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Art and Culture of Tamilnadu
R. Nagaswamy
19. PANAMALAI PAINTINGS
About twenty-seven kilometres from Viḻupuram is a small hillock called Panamalai. A few metres from it is a boulder and the intervening space is raised as a tank bund. On the hillock is situated the temple of Talagirīśvara, the lord of Talagiri, dedicated to Śiva. The term, Talagiri, is the sanskritised form of the Tamil word, Panamalai. Built by the Pallava king Rājasimha, the temple follows the design of the Kailāsanātha temple of Kāñcīpuram, and the Shore Temple of Māmalapuram, which were also built by the same ruler. The Talagirīśvara temple is notable for its excellent painting depicting Pārvati as Bhavāni. The painting of dancing Śiva in a small cell, on the northern side of the main shrine, is almost completely damaged. On the inner face of the back wall, and on the northern wall of this cell, there are paintings in excellent style and colours. But a painting at the back wall has faded, and only the bare outlines are visible. This represents the dance of Śiva in talasamsphotita pose, a favourite theme of Rājasimha. This particular mode of dance is profusely carved in the Kailāsanātha and Shore Temples. In this representation the right leg is bent and dynamically placed on the ground. The left knee touches the ground, while the foot is bent back. The front right arm is thrown across the body in the gajahasta posture and the front left arm is lifted straight up, like a daṇḍa, almost parallel to the head and makuṭa. The other arms are in various poses, holding fire, damaru, paraśu, pāśa, śūla, etc. The right across the body is clearly visible and the sole of the left foot is also seen, just below the right arm. Another left arum holds a paraśu, which is held upside down. Below it is to be seen a serpent, with well spread hoods. Unfortunately, the face, legs and arm on the right are irretrievably lost.
Witnessing this divine dance is Bhavāni, painted on the left wall of the cell, fortunately well-preserved, though a portion of the waist has been lost. The Devi stands in a delightful tribhaṅga posture like a kalpalata, placing her right leg rather steadily on the ground. The left leg is agreeably turned and bent in a charming manner, like a tender sprout branching from the main stalk. The nilamsuka or silken garment, is well-treated with floral patterns and covers the legs up to the part just above the ankle. The fastening at the waist is most excellently conceived and treated. The right hand is pleasingly bent and the tender fingers lucidly move towards the chin as if to touch gently the flowing (alaka) hair. The left hand moves close to the body in the lolahasta posture. A trisari, muktāhāra and ekāvali adorn the neck. The face is slightly bent towards her Lord and is full of divine charm. The eyes are half closed as if to suggest the feeling of great inward happiness. The well balanced kirīṭa on her head resembles the crowns found in Pallava sculptures and as if to suggest her divine nature a chhatra (parasol) is depicted over her head, with hanging pendants on its ridges. The unfaltering moving lines drawn by the most skilful artist, the supple treatement of the limbs and the languid eyes, make it one of the finest creations of Indian art. It stands in comparison to the farfamed Avalokiteśvara Padmapāni painted in Cave I, in Ajanta. The graceful bend of the head, the well-balanced makuṭa and the suggestion of divine love are almost identical in both these masterpieces.
This vivid portrayal is drawn skilfully with red ochre. The flesh tint is pleasing and the silken garment a is treated with an agreeable green colour. The influence of the Ajanta tradition can be clearly perceived, but the preparation of the ground and the method of execution show distinct variations. Certainly this speaks of a purely local school.
The outline of the talasamsphotita dance of Śiva on the back wall and the painting of Bhavāni on the side wall clinch the date of this painting beyond all reasonable doubt, for Rājasimha was the only monarch to be fond of this theme since he is the builder of this temple, as could be seen from his birudas on the basement, the painting must be taken as coeval with the temple, built in circa A.D. 700. Further, the representation of the limbs, the fastening, the bhaṅgas of the body and the kirīṭa are absolutely akin to the Pallava sculptural style. Virtually this becomes one of the finest specimens of early south Indian painting, perhaps precisely dated and so important to the student of Indian art.