The document provides details about various Pallava period sculptures and temples located on the Tiruchirappalli Rockfort in Tamil Nadu, India. It describes the Gangadhara sculpture in the earliest Pallava cave temple built by Mahendra Pallava in the 7th century AD. The sculpture depicts Shiva receiving the Ganges river goddess and is accompanied by an inscriptional poem composed by Mahendra Pallava explaining its symbolism. The document also summarizes the Jaina and Pandya period cave temples located on the Rockfort and discusses the artistic and historical significance of the Pallava sculptures and structures.

1. Lalitankura Pallava Griham A Pallava treasure on Tiruchirappalli Rockfort S. Swaminathan (sswami99@gmail.com)

2. 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.

3. Somaskanda This depicts Shiva and Parvati seated on a throne, and Skanda on His Mother’s lap. Brahma and Vishnu are standing behind the throne as a mark of homage to the divine family.

4. Somaskanda Somaskanda, is a Pallava conception. The image is found in almost all Shiva temples of South India from the Pallava period onwards.

5. Somaskanda This sculpture from Kanchipuram is a Pallava composition of the 7th century.

6. Somaskanda Later the Chozha artist expressed himself eloquently in bronze

7. Somaskanda The theme attracted painters through ages

8. Gangadhara The lord acquiescing to the wishes of Bhagiratha and subduing the mighty Ganga has been a fertile field for creativity.

9. GangadharaPudukkottai; Pandyas; 7th Century In this early representation, a relaxed Siva holds a tress into which a prostrating Ganga descends

10. 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?

11. GangadharaKodumbalur; Irukkuvelir, 9th century Poetic is this composition. Siva’s 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. Parvati’s face is lighted up as she is encircled by the arm of Her Lord

12. GangadharaGangai-konda-chozhapuram; Chozhas,11th century In this panel Siva does not take chances. He holds tenderly His consort while receiving the mighty Ganga.

13. 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

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. Pallava Cave Temple At the entrance to the Uchchi-pillaiyar Temple is an Early Pallava temple in which is the celebrated Gangadhara panel

17. 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.

18. Now let us visit the Pallava cave temple

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. Sculptures The sculptural content includes two Pallava dvara-pala-s guarding the garbha-griham and the famous Gangadhara panel in bold relief.

22. 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.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. Pillars Beautiful geometrical shapes are found on the pillars.

27. Pillars Titles of Mahendra, mostly in Grantha, some in Tamil, are engraved on them. ChaLisappuruTu ChiLundhu (Grantha) Chittirakkarappuli (Tamil)

28. 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

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. Gangadhara sculpture On the western wall is the celebrated Gangadhara panel. In the center is Siva as Gangadhara with attendant figures.

32. 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

33. 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. Siva’s 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.

34. 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.

35. Gangadhara Siva’s 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.

36. 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.

37. Now let us follow the other actors in this scene.

38. 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.

39. To the right of Siva’s makuTa is an animal. Because of the prominent hump it could be a bull. Is it taking the place of vRshabha-dhvaja?

40. 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.

41. 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.

42. Who could these people be, in the royal dress in Siva’s camp? The customary Vishnu, Brahma and the deva-s are not found witnessing the grand spectacle.

43. 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.

44. 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.

45. This must have inspired his illustrious son, Narasimha Varma, to attempt the world’s first open-air bas-relief in Mahabalipuram, a feat never attempted there after!

46. 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.

47. We have not understood the reason for the unusual attire of Gangadhara. We haven’t identified the four princely figures, and the animal atop. The poem written on the sides gives some clue.

48. 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

49. 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.

50. Gist of the Poem Author adds: The choice of the hill also served another purpose. It justified Siva’s name a Gireesha. Wouldn’t you call this vanity of Mahendra attempting to justify the Lord’s name?

51. Gist of the Poem Author continues: The mountain became Siva’s 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.

52. 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.

53. 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!

54. 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.

55. 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.

56. 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.

57. 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.

58. 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.

59. 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?

60. Gangadhara Composition The Pallava dynasty seemed to enjoy teasing. Many of the Pallava monuments present puzzles, both intended and unintended.

61. Before we conclude, let me quote the last stanza from the poem.

62. शिलाक्षरेण जनिता सत्यसन्धस्य भौतिकी । சிலாக்ஷரேண-ஜநிதா-ஸத்யஸந்த4ஸ்யபெள4திகீ. śilaaksharENa-janitaa-satyasandhasya-bhautikee मूर्त्तिः कीर्त्तिमयीञ्चास्य कृता तेनैव शाश्वती ॥ மூர்த்தி: கீர்த்திமயீஞ்சாஸ்யக்ருதாதேநைவசாச்வதீ. muurtih keertimayeeñchaasya-kRtaa-tEnaiva-śaaśvatee. 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.

63. 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.

64. Thank you S. Swaminathan