Dr.R.Nagaswamy
#4682B4
Kalinga influence on Tamil Literature
Kulottunga I was a great Chola monarch who ruled for 55 years from 1070 to 1125 CE. He was the grandson of Rajendra Chola, through his daughter. On his father's side he was the son of Rajaraja Narendra, the Eastern Chalukya king. Rajendra Chola won great victories over the Palas of Bengal and assumed the titleo Gangai-konda-Chola. Kulottunga had similar ambitions. His conquest of Kalinga country, (the modern Orissa), in which he defeated Anantavarma-Choda-Gangadeva is mentioned in all his records as his foremost achievement. Though he did not personally participate in this war, but was assisted by his commander Karunakara-Tondaiman who headed the Chola army, Kulottunga accompanied his army from his capital Gangai-konda-chola-puram to Kanchipuram where he stayed and directed the operations. The news of his conquest of Kalinga was received while he was still camping at Kanchipuram. He is praised as one who could defeat Kalinga from Kanchipuram.
Kulottunga's conquest of Kalinga is celeberated in a historic Tamil poem called Kalingattu-Parani by his court poet Jayam-kondar. This is one of the finest poems in Tamil language luckily preserved in full till date. It is a novel format too, being met with for the first time in Tamil literature. It is a historical poem with Kulottunga as the hero and gives his childhood, commanders, conquests etc. in graphic poetry.
Its title Parani requires some explanation. Parani (Sanskrit Bharani) is a sacred star said to be dear to Goddess Kali, propitiated by Kings and warriors for giving them victories in battle field. According to Durga Saptasati a Sanskrit text, Kings offer special worship before embarking on their march to the battle fields and when they win make a great sacrifice in the victorious field to her and her attendants, the Bhutas, Pisacas and others. Since the sacrifice takes place in the victorious battlefield it consists of ghastly offerings like severed heads, limbs, and blood of the fallen soldiers and animals. Though the description is often gruesome, one can not forget the setting in which the whole sacrifice takes place and view the same from that perspective. In Kalingattu-parani (the victorious Parani offering at Kalinga) we find a description of the temple of Goddess Kali built of bones and skulls, using flesh and blood as the binding material. The victorious army of Kulottunga offers a great sacrifice to her at the end. There is lot of tantric descriptions in the work. At the end, the greatness of Kulottunga is praised. It is a novel method of presenting the history (caritra) of the monarch.
But what is more important is one of the introductory chapters describing the love-lorn condition of young beautiful damsels. The whole chapter depicts erotic sentiments in nearly hundred verses. The chapter is placed in a dramatic setting. The young and beautiful girls of the Chola capital who remain separated from their lovers who had gone to the battle field, long for their return and re-union. They rush to the doors of their houses and frequently open the door expecting their lover's return. Especially when the news of their victorious return are received, their longings are beyond control and their emotional feelings are depicted in graphic poetic language. The entire chapter is titled " Opening the door by the damsels". Kadavam tiramin.
I have shown in my earlier articles that the Kalingattuparani by Jayam-kondar is a dance drama composition meant for enactment in the court of Kulottunga. The Drama has heroic sentiment - Vira rasa- as the main theme as it was intended for the Royal Court. This heroic theme is supported by other sentiments as bibatsa rasa, sringara rasa etc, to heighten the emotions of the play. Sringara is introduced at the initial chapters so that as one goes along, the heroism takes a more dominant role. That is the dramatic presentation. The erotic sentiments described in the chapter on opening the door is so vivid that some orthodox scholars do not view it kindly. Nor do they appreciate the delicate human longings in such a description.
This view robs the dramatic content of the poetic settings and fails to appreciate true poetic imagery .It should also be remembered that these dramas were enacted by accomplished and beautiful dancing girls of the courts. Also Kalingattu -Parani should be viewed in the context of another poem Takka-yaga-parani (Daksha-yaga-Bharani in Skt.) composed by Ottak-kuttan, a talented poet in the court of Chola Rajaraja II. Ottak-kuttan lived within 25 years of Jayamkondar and wrote three dance dramas on Vikrama Chola, Kulottunga Chola II, and Rajaraja II. The Takka-yagap-parani has as its theme the mythical story of the destruction of Daksha's yaga. But the main intention of the poet was to the greatness of the Chola Rajaraja II and his conquests. It is another novel method of presenting history. It is also a dance drama meant to be enacted in the court of Rajaraja. The hero of the poem is Lord Rajarajesvara, the presiding deity of the temple Rajarajesvaram, the present Darasuram temple near Kumbhakonam. The initial chapter of this drama also has this erotic theme of beautiful girls opening the doors of their houses, expecting the return of their lovers.
The erotic theme of young beautiful girls opening their doors in love lorn condition is met with for the first time in Tamil literature in jayamkondar's Kalingattu-parani. From where did the poet get this new theme? In this connection a visit to the monuments of Kalinga is highly rewarding. There are monumental temples at Bhuvanesvar, the capital of Kalinga. Considerable number of these temples is decidedly earlier to Kulottunga's conquest. On the walls of many of these temples, I noticed the theme of young beautiful women opening the doors and standing with great love emotions. One can not be but struck by the repetition of this theme on the walls of the temples of Kalinga. Obviously this was one of the attractive poetic form and theme with Kalinga dancing girls before the time of Kulottunga. The Parani literature and the theme of erotic sentiment in dance in the scene Kadavam tiramin seem to be duethe influence of Kalinga over the Tamils.
Also some of the tantric traditions connected with the worship of Kali could also be traced to this Kalinga contact. The Takka-yaga-parani, for example speaks elaborately of Yoga-Yamala-tantra text with which Kali is propitiated and also the attendants of Kali like Dakini, Sakini, Sarmini and other worshippers. The Parani literature is full of tantric traditions of Kalinga.
Though the theme of "Kadavam Tiramin" -Opening the door -could be traced through sculptural portrayal in Kalinga, surprisingly it did not leave any influence on the sculptors of Tamilnad. The impact remains at the poetic level. I have shown that Eastern Indian Contact, especially with Bengal (Vangala, Gauda and Radha regions of ancient times) brought in Saivacaryas to Tamil nad and religious, philosophical and sculptural influence as a result of Rajendra's conquest of Bangala desa, Kulottunga's conquest of Kalinga brought in influences in the field of poetry and Tantric tradition.
It is also pertinent to point out that a reverse travel of art motives from Tamilnad to Western region is seen at a much earlier period. The Pallava ruler, Rajasimha, 690 to 728 CE, built the great temple of Kailasanatha at Kanchipuram. Immediately after his death, Kanchipuram was invaded by the Chalukya ruler, Vikramaditya II in 732 CE. He took artists from Kanchipuram to his capital where his Queens built the Lokamahadevisvaram (Virupaksha temple) at Pattadakkal. Scholars have been pointing out close similarities between the Pallava and the Chalukya temples of this period.
Wars inflict human suffering and destruction. Historians have been focussing attention on such destruction and also on the vanity of the victors. There is another side to the wars namely the influence they exerted over the invader, in various fields, which may be termed "victory reversed". A study of different ancient wars from this angle may be worth pursuing.