chap6
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Art and Culture of Tamilnadu
R. Nagaswamy
6. EARLY SATI STONES FROM TAMIL NADU
A number of small panels in stone showing a row of deities are turning up in the Toṇḍaimandalam region of Tamil Nadu. What do these represent or seek to convey remains obscure. The Occurrence of such panels, in Andhradeśa is known to scholars. Two of them (one from Peddamudiyam) are now preserved in the Government Museum, Madras. Similar panels, which have been noticed now in Tamil Nadu, come from Munnur, Maṇimaṅgalam, Brahmadeśam, Ukkal, Uttiramerūr and Kāñcīpuram; all in Toṇḍaimandalam.
The panels generally show Brahma, Śiva in Liṅga form, Uma, Subrahmaṇya, Narasimha and Śrī as Śrīvatsa; all of them shown often seated, sometimes standing as well. Additional deities like Ganeśa, Durgā or Jyeṣṭā are figured. A shaft like object with a split at the top is shown either alone or on a lotus base. Four human figures, two in the middle standing with folded arms in adoration, flanked by two feminine figures, one on either side, holding what looks like a bud or chauri are also figured. What do this shaft like object and human figures represent?
The shaft like object, represent two forearms, standing seperately or issuing from a shaft. The arms are clearly visible in some panels and are not so in others. In the Maṇimaṅgalam panel two forearms wearing bangles are clearly visible. The arms are also seen in the Peddamudiyam? and Uttiramerūr panels.
It is well-known that in ancient times some women committed Sati by burning themselves on the funeral pyre of their husbands. Instances are also known when the body of the husband was buried, the wife was also buried alive. Such women were honoured and worshipped by erection of memorial stones popularly known as Mahā Sati stones. Many inscribed stones, often large slabs with carvings on them, have come to light in the Karnataka-Andhra reson, but most of them belongs to medieval period. Such Sati stones portray one or two fore arms, wearing bangles, issuings from shaft. A couple representing the dead husband and the wife who committed Sati are also shown. Sometimes the figures of sun and moon are also depicted. The inscription would give the name of the women and the history of Sati. The representation of bangle wearins forearm symbolizes the eternal chastity of the wife who commited Sati.
It may be mentioned that, when hero-stones were erected on the death of brave men, the heroes are portrayed as ascending heaven accompanied by divine maidens, who would be shown with fly-whisks or flowers in their arms flanking the hero. The apsaras fanking the hero, and the hero shown with arms in añjali hasta is a very common motif found in hundreds of hero-stones. From the above it would be evident that in the panels under discussion, of the four human figures two in the middle standing with añjali hasta, and the femenine figures flanking them would represent the dead couples. The representation of Brahma, Śiva, Viṣṇu and other deities indicate that the couple have reached Devaloka where they stand face to face with Gods and Goddesses. The presense of forearms in the panels indicate that they are Sati stones. However, it is not clear why forearms are chosen to represent Sati and why they are shown issuing from a shaft. The earliest memorials to the dead with figure sculptures and inscriptions are in the form of shafts or pillars and are called chāyā stambhas in Nāgārjunakoṇḍa inscriptions. May be this association of the stambha (shaft) with memorial to the dead has led to its portrayal.
As mentioned earlier, most of the Sati memorials so far known relate to medieval period (i.e. 9th century and later). The present panels from Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam are clearly of the Pallava period and are to be assigned to 7th-8th century A.D.