pose of shiva ie shiva as Nataraja in stone in south india, on the same position of the left you can see shiva, Parvathi with nandhi. Can we request the priest to show camphor here
Ashok: Hang on, here I come as well

ALL QUIET….as we take in the spectacular sight


We will discuss each of these sculptures in depth in coming weeks as well as the other caves on the trail.

Picture courtesy: all friends on the tour, and Chandru sir/Swaminathan sir earlier – first tour. Special thanks to Sps sir, Chandru sir and Swaminathan sir for making this trail possible

Ragothaman, Satheesh,Venkatesh, Chandru sir, Ashok and myself
Ref: Sri K.R. Srinivasan – Cave temples of the Pallavas, Dr KKN’s Mahendra Kudavaraigal ( tamil)

Reaching the limits of Sri Vaikundam

Today we are seeing another lovely sculpture panel from mallai – the spectacular thirvikrama panel. Though his name has come to be associated somehow with this art site, we do get to see the great man – Mahabali.

Have sought the help of some learned friends to help bring this post to you. You can split this post into three, the pure sculptural beauty, the expert understanding of the concept beautifully blending with the storyline and lastly the underlying spiritual explosion.

Photos : courtesy Sri Venkatesh ( during the ponniyin selvan group tour to mallai) and myself during a rushed run through this march for some closeups. Content assistnace : Sri Venkatesh again.

As usual we start with the panel in the whole.

As in the post of the Varaha panel, instead of sounding repetitive, instead of focusing just on the hand poses. we are going to look at the characters depicted and finally the beauty of the sculptor depicting Thiruvikrama.

The story first; the powerful King Mahabali is planning to do a great Yaaga ( sacrifice) under the advise of his Guru ( teacher) Sukraacharariar. This could catapult him above the realms of Indra and the King of the immortals seeks Sri Vishnu’s help to stop this.

The lord, does this without shedding a drop of blood, by cleverly utilising the King’s generosity and honor. It was common practise those days to seek the blessings of learned men by giving them alms. Vishnu descends as a young ascetic – a dwarf and seeks alms from the great King. Initially the great King is misled by what is apparent and is almost agreeing to the request – the request is for three feet of land. Considering the diminutive size of the requester, the demands look simple. But the experienced Sukrachaariar looks through the Lord’s disguise. He warns the King against accepting the same,but the King, righteous that he is, keeps his word. The teacher in his eagerness to save his king takes the form of a bee and blocks the spout of the pitcher ( kamandala) – so that the alms granting which is traditionally confirmed by washing off all your claims on that. The dwarf seeing this picks up a blade of grass and inserts into the spout and blinds the guru. Finally the alms is completed and time comes for the Vamana to measure his three feet.

The lord now reveals his true form, he instantly transforms from a diminutive dwarf to Thiruvikrama – a cosmic giant. The first step he takes measures the earth. The second step Bali offers him the Heavens. The Lord in one sweeping move, lifts his leg staright up and spans the heavens. There is no Terra firma left for the last step, that the King offers his own head in an act of total submission to the Lord ( is it not what is the ultimate goal of devotion / bhakthi). The Lord grants him his, takes the third step on the King’s head – consigning him deep into the nether world.

The core concept in this story taken by the mallai sculptor is the massive form of Tiruvikrama spanning the Earth and the Heavens with just two steps. How the sculptor has handled this in his composition is the highlight of this panel. We will see the characters one by one.

We fist go bottom up – analysing the different characters surrounding the main pose of Vishnu.

The lower portion shows four seated persons.

Since the Lord has just taken the second step, we can safely assume that one of them is King Mahabali and the other his Guru Sukraacahariar. The subtlety of this panel, is that of the four seated people, the two seated closest to the Lord, are still looking down, the two to the right and left extreme, are just starting to look up….the sculptor is showing the sudden transformation of the Dwarf Vamana to the cosmic expanse of Thiruvikrama.

We are slightly spanning up. To the two sides of the Lord, to his left at his waist level and to his right, just above – we see two flying figures. Who are they, they seem to the beholding the splendor of the Lord. Closer inspection reveals a very important clue, both of them have circular orbs around their heads. ( the one to left is smaller and lower). Did you get it


Its the Sun and Moon. The sculptor is bringing in a concept of size – that the Sun and Moon are just at the level of the waist and the Lord towers above them.

An interesting inclusion in the panel is found to the extreme left just above the moon. An unique portrayal in a more unique pose. Who is this? Speculation by some if that this is Trisangu ( the Rishi who wanted to ascend to the heavens with his human form, who was helped by Sage Viswamitra to attempt it. As this defied the set nature, he was kicked out by Indra, as he was falling down, the sage uses his powers to stop his inbetween and create a new heaven for him.

But is it he who is sculpted. Definitely the pose of the sculpted person doesn’t befit one who is in heavens. We searched more and found one more important character in the same Vamana episode – the son of Mahabali, Nammuchi, who tries to stop Vishnu from taking the steps. The Lord just kicks/flings him and he is said to be launched into orbit. Now look at the panel – the figure seems to fit this model, of someone who has been kicked into orbit. This particular incident has been sung by Perialwar as well.

To the left, the sweeping second step – you see an interesting depiction of Brahma, holding Vishnu’s hand with his left hand and offering ablutions to Vishnu’s foot.

The same position to the right, we see Shiva seated on a lotus pedestal. witnessing the grand spectacle.

There is another interesting character coming into frame a the top left – just beside Brahma. A bear on a drum, is he jambavan, one of the immortals. He doesn’t seem to fit into the scheme of things. Anther more interesting interpretation is that he is one of the Nithya suris – Thumburu of Srivaikuntam. The sculptor’s view is that the expanding Vishnu reached Sri Vaikuntham !!
Now lets look at the main sculpture. The spectacular Tiruvikrama, the main character.

Such poise and grace, its such a feat to depict someone standing on one leg, throwing out his other leg like a Bale dancer – the thrown leg on tip toe. The expression on the face is sublime.

The beauty of his hands, holding the various ensigns – his conch, his discuss ( chakra – in deployment mode ), the sword, the short sword or mace, the long bow – each shows the mastery of the sculptor’s knowledge of anatomy.

I was simply bowled by this particular frame, his belly button, just a subtle chisel mark but something that has survived a 1300 years.

The depiction that i loved most was the left leg, flowing under the hand.

The final touch of the sculptor ofcourse was the right hand, on first look it seems as though the Lord is balancing by holding on to the frame, but is it that. Looks like he is resting on the outer limits of Sri Vaikuntham and asking the question – where next !!.

Answer to the riddle – Its the ruins around Kutub minar

Thanks for the overwhelming responses to the riddle. Yes, these are the ruins found around the Qutub Minar and the famous Iron Pillar in Delhi.

However not much is clear about them, though as Ragu mentioned there are various versions of pillaged temples, forts, jaina structures – Thomar, Rajput including as per the ASI board the original fort of Prithivraj Chauhan. Without going into those details, am sure a google search will land you on the various versions – incl a popular version in Amar Chitra Katha – for though the sights are visibly disturbing – the idea of presenting these was not to rake up any religious / communal sentiment. For that matter, everyday we are witnessing vandalism of our living temples even today, so why harbor hatred for something that happened hundred of years ago. There are thousands of such structures which you can adopt and safe in our rich country. Well, while i say that – as a art lover, you feel for the loss of the art and the effort of the sculptor. All is fair in war and conquest. But i would like to spur some creative outcome from this.

Lets go back and relook at the pillars for stylistic parallels. The sheer weight of these pillars could have made transportation over long distances tedious So they must have been from around Delhi of yore. But the artistic styling is quite unique, especially the Ganas supporting the roof at the top of the pillars, the floral designs on them.

The differently styled pillars also support the idea of their source from multiple places – you see some are very ornately carved, while others are without much embellishments. Can we spot parallels among other sites.

A Pillared corridor – a sculptural riddle – part 2

For those who attempted the riddle ( thanks to thiru who cracked it), to be honest it was a very tough one. Just one picture in that selection had a clue. Let me give you some more pictorial clues. We saw some very exquisite pillars in the previous edition, now we are seeing some more pillars and their intricate carvings, but in more detail.

Combining some long shots and some closeups to show how sometimes our eye misses the obvious clues.

The long shots first

The closeups

Some independent relief panels

Well, now its getting really interesting. Obviously some exquisite sculptures have been vandalised and the focus or target has been very specific.

Taking you back to the picture with the clue in the prev post

Cant make out ? Look to the roof

The clash of two contrasting cultures

These pillars bear witness to a very historic period that changed the course of our nation

A Pillared corridor – a sculptural riddle

Today we are stepping a bit away from our traditional realms and moving across to the ############. A often visited site, but will surely be an opener for all, atleast it was for me. Keeping the suspense up, let me present some pictures and see if you can guess the location.

Presenting the pillared corridors – a sculptural riddle.

The pillared corridor is simply spectacular, the columns arranged in a mesmerising geometry. Watch closely for signs that may help you identify the location !

Lets see if you can crack this riddle

The masterly art of the Pallava Sculptor

The core of this post is based on a interview that Satheesh conducted with Sri K.P.Umapathy Acharya – hereditary achitect and sculptor. I have supported it with pictures from Shriram,Gokul, graphic work by Ashok and closeups of the individual frames during my recent trip to mallai.

We would have passed this sculpture panel many times ( The earlier post)and each time a new awareness dawns on you. So too is this post

Lets first see the panel as a whole.


We have already seen a detailed post of this core theme,so will skip that part. Now, to add some highlights ( thanks to Ashok)


Can you now understand the crux of this post. – we are going to see how the Pallava sculpture has excelled in his portrayal of a multitude of hand and leg postures, am also trying to compare these with Angkorian ( cambodia – thanks to photos from Sri Gokul / sin – ardent cricket fan and best scorer in Singapore league) panel – to highlight why the Pallava sculptor is par excellence.

Inorder to better understand these, have taken individual exposures of the poses – so please take your time to see the indexed version and then proceed to see the individual items.

3884388838913903390639103908391239153918392039223924392739293932

Notice how each of the individual carvings are unique, ie not of the same size, yet every aspect of proportion is maintained for the individual sculpture. No two hands are the same, not only posture wise but also in dimensions.

At first glance we tend to miss out the significance of the last two photos.Well you might ask, why bring in the legs suddenly into the discussion. Let me throw in a few snaps of the Angkorian Apsara / dancers and see if you get a hint.

No, ok, now do you get it

See how the Pallava craftsmen has depicted the feet, especially of the person who is sculpted as facing into the wall. Simply mind blowing.

The depiction of the feet both facing to one side – would be akin to a beginner’s attempt at sketching someone in straight profile. You have difficulty in showing the depth in a one dimensional sketch. But a bas relief is almost a 3 dimensional medium ( well 2 1/2 – 3D would be a full sculpture like an idol or statue). But the Angorian style is more representative of a craftsmen moving from a uni dimensional sketch into sculpture, while the Pallava craftsmen centuries before had already mastered this.

Some more pictures to illustrate the intricacies of the panel for your viewing pleasure.

The valor of Chola soil – a Rooster takes on a rogue Elephant

The Chola dynasty of South India, has a long association with valor and bravery, and it gives me great pleasure to present a sculpture that links their valor, sculptural beauty, spirituality etc. Many thanks to Sri N.S. Narayanasamy
(www.shivatemples.com) for allowing us the use of this rare sculpture and content.

Its a simple legend and a lovely sculpture. Lets take a look at the legend first. When a Chola King named Veeravadhithan was passing a town on his elephant, the animal suddenly turned rogue and went around creating collateral damage. ( The Kings soldiers were no match for the rogue elephant. As per some version – The pious King prayed to Lord Shiva. He graced his blessings on a rooster which was nearby) The rooster showed remarkable courage is standing up to the rogue elephant and took on the mighty beast. It flew high to its head and used his sharp beak and claws to inflict lot of damage on the elephants sensitive eyes. The vanquished elephant was almost blinded and ran away ( to take refuge / calm down near a tree). Seeing the valor of a common rooster and the spiritual energy in the place, the Chola King decided to use the City as his capital.

Lets look at the sculpture now – from the Panchavarneshwarar Temple in Uraiyur.

A very simple sculpture, but you can still see the detailing. The raised tail of the elephant indicating its rage, the barve rooster clamped on its massive head. That the elephant is loosing, is clearly shown by its demeanor – the bent front legs and the almost crouched head.

Seeing the valor of a simple rooster the Chola king, thought it fit to shift his capital to the town – Uraiyur – which got a new name Kozhiyur ( kozhi hen or rooster) and the kings were praised as Kozhi vendhar ( vendhar – Lord or king ) surprised since technically you could get into trouble for comparing a King to a hen.

Infact, Sri kalki Krishnamurthy would pull this explanation as an answer to a simple question in his immortal work Ponniyin Selvan when describing the Tiruvisaippa sung by Kandrathitha Chola – where the King takes pride in calling himself a hen or rooster king !!

But who is this King and what period can we ascertain him to. When we tried to search more we found references to the “hentown” in Thevaram Verses.
There are Thevaram verses. But the great surprise came when we found the legend in Elango’s Silapathigram ( a tamil work dated roughly to the 2nd C AD) – Tale of the Anklet. The hero and heroine – Kovalan and kannagi , in search of a new market ( after the has wasted all his wealth on his `other’ women Mathavi) move from Chola country into Pandya land towards Madhurai – passing through Uraiyur – Kozhiyur. So the legend was famous even then to find mention in the work !!

So much for legends living on for 1800 years !!!

The earliest recorded bird hit

The recent bird hit on flight 1549 of US Airways and its subsequent ditching or expert crash into the Hudson river caught the world’s attention. From the time planes have been invented we have had many such bird strikes and not all have had a happy ending as the one above. But what we are going to see today is possibly the earliest account of a bird strike.

Jataayu – the son of Garuda’s elder brother Aruna ( the charioteer to the Sun god), his valiant battle with Ravana as he is abducting Sita on his Pushpaka Vimana ( aerial chariot aka plane) is stuff of legends.

There are not many sculptural depictions of this battle, the most famous and often shown depiction is the painting by Raja Ravi Varma.


However, there are two sculptural depictions of this battle – one in Ellora Kailasantha ( thanks to flickr friend Mr Murali) and the other in Parambanan, Indonesia. We will visit the Indonesian one a bit later. But of most interest to us is the Ellora panel.

The mighty King Ravana is shown just as he is about to strike at the vulture Jatayu with a sword. Its no ordinary sword as we will see shortly. To the upper right we are just shown a piece of the flying machine.

Who is this Jatayu. We had read when we saw the Garuda story that his elder brother Aruna, who due to his mother’s hastiness is born premature – leaves to serve the Sun God as his charioteer. Well Jatayu and his brother Sampathi are the sons of Aruna.
garudanin-kathai-thirukurungudi

Once while both the brothers were playing, they tried to fly higher and higher – when Jatayu trying to outsmart his brother flew too high, he went dangerously close to the hot sun ( sounds vaguely familiar – Greek – Icarus ) Well the plot changes a bit here. Sampathi protectively covered his brother with his extended wingspan – while the sun burnt off his wings he fell to the ground while Jatayu was saved. ( Sampathi does get healed but at a much later stage – just by chanting the name of Rama!!)

Ok, back to the bird strike. So great is the resistance shown by Jatayu and his valor in battling Ravana, that the Thevaram verse actually credits him with victory over Ravana. Why so ?
www.shaivam.org


The place where the Lord, Who elucidated the shivadharma
with virtue as the basis freeing the capable devotees from

the disease of bad karma, sits is thiruppuLLirukkuvELUr
of jaTAyu who defeated the rAvaNa who came aggressive
counting his power!

It all comes down to the sword. Chandrahas, Shiva’s invincible sword – Moonblade, a divine gift. How did Ravana come in possession of such a weapon. Again an interesting story.

We have seen Ravana being humbled once before – by Vaali
ravana-humbled-yet-again-by-who

There is another one by the 20 armed kaarthveeryarjunan ( not found a sculpture for this yet) – but there is another instance – by Siva when Ravana attempted to lift Kailash – we have seen it at many places.
ravana-shakes-mount-kailash
mallai-olakkaneswara-temple
cambodia

if-pride-goes-before-the-fall-this-is-the-lowest-it-can-fall

Well after he went through the Ordeal and pleased Shiva by playing his ” hand” crafted veena – Shiva cured his wounds and along with his blessings, gave him his special sword. Chandrahas ( moon blade)

So by saying that Jatayu defeated Ravana – but for the divine weapon, Jatayu had valiantly fought and defeated Ravana. His powerful wings, claws and beak had wrecked havoc, while at the very edge of losing, Ravana not being a match for Jatayu with his powers, had used the divine weapon to clinch victory and slay Jatayu.

That my friends, that is the earliest recorded bird strike.
(Thanks to Murali again for the rare snap of Ellora. On content indebted to Sri Subramaniam, Mrs. Geetha Sambasivam and Dhivakar sir ofcourse)

Seduction of the deer headed sage

Today we are going to see a rare sculpture from Hampi ( Hazara Rama temple again). The splendid photograph is courtesy Kathie and the explanation thanks to Mrs. Geetha Sambasivam. I was intrigued by a friends site about the murals in Alagar Koil of the famous Yagna done by Dasaratha.

Mr. Bhaskar wonderful site on temple murals

For it involved a very special officiating Priest, brought in under special recommendation. Whats so special about him. Well he has a deer’s head to start with. Before we see the main plot, lets look into the peculiar origins of this sage. What set me on this is a chance reading of an article in the hindu.

The Hindu Article

It shows only a part of the sculptural panel and I too took it as per this mention – The deer headed saint as Rishyasingar ( as per Valmiki Ramayan) and Kalaikottu Munivar ( as per Kamban) distributing the child giving potion to the 3 wives of Dasartha. Though there were still a few loose ends, as both the literature and the murals show that he personally did not distribute it and the sculpture in question doesnt seem to show the potion /cup or pot. Thankfully Kathie managed to provide this excellent photograph of the entire panel – which ( thanks to Mrs Geetha) clears up the air. This is a different but equally interesting account of the same sage but happened much earlier.

Rishi Vibandanga, son of Rishi Kashyapa, once casts a passing glance a beautiful female deer. So great is his prowess that his very glance made the deer pregnant. In due course she gave birth – a boy with a deer’s head and human body ! His father brought him up in total isolation ( celibacy) – not even allowing the scent of women near him. ( wonder why?)

In an adjoining land, a King by name Romapathan was disturbed by an unending drought troubling his subjects for years together. It seems ( ok, i am only repeating legend – fairer sex please excuse me) that pious men who have totally abstained from you know what – will bring rain. So King Romapathan decides to bring Rishyasingar to his land, but how does he do it. Well, we have seen it happen many times – carrot of course. He sent ` talented’ women dancers to entice the poor boy. Imagine the plight of the poor boy, having being depraved their company since birth, he gets an overdose. He stands no chance against the guile of these women and follows them to the Kings Land. As foretold he brings rain along with him to the parched land. Well all is well that ends well. The King did it for a good cause i guess, but he could have just gone their explained the situation and brought him. Guess epics wouldn’t be so simple.

The depiction of the plot is superbly handled by the sculptor. see how the gay abandon of the youthful Rishyasingar ` appreciating ‘ dancing damsel. Net we see him being waited upon by three ladies ( the nonchalant stylistic crossing of the legs – cant be when he facing royal queens of Dasarata) – plus as per the epic, he gave the ` potion’ to Dasaratha to distribute.

Anyway, some more good things happen. The pleased King marries his daughter Sandhai ( Santham is calm in tamil – wow, hope she lived upto her name). After that another king sought the services of Rishyasingar but for a totally different act. What is that…we will see it shortly.

A blunder, a loss and a curse – Ramayana Origins

Today we are seeing a very rare sculpture which takes us back to the very beginning of the Ramayana. Its a subtle reminder that the you are accountable for your acts, irrespective of whether committed knowingly or unknowingly – the consequences have to be faced.

When Dasaratha (father of Rama) was a young Prince, he reveled in all sport. He is a charioteer unparalleled but so are his archery skills. His skill is so great that he could put an arrow from just the sound of an animal moving. But this very skill proved to be his undoing. Yes, we are going to see the legend of Shravana Kumara from a rare sculpture from the Hazara Rama temple in Hampi.


updating with anotehr view ( thanks to Manju)

The story goes thus. In his youthful jest, Dasaratha is hunting in the forests adjoining the river Sarayu. But despite his best efforts, he is not able to bag anything till late in the evening. Just as the Sun, was setting, as he was hiding behind tree cover, he heard a familiar sound of elephants drinking water in the river. Impatient to get his prize, Dasartha relies purely on his skill and lets loose a deadly arrow, guided purely by the sound. But as it found its mark, he was shocked to hear a man scream in mortal pain.

Can you spot the above plot in the sculpture.

As he rushed to the spot, he found that he had mistakenly shot a young boy filling water in a pot.

The boy is actually Shravana Kumaran, the dutiful son – who takes such good care of his aged and blind parents – that he transports them on a sling balancing on his shoulders. His parents are totally dependent on him. As he was passing through the forest they had asked him to fetch some water as they were thirsty and it was in this act that he was felled by the fateful arrow.

The young boy, despite his mortal wound, is still thinking about his parents.Dasartha begs for his forgivness, but the boy requests him to take the water to his parents. He also tells him to disclose the bad news of their son’s death after their thirst is quenched! such a noble soul. So requesting he moves to realm of the heavens.

Dasartha is all remorse personified as he goes to the place where the aged couple are resting. Just as he approaches they realise from the sound of his footsteps that its not their son and insist Dasartha to tell them the truth. Dasartha tries his best to dampen the blow, by offering to be their Son – but on hearing from him that their dearest son is no more, the mother falls down dead. The father is filled with great anger that he curses Dasartha thus :

” you too will suffer this pain of separation from your loved son and die of that ”

The rest – well is history