chap11
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Art and Culture of Tamilnadu
R. Nagaswamy
11. THE MONOLITHIC ART OF KAḺUGUMALAI
Kaḻugumalai is now a tiny village with dusty roads. Once in a year, a village market is held here for the sale of thousands cows and bullocks.
Making matches, is the main cottage industry in this village. But in ancient times, duing the times of the Pāṇḍyas it was an important military centre. A hero-stone, still preserved in the village, records the death of two soldiers when they fought for the Pāṇḍya against the Āy chieftain Karunantadakkan? of Malaināṇu, during the seige of Aruvikköṭṭai, in AD 790. The Pandya ruler then was Parāntaka Varguṇa I. One of the heroes hailed from Puntanmali in Toṇḍaināḍu near Madras. Some of the endowmen period were administered by military garrisons names are given as "Parāntaka vīra and Tirumala".
VEṬṬUVĀṈKÖIL
While the monolithic temples popularly called rathas at Māmallapuram are well-known for their architectural splendour and sculptural beauty, very few are aware of the existence of an equally captivating monolithic ratha type of temple at the extreme south of Tamil Nadu at Kaḻugumalai, near Tirunelveli. This is a mute witness to the height of artistic expression achieved by the Pāṇḍya rulers of Madurai.
In point of time, the Kaḻugumalai monolith is not far removed from the Mamalapuram rathas. It should have come into existence within fifty years of Māmalapuram, in the eighth century A.D. The author of this Wonderful creation, whoever he might have been, was destined, like his Pallava counterpart of Māmalapuram, to leave his creation incomplete. More fortunate was another architect (or was he the same 2), working at the famous rock-cut temple of Kailāsa at Ellora, for he could exclaim on seeing his completed monument that it could not be the creation of a mortal like himself, but the work of the very gods.
The Veṭṭuvāṉköyil has some similarities with the Kailasa of Ellora. Like the latter, a part of a sloping hill has been separated from the parent rock and the monolith carved in the centre. This is in contrast to the Māmalapuram rathas which were carved from freestanding hillocks. Scholars discern many architectural similarities between the Pāṇḍyan creation and the Chālukyan idiom. The migration of artists from south to north and vice versa is borne out by epigraphy.
The superstructure of the Veṭṭuvāṉköyil has been completed but its lower part remains unfinished. What careful planning and execution this monolith presents! The horizontal and vertical lines, drawn as guidelines on the rock-faces by the master artist, are still seen. The designer was not simply an architect, but a sculptor par excellence, for it is here in the sculpture he has excelled all artistic achievements. The moment one sees these sculptures one’s heart would leap with joy and would unconsciously exclaim what great art it is! Every one of these sculptures (there are nearly one hundred on the monolith) is a masterpiece, a delicate carving of aesthetic splendour. Various aspects of Śiva, Viṣṇu, the Dikpālas, divine damsels. and dwarfish ganas dancing in ecstacy are real gems of sculptural art. The sculpture of the divine teacher here is a masterpiece. There is freshness in the decorative designs. One feels that the work has been moulded in wax or soft clay rather than on hard stone.
JAIN SCULPTURES
A little away from the Veṭṭuvāṉköyil monolith, on the rockface of the same hill are seen an impressive row of Jain images portraying Mahāvīra, Neminātha, Parsvanātha and other Tīrthankara images and also Bāhubali (Gommateśvara) and Yakṣi figures. Some of the figures are classical images, particularly the ones showing Mahāvīra, seated under triple umbrella and the meandering branches of the aśoka tree, topped by Indra on elephant and other deities. The feminine figures-as in the Yakṣi figures and the accompanying figures of Bāhubali-are voluptously treated, recalling the feminine beauty described in Jīvakachintāmaṇi, a Jaina work in Tamil of the same period.
Below each sculpture there is an inscription in old Tamil or Vaṭṭeḻuttu script giving the name of the person who got the image carved. These epigraphs are a veritable mine of information on the social history of the times, particularly of Jain religion. Jain monks, nuns, and lay disciples from important Jain centres of Tamil Nadu figure as donors of the rock sculptures. From Kaḍaikkattūr in North Arcot District to Tirucharanattumalai? (Sitaral?) in Kanyakumari District, donors are mentioned. Nāgarköil, then known as Kottaru?, was an important Jain centre from where many asceties hailed and are respectfully mentioned in these incriptions.
INSCRIPTIONS
There are two inscriptions he Pāṇḍya ruler, Māraṉjaḍaiyan-probably identical with Parāntaka Varaguṇa I (later half of the eighth century in whose regin a committee was constituted to provide food for ten ascetics, including the exponents of Siddhānta, out of an endowment created by a Dharmachitta. The committee was constituted by an ascetic, Guṇasāgara Bhaṭṭara, a teacher, who also figures in an inscription below a sculpture. It is, therefore, evident that all these Jain sculptures were carved in about A.D. 775. It is also see that there were number of female disciples studying under male ascetics and maile deciples under Jaina nuns. A Brahmaṇa is seen making an endowment to this Jain settlement, an example of tolerance.
There is a popular belief that Jainism was wiped out of Tamil land as a result of the works of Śaivite and Vaiṣṇavite Saints in the seventh and eighth centuries A.D. But the sculptures and inscriptions at Kaḻugumalai, as well as at other Jain centres of Tamil Nadu, show a sudden efflorescence of Jainism in the eighth century A.D.
The inscriptions at Kaḻugumalai refer to the village as Nechchuram? and the Jain temple as Tirumalai Bhaṭṭarar or Aḻvār or Devar.
On the other side of the hill, in the midst of the village, is a temple of Subrahmaṇya, which is even now a great centure of pilgrimage. The mūlasthāna where the image of Subrahmaṇya is enshirned is a rock-cut cave of probably the eight century. The original cave had no sculptures. Through the centuries, many structures have been added before this guha including shrines to Śiva and Umā. This cave-temple has inspired much devout literature for the past few centuries.
THE END OF THE STORY
With such a recorded history it is unfortunate that the name of the author of that jewel, the Veṭṭuvānköil, is not known. No doubt there is joy for art historians in trying to know the unknown. But the fascinating sculptures and the unfinished nature of the monolith have inspired the local people to create an absorbing story.
A sculptor who lost trace of his only son could not trace him and ever since he devoted his whole life to sculpt and soon won distinction. After several years, while he was carving the Jain sculpptures at the Kaḻugumalai hill, a young talented sculptor appeared and started carving the monolith now called Vṭṭuvānköil. The people were delighted to see two master artists vying with each other. Soon they could perceive the truimph of the youth. The old sculptor thought that had his son been with him the stranger could not steal the laurels now. This thought turned into jealousy and anger. One early morning the whole valley echoed with the sound of the chisel like sweet music. The youth was at work. Every tick of the chisel increased the anger of the old sculptor up the hill. He drew his large chisel and threw it with all the power in the direction of the music The sound of chiselling suddenly ceased. Even he could not bear the sudden but melancholy silence and ran like a mad man in that direction to see for the first time the wonderful creation of the youth and also the tragic death of the young sculptor by his cruel chisel which had chopped his head off. It was not his enemy but his own lost son, his own flower. Ever since the temple remained unfinished and came to be called Veṭṭuvānköil.
No better story could have been invented with deeper pathos to account for the unfinished nature of the work, the Veṭṭuvānköil, a delight to art students.