பொன்னியின் செல்வன் மலர் கட்டுரைகள்: Murugan Temple near Mamallapuram
Subashini Tremmel
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Murugan Temple near Mamallapuram
Dr. S.Rajavelu
About the Author: Dr. S. Rajavelu is a senior epigraphist still serving for the ASI, and has some 1500 articles to his credit. He had received the Tamil Nadu State Award for his book on epigraphy and was the co-author for the Tamil encyclopedia. He was also the recipient of Dr. Rajamanickanar Award for best Archeaological scholar. He has many site and inscriptions discoveries to his credit.
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Mamallapuram popularly called Mahabalipuram is placed in the Indian artistic annals for its magnificent monoliths and rock cut caves with beautiful sculptures both religious and secular that attracts the scholars as well as art historians and the common folk of the world. Some scholars identify this city as Nir peyarru, the famous port referred to in the Perumbanarruppadai, the Sangam age classic[1] .Quite a number of Roman coins and other artifacts collected from here testify its antiquity to the hoary past. Recently the author discovered an interesting inscription at Saluvan Kuppam situated five kms. north of Mamallapuram that mentioned a temple for God Subrahmanya, which paved the way for an explorative research and the discovery of a brick temple through excavation.
Two Pallava monuments namely Atiranachanda cave temple and the Yali Mandapa are located on the eastern side of Saluvan kuppam. Very near to these monuments about 100 meters north, there is a small rock bearing the inscriptions of Parantaka Chola, Rastrakuta King Krishna III and Kulottunga Chola III. The inscription of Kulottunga III was published[2] but the remaining two inscriptions were unnoticed. The inscription of Kulottunga III mentions about a temple for Subrahmanya in the vicinity of the place and the newly discovered Rastrakuta inscription supports the statement.
Rastrakuta inscription
The Rastrakuta inscription of Krishna III, dated in the 26th regnal year of the king (A.D.965) is found engraved on the eastern side of the boulder in three lines in Tamil. It starts with the usual epithet of the king Kachchiyum Tanjaiyum konda Kannara deva and refers to a gift to the temple of Subrahmanya bhattarar in the village Tiruvilichchil in Amur kottam for the day-to-day service in the temple (tiruvunnaligaippuram).
On the basis of the above inscriptions the author explored the area in and around the rock and found a mound near by. The mound covered nearly one acre from east to west orientation. Some architectural components made of stone were also noticed on the surface of the mound. These remnants suggested some structure buried under the sand. Information was given to the Chennai circle of Archaeological Survey of India which conducted an excavation at the site. The mound yielded a ruined stone temple consisting of a garbhagriha, an ardhamandapa and a mahamandapa with many pillars. A portion of the temple adhisthana with jagati made of dressed stones was intact. Fragments of roof made of brick and mortar were noticed in the excavation.
Inscriptions
The fallen pillars on the north west corner of the trench about 6 feet from the surface have Tamil inscriptions on their three faces. The first inscription has a trident mark in the upper square part of the pillar and the text of the inscription begins with an auspicious word svastisri in the second face of the square. It is dated in the 12th regnal year of Nandippottaraiyar, who is in all probability may be identified with Nandivarman III, the Pallava king (A.D. 808).
This inscription records the gift of 10 kalanju of gold to the temple of Tiru-ilichchil by certain Kiraippiriyan of Mamallapuram. The gold was entrusted to the sabha and urar of the village Tiruvilichchil. After receiving the amount, the sabha and the urar agreed to conduct the Kartigai festival which occurred in the Tamil month of Kartigai in lieu of the interest from the deposit of gold. It is evident from the inscription that the practice of conducting Kartigai festival in the Subrahmanya temple is dated back to the 9th century A.D.
The second inscription engraved on another pillar found near the previous one in the same trench belongs to Pallava king Kampavarman, son and successor of Nandivarman III. It is dated in the 17th reignal year of the king (A.D. 813). It refers to the gift of gold and land to the temple of Subrahmanya at Tiruvilichchil by a brahmin lady namely Vasantanar wife of Siyacarman alias Sri Kampa bhattan of Sandalya gotra, a resident of Manaiyir in Manaiyir Kottam.
The gift was accepted by the sabha to maintain a lamp in the temple and to provide food offerings to the deity from the month of Aippasi onwards. The gifted land was located in the kilan ceru. Manaiyir referred to in the inscription is presently located in Tiruvallur district under the name Manavur near Tiruvalangadu. It was a headquarters of a kottam in the Chola days and many officials from this place appear in Chola inscriptions of later period.
The third inscription also belongs to Kampavarman is dated in his 18th regnal year (A.D.887). It refers to the gift of 10 kalanju of gold by a lady Nangaipperuman, another wife of Siyacarman. The gold was entrusted to the sabha for maintaining a perpetual lamp in the temple of Subrahmanya bhattarar. The sabha accepted to supply 60 nali of oil per year as interest.
An incomplete inscription dated in the 13th regnal year (A.D. 882) of Nripatungavarman was found engraved on another pillar. Below this inscription, another inscription dated in the 7th regnal year of some king whose name is not mentioned was found. This inscription opens with the auspicious word svastisri, records the gift of lands known as kilan ceru and Sattaman kollai by Peruncatti Arrulaga Narayana Sarman. The gift was made for conducting talaippali festival at the temple and also for the maintenance of a trumpet-player. Kaniyar Korra Sarmach Chatankaviyar also donated a piece of land known as pallac ceru for conducting the same festival in the temple.
A damaged inscription of Rastrakuta king Krishna III dated in his 21st regnal year records the gift of 180 nali of oil per year. This was given in the Tamil months of Aippasi, Kartigai and Masi as 60 nali of oil per month.The temple referred to in this inscription is mentioned as Sri koyil at Tiruvilichchil.
Besides these, a number of fragmentary inscriptions were also found. They are all testimony for the existence of the Subrahmanya temple here till the middle of the 14th century A.D.
Brick temple
Course of the Brick structure
Further excavation in this place revealed a brick structure below the level of the stone temple. The size of the brick is very similar to that of Kaveripumpattinam, Arikkamedu, Amaravati, Uraiyur, Mangulam and other pre-Pallava period sites of Tamil Nadu. Quite a number of roof tiles of that period were also recovered from the site. These findings helped to identify the brick structure as the earlier form of the Subrahmanya temple. In all probabilities the brick temple might have been destroyed due to frequent sea activities and during the time of the Pallavas a stone temple might have been constructed above the ruined temple with some modifications and annexations. The plan of the garbhagriha and the ardhamandapa were changed and enlarged during the time of Pallavas.
Pre-pallava and Pallava Phase structures
The rectangular corridor around the main shrine was probably renovated around 9th century A.D. The outer wall of the brick structure is plastered with mortar which was the usual custom of the pre-Pallava period as noticed in the brick structures of Arikkamedu and Kaveripumpattinam where as the inner wall is left plain. Four courses of dressed metamorphic stones are laid down as foundation stones and above them 22 courses of bricks were arranged in a systematic manner. The garbhagriha with a brick floor having no entrance on any side is square in shape and looks like a store room.
The size of the brick found at this site is similar to those found at Uraiyur, Korkai and Banavasi. The size of the bricks found at various pre-Pallava sites are tabulated below[3].
|
S.No |
Site Name |
Size in cms |
|
1 |
Arikkamedu |
34X24X7 |
|
2 |
Kaveripumpattinam |
60X40X8 |
|
3 |
Uraiyur |
43X23X8 |
|
4 |
Kanchipuram |
28X19X6 |
|
5 |
Karur |
47X32X9 |
|
6 |
Korkai |
45X29X7.5 |
|
7 |
Mangulam(two sizes) |
32X16X6 24X18X5 |
|
8 |
Chengamedu |
30X18X7 |
|
9 |
Banavasi (Karnataka) |
43X22X7
|
|
10 |
Nagarjunakonda (Andhra) |
50X28X7.5 |
|
11 |
Mamallapuram |
40X20X6.7 |
Pre-pallava Arthamandapa Sunnam paste wall and enlarged Arthamandapa of Pallava Period
Raised platform made of bricks seen around the garbagriha is surrounded by a projected molded plinth on three sides. The floor level of the ardhamandapa is also raised and paved with bricks. When the old brick temple was renovated, the Pallava architects used the old brick structure as upapitha for the stone temple and filled the garbhagriha with sand and bricks. In order to enlarge the ardhamandapa, they built a separate wall on the northern side. The main entrance of the temple is seen on the north western side of the corridor. The main shrine facing north is an unusual feature of Dravidian Architecture. It was not possible to decide whether this temple had an entrance on the northern side too, due to the damaged condition of the northern side corridor.
The brick temple had three entrances. One was on the northern side and the other two entrances were on either side of the ardhamandapa. When it was renovated the two side entrances were closed. It is interesting to note here that the garbhagriha, made of brick has no entrance. It has no image and water outlet inside and looks like a closed cellar.
Garbagraha pre-Pallava bricks
Inside the Garbagraha with Brick floor
Sangam literature amply attests the worship of Subrahmanya in the name of Murugan, Velan, Sey, Neduvel, etc. Tolkappiyam, the celebrated work of the Sangam period narrates that Seyon (Murugan) is the Lord of the Kurinji region i.e., the mountain region[4]. But Cir Alaivay i.e., Tiruchchendur, a coastal village is mentioned as the seat of Sendil i.e. Murugan in Purananuru and Agananuru[5]. Tirumurugarruppadai, one of the ten anthologies (Pattupattu) also mentions Cir Alaivay as one of the six abodes (Padai vidu) of Lord Murugan[6]. From these references it may be understood that the temples of Lord Murugan were also located in the coastal area of Tamilnadu during the pre-Pallava period[7].
Based on these references and the inscriptions discovered during excavation the earlier brick structure may be identified as a pre-Pallava construction made for Lord Murugan. The Pallava architects renovated the ruined brick work in stone form with expansions. This structure that was under worship until the 14th century fell prey to ravages of time and became a mound in due course.
A terracotta plaque of female dancers joining hands was also recovered from the site. The size of the plaque is 23X17X4 cms. The mode of dance and the five participants identifies it as the depiction of kuravai kuttu, a kind of dance performed by the Tamils for Lord Murugan during festive occasions.
It recalls the stanza, ‘tondakac ciruparaik kuravai ayara’ rreferred to in the Tirumurugarruppadai[8]. A lamp with a cock figure was also discovered at the site.
[1] Perumpanarruppadai, lines 320-350
[2] S.I.I., Vol. IV., No, 381
[3] Rajavelu, S., Tirumoorthi, G., Tamilnattut tolliyal Agalaivugal, Panpattu veliyittagam, 1998. Information received from Dr.V.Vedachalam for Mangulam’s brick size
[5] Purananuru, 55:11,19. Vendalaip punari alaikkum Sentil”; Agananuru, 266: 20 “tirumani vilakkin alaivayi”.
[6] Tirumurugarruppadai, lines, 78-125
[7] It may be remembered here that the excavations at Nagarjunakonda revealed the existence of a brick temple for Kartikeya i.e., Lord Murugan. Two images of Kartikeya holding a cock in his hand were also recovered from the site. Soundararajan K.V. (Ed), Nagarjunakonda, p.39, New Delhi, 2006.
[8] Tirumurugarruppadai, 197. Kalaikkovan, R, Talaikkol, 61-80. Sekar padippakam, Chennai, 2004