No 50, describes a group of copper images which the king himself had set up. The central image was Dakshinamurti with four arms seated on a mountain. The latter had two peaks on which there were two Kinnaras and two Kinnaris. Under the foot of the god was Musalagau. On the mountain were four rishis, a snake, two karnapravritas and a tiger. A baniyan tree was also on the mountain and had nine main branches and forty-two minor ones. A wallet was suspended from the tree and a bunch of peacock’s feathers was one of the accompaniments of the god.

The four rishis on the mountain are Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanakumara, the four sons of god Brahma. In order to expound the mysteries of the Vedas to these four rishis the god Siva is said to have assumed the form of Dakshinamurti. In fact Dakshinamurti is the god Siva in his capacity as a spirditual teacher.[8] Two aspects of Dakshinamurti are described, viz., Yoga-Dakshinamurti and Vina-Dakshinamurti. The following verse exemplifies the popular belief in Dakshinamurti as a teacher.

In South Indian temples at present Dakshinamurti occupies a niche on the south wall of the central shrine with a stone structure in front of it. In the old ones, however, the niche appears to have remained alone without any clumsy addition made to it. For instance, in the Rajarajesvara temple there is a niche to Dakshinamurti on the south wall. But the structure in front of this niche covers one or two sections of an inscription of Rajaraja (No. 4). It is therefore clear that, though Dakshinamurti was worshipped in the beginning of the 11^th century A.D., the practice of raising up a special structure for him had not yet come into vogue. It is also worthy of note that all the foregoing accompaniments are not found in the sculptures of Dakshinamurti which we now find in Siva temples.

Queen Prithvimahadevi set up a seated image of Srikanthamurtigal with four arms (No. 80). The god Siva got this name in consequence of his swallowing the halahala poison produced at the churning of the ocean. The name Nilakantha of the god is also traceable to the same event.[9] An image of Pasupatamurti was set up by queen Iladamahadevi. The details are however not given. In fact her setting up the image is only incidentally referred to in No. 95 below. The scene relates to the gift of the pasupata-weapon to the Pandava prince Arjuna for use in battle against Jayadratha.[10] An image of Chandrasekharadeva is said to have been set up by Rajaraja (No. 54). In this case too the details are not mentioned.[11] According to Saiva legends the god Siva came to wear the crescent on his head as the moon prayed for release from the curse of his father-in-law Daksha that he should gradually dwindle day by day and eventually die.

Seven images of Ganapati[12] are said to have been set up by the king, two in the dancing posture, three seated comfortably and the remaining two, standing (No. 84). With one of the second three, there was a tree. In describing gifts to Ganapati two separate forms are mentioned, viz., Alaiyattu-Pillaiyar and Parivaralaiyattu-Pillaiyar. The former was probably in the central shrine and the latter in the enclosure hall. According to the Samkaravijaya the Ganapatya sect was sub-divided into six sub-sects who worshipped six different forms of the god, viz., Maha-Ganapati, Haridra-Ganapati, Uchchhishta-Ganapati (also called Heramba-Ganapati), Navanita-Ganapati, Svarna-Ganapati and Santana-Ganapati.[13] A Tamil book entitled Sirpachintamani describes twelve kinds of Ganapati, viz., Bala-Ganapati, Dhanur-Ganapati, Bhakti-Ganapati, Vira-Ganapati, Pingala-Ganapati, Uchchhishta-Ganapati, Kshipare (Kshipra ?)-Ganapati, Erapasa (Heramba ?)-Ganapati, Lakshmi-Ganapati, Maha-Ganapati, Bhuvana-Ganapati and Nirttana (Nritta)-Ganapati. These varieties[14] are due probably to the fact that he is a popular deity. His image is found not only within all Saiva temples but also in front of temples and even in the streets. He is also worshipped in the majority of Sudra houses in the Tamil country. This fact is expressed in the following Sanskrit verse said to be extracted from the old version of Manu: -

How he came to be the remover of obstacles (Vighnesvara) from his position as the commander of the celestial troops (ganapati), is a point on which no information is at present forthcoming.

The worship of the god Subrahmanya does not appear to have been so prevalent in ancient times as it is at the present day. His surnames Shanmukha, Skanda and Karttikeya occur in Vedic literature and there is also an Upanishad entitled Skanda-Upanishad. In the Mahabharata his origin from Agni is described and he is also known as Agnikumara. Kumara’s birth is also briefly mentioned in the Ramayana. Kalidasa’ poem Kumarasambhava is a description of the birth of the god Shadanana and of his achievements. He is the commander of the good demon armies and is also known as Senani. He leads his troops against the hosts of their enemies, the evil demons. It was probably this aspect of his nature that led to some of his temples being built on hills, e.g., Tirupparangunram, Parani and Kunnakkudi in the Madura district, Karugumalai and Tiruchchendur in the Tinnevelly district, Tiruttani and Vallimalai in the North Arcot district and Svamimalai in the Tanjore district. His temples are frequented by those who seek to be delivered from evil spirits or to obtain children. He is the patron saint of burglars and thieves as stated in the Mrichchhakatika. Even now he is the deity adored by Kallars and Maravas who belong to the robber castes. He is also identified with the serpent in some mysterious way. This connection between the god Subrahmanya and the serpent probably arose at the village of Subrahmanya in the South Canara district where, according to Dr. Kittel, the god Karttikeya was formerly worshipped. It is now a place of worship of the serpent Adisesha. Besides, the name Subba or Subbaraya, which is applied to the serpent is a tadbhava of the Sanskrit subhra.[15] Owing probably to some mistake the word Subba or Subbaraya has been connected with the name Subrahmanya and the association of Karttikeya with the serpend may be due to some such false etymology.

According to Varhamihira’s Brihatsamhita the image of Skanda should be made to appear young with the weapon known as sakti in his hand and mounted on a peacock.[16]

In the South-Indian temples Subrahmanya has six heads and twelve arms. Oftener he has one head and four arms only, of which two are lifted and hold the lance while the other two are empty. On his head he wears a crown. To his right and left stand his two wives Valli and Devasena and near him in the peacock, his vehicle. The evolution of this god and his present attributes from the original conception of the celestial general, illustrate the way in which the Brahmanical religion has been added to in course of time.

The Tamil work Sirpachintamani describes eight different forms of the god Subrahmanya, viz., Jnanasaktidhara, Dandayudhapani, Senapati, Arumugam (Skt. Shadanana), Suppiramaniyar (Skt. Subrahmanya), Saravanorpavar (Skt. Saravanodbhava), Kumara, Shanmugan (Skt. Shanmukha) and Tarukariyan (Skt. Tarakari).[17] Another Tamil work entitled Suppiramaniya-parakkiramam describes eighty-eight different feats of the god and the forms assumed by him on each of those occasions.

Only a single image of the god Subrahmanyadeva was set up by the king kin the Rajarajesvara temple at Tanjore. He had only for arms and apparently a single head (No. 49). Even the epithet pillaiyar, which is prefixed in the case of the god Ganapati is omitted here.

The Kadambas are represented as meditating on the god Svami-Mahasena, i.e., Karttikeya and Mayurasarman, the first king of that dynasty, is said to have been anointed, by Shadanana.[18] The Chalukyas of Badami also meditated on the feet of the god Mahasena.

In the Timmapuram plates of the first Eastern Chalukya king Vishnuvardhana I, the Chalukyas are described as “having been rendered prosperous by Mahasena, who by his own arm had defeated the great army of the sons of Danu”[19]. In the Kailasanatha temple inscription of the Pallava king Rajasimha the king is compared to the god Guha also called Kumara and Subrahmanya. The weapon sakti (lance) is also referred to here. The earliest Epigraphical reference to a temple of the gokd Subrahmanya occurs in a Pallava inscription of Nandivarman at Mallm in the Nellore district (called Tiruvanbur in the inscription).[20] In the early Tamil poem Tirumurugarruppadai six places sacred to the god are mentioned, viz., Tirupparangunram, Tiruchchiralaivay, Tiruvavinankudi, Tiruveragam, Kunrutoradal and Paramudirsolai. Modern temples dedicated to the god are found also at Tirupporur in the Chingleput district, Pullirukku-Velur (Vaidisvarankoyil) in the Tanjore kdistrtict, Sandur in the Bellary district[21] and Kataragama kin Ceylon.[22] Tirupparangunram and Pullirukku-Velur are also mentioned in the Devaram. But there is nothing to show that there were Subrahmanya shrines in those two places at the time when the Devaram hymns were composed.

The other names of the god Subrahmanya are Muruga, Arumugam (Shadanana in Sanskrit), Skanda, Kumara, Velayudha, Senapati and Karttikeya. It seems to me that Murugan is not a new name but only a Tamil translation of the Sanskrit designation Kumara. There is no reason to suppose that Muruga was an ancient Dravidian god afterwards assimilated with Skanda. The earliest references in Tamil literature to this god support the view that Muruga is only a Tamil rendering of the Sanskrit Kumara.

In ancient Tamil poem Manimegalai the god Muruga is described as the son of Siva and as having subdued the mountain Kiravunjagiri (Skt. Kraunchagiri). In another ancient poem entitled Tirumurugarruppadai he is described as having six faces and twelve arms. His consorts are referred to here and one of them, viz., Valli is actually mentioned by name. The peacock is also referred to as his vehicle and the cock as his banner. His priest carried a lance and was called velan or lancer. On festive occasions a bull was sacrificed to the god and boiled rice mixed with its warm blood, was offered.

There are various legends about the origin of the god Skanda.[23] But the original conception is apparently Senani or Mahasena, the general of the celestial armies. From this original idea was evolved Karttikeya, as the month of Kartiika is best fitted for war. The name Karttikeya naturally came to be connected with the six Krittikas and he was looked upon as the son of all six of them. Six faces came to be associated with his figure by a natural sequence of ideas and then twelve arms came to be attributed to him. As he was the god of war he became the object of worship for reigning kings and families like the Kadambas and Chalukyas.

Two more images require to be noticed before we pass on to the next section. The first is that of god Vishnu set up by the king himself (No. 52) and called Mahavishnukkal. The image had four arms.[24] No further details are furnished. But the fact shows that the king was no bigot, though he was a staunch Saiva.[25] The second image to which I wish to invite attention here is that of Surya, the sub-god. The image was one cubit (muram) and two viral in height and had two arms. It was set up by an officer of the king (No. 56) who presented a garland of rays to it. There is no reference to the seven horses, which are represented as drawing his chariot.[26] Neither are they mentioned in the Brihatsamhita[27] or Hemadri’s Chaturvargachintamani.[28] The earliest sculptures of the god so far found in Northern India contain four horses.[29]

As I have pointed out elsewhere[30] the worship of Surya was probably introduced into the Tamil country from Northern India. The first temple dedicated to Surya in the Chola country was built apparently during the reign of Kulottunga I when, there was some inter-course between the sub-worshipping Gahadavalas of Kanauj and the Cholas of Tanjore.

Of greater importance than the foregoing are the images of cannonised Saiva saints set up in the temple. One of them we owe to the king himself and the others to the religious devotion of the manager of the Rajarajesvara temple. The first group (No. 29) consisted of (1) Chandesvaraprasadadeva with four arms; (2) Musalagan with two arms; (3) Umaparamesvari; (4) Mahadeva (i.e., a linga) from which an arm was projecting; (5) Chandesvara with two arms; (6) his father with two arms represented as having fallen down and lying on the ground; (7) Chandesvara having two arms represented as receiving a boon; and (8) a flower garland given to him as a boon. The events of Chandesvara’s life represented in the foregoing groups are preserved to us in the Tamil Periyapuranam with the exception of a single item. Why a divine arm was projecting from the linga is not apparent. The part that he arm played in the story is altogether missing in the Periyapuranam. Another image of Chandesvara was set up by an officer of the king (No. 55). The image had two arms and held an axe (maru). This is the usual representation of the Chandesvara in Siva temples. Chandesvara is said in the Periyapuranam to have been made the chief of Saidva devotees by the god Siva. In epigraphical records all transactions connected with Siva temples are represented as having been made in the name of Chandesvara is stated to have accepted the price of the land paid by the purchaser. In fact he was looked upon as the manager of the temple. This office Chandesvara may be considered to hold even to this day. Any worshipper visiting a Siva temple has to appear at the Chandesvara shrine before leaving the temple premises and clap his hands evidently to satisfy the god that he is not taking away any temple property with him.

The manager of the Sri-Rajarajesvara temple towards the close of Rajaraja’s reign and during the early years of Rajendra-Chola’s reign was Adittan Suryan alias Tennavan Muvendavelan, a headman of Poygai-nadu. In the second year of Rajendra-Chola’s reign (A.D. 1013-14) he presented several gilt copper-pots to be placed on the shrine of Chandesvara (No. 60). This gift alone would not have entitled him to our gratitude. Before the close of the twenty-ninth year of Rajaraja (A.D. 1013-14) Adittan Suryan set up images of Nambi Aruranar, Nangai-Paravaiyar, Tirunavukkaraiyar, Tirunanasambandadigal, Periya-Perumal, his consort Ologamadeviyar, i.e., Lokamahadevi and Chandrasekharadevar worshipped by Periya-Perumal (No. 38). During the next year (i.e., A.D. 1014-15) he made gifts to the images of Nambi-Aruranar, Tirunanasambandadigal, Tirunavukkaraiyar and Periya-Perumal (No. 41). He also set up an image of the king of Miladu who had said Tatta namare kan, i.e., the Saiva devotee Meypporu-Nayanar (No. 40).[31] In the same year he set up another group of images illustrating the life of Siruttonda-Nayanar (No. 43). These were (1) Kshetrapaladevar with eight arms; (2) Bhairava-murtigal, with two arms; (3) Siruttonda-Nambi with two arms; (4) Tiruvenkattu-Nangai; and (5) Siraladevar. In the Periyapuranam version of Siruttondar’s life[32] Kshetrapala plays no part. It is only Bhairava that appears. Again in the name of Meypporu-Nayanar there is a slight difference between the form of it given in the Tanjore inscription and that found in the Periyapuranam. Dr. Hultzsch thinks that by Periya-Perumal, Rajaraja himself is meant and that Ologamahadevi was his queen Lokamahadevi. This seems to be very likely and both of them were probably dead at the time the images were actually set up. The fact that the images of the Saiva devotees noted above had been installed during the early years of the eleventh century A.D. is of very great importance for the history of Tamil literature. Dr. Hultzsch has pointed out its importance and consequently there is no necessity to repeat his statements.

Of Sakti deities (gramadevata), very few images are mentioned as having been established in the Tanjore temple. No. 81 records the setting up of a seated image of Kala-Pidari with four arms, and No. 79 of Durga-Paramesvari with four arms. In the suburbs of Tanjore there was evidently a pretty big temple of Raudra-Mahakalam dedicated perhaps to Rudra-Mahakala, one of the terrible forms of Siva (No. 64, paragraph 4). Among the villages whose revenues were assigned to the Rajarajesvara temple, a number of village deities and their shrines are incidentally referred to. These are Aiyan,[33] Pidari[34], Settaiyar (Jyeshtha), Kla-Pidariyar, Pidari called Punnaitturai-Nangai, Pidari called Poduvagai-Urudaiyal, Kadugal, Durgaiyar, lPidari called Kuduraivattam-Udaiyal and Pidari called Tiruval-Udaiyal. The number of Pidaris and their various designations are interesting. Each of them evidently had her own charge to look after. The shrines of the village’s deities (tirumurram) are distinguished from orthodox Brahmanical temples to which the term srikoyil is generally applied. Most of the village deities are mentioned in connection with villages in the Trichinopoly district to the north of the river Kaveri. Of other temples mentioned in the Tanjore inscriptions one dedicated to Kudadeva, i.e., tosage Agastya is said to have existed at Tiruttevankudi in Tiruvali-nadu. There was a shrine of Tiru-Vanni-bhagavar (i.e., Sri-Vahnibhagavat) at Anbanur in Mi-Palaru. It is said to be a temple of Mahadeva (Siva) and is styled at srikoyil. Two shrines of Tiruvadigal are referred to viz., one at Manarkal,appalli in Vela-nadu and another at Videlvidugu-Pallavapuram in Takkalur-nadu. In the latter case again the term srikoyil is applied. Perhaps both of them were shrines dedicated to the sixty-three Saiva devotees. At Videlvidugu-Pallavapuram there was also a temple called Pugar-Isvara-griham. 

V. VENKAYYA.