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The Indian Analyst
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Annual Reports |
GENERAL with spears. The unfinished gōpura at the south entrance in the last prākāra, which forms the portals as it were to this temple-city has evoked the admiration of Fergusson by its massive and dignified proportions, and if it had only been completed, it would have risen up to a height of nearly 300 feet, and would have been a remarkable achievement of Indian temple engineering. I conographically the temple offers a wide scope for study, boasting of an almost complete gallery of all the images requires for worship according to the Vaishṇavāgamas. Apart from the images of the gods, Ālvārs and Āchārya-purushas for whom there are well-made bronzes kept in the temple, some of which may be attributed to the 12th and 13th centuries A.D., there are two unique images which deserve special mention, viz., Dasmūrtis—a group of ten images taken in procession round the temple on all important occasions and Annamūrti, the presiding deity of the temple kitchen. The latter is represented as a two-armed image holding a bolus of curd-rice in one hand and a kalaśa containing pāyasa in the other. In the prabhā-maṇḍala behind the head are carved the emblems śaṅkha and chakra. The Pādma-saṁhitā (Chapter XXVIII) describes the Annamūrti image thus :â
The temple is very rich in inscriptions in which kings of the several South Indian dynasties, viz., Chōḷas, Pāṇḍyas, Hoysaḷas, the Vijayanagara kings and the Madura Nāyakas, are well represented. thus testifying to the uniform patronage that it had enjoyed under successive rulers.
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