chap8
chapter7.html
chapter8.html
chapter9.html
Art and Culture of Tamilnadu
R. Nagaswamy
8. KAPĀLĪŚVARA TEMPLE AT MYLAPORE
The Kapālīśvara temple in Mylapore (a part of Madras city) has been a historic shrine from very early times. Mylapore was and is a coastal township. Once it was full of pleasant groves reverpating the joyous cries of peacocks. The Tamil word mayilappil? is said to mean the place where the peacock cries in joy. Early literature refers to this place as mayilappil?. The Sanskrit from of the word is Mayūrasabdapaṭṭana. Buddhaghosha a great Buddhist monk, is said to have lived here and at the request of Buddhamitra composed his Visuddhimārga?. In this text, the town is mentioned as Mayūrasatia paṭṭanam. While referring to Vāyilar, the Śaivite saint, Sundarar mentions Mylapore as a very ancient town-tonmayilai. It was a sufficiently big town. Triplicane (another part of present Madras city) is mentioned in early literature and inscriptions as a hamlet of Mylapore. Mylapore is also the birth place of the Śaivite saint, Vāyilar and the Vaiṣṇavite saint, Pëyaḻvār. Sambandar's visit to Mylapore and his bringing Pūmbavai back to life are well-known incidents. Sambandar was a younger contemporary of Tirunāvukkarasu (Vāgīśa) who converted the Pallava king Mahendravarman I to Śaivism. Mahendravarman ruled over Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam from A.D. 600 to 630.
Ever since the visit of Sambandar, the Kapālīśvara temple had attaind great religious significance. The original temple, according to some sources, was located very near the sea. Probably due to sea erosion, it had to be shifted to the interior. The present temple seems to have been reconstructed and is devoid of early sculptures. It faces west and the Amman shrine, which is usually to the left of the Lord, is here to his right. The eastern gopura is said to have been renovated in 1908. A sculpture representing a couple standing in adoration is noticed on the right wall of the eastern entrance on the inner side. One of the figures is probably of the person responsible for the construction of the entrance tower. In 1948 the stucco figures were renovated and a Kumbabhishekam performed.
INSCRIPTIONS
Owing to the reconstruction, the temple has lost many of its old inscriptions which would have otherwise thrown valuable light on its history. At present over twenty fragmentary inscriptions are visible and most of them are found on the inner and outer sides of the prākāra wall of the Amman shrine.
An inscription inside the prākāra of the Amman shrine records the gift of wet and dry lands (with their boundaries mentioned) in the village of Semmanapakkam in Jayamkoṇḍachöḻamaṇḍalam. An inscription by its side records the agreement of the donees to provide for all the expenses of Tiruvunnaligai, etc. Another inscription, on the outer side of the prākāra at the back, mentions Tribhuvanachakravartigal Rajarajadeva III and refers to the place as Palla (va)r- puram or Vānavanmādevi Chaturvedimaṅgalam. An inscription of Tribhuvanachakravarti Sundarapāṇḍyadeva A.D. 1250, who conquered the Chöḻas and Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam and another of Tribhuvanavīradeva are also noticed. The other visible inscriptions are fragments.
The annual festival of this temple is celebrated with pomp and show. The Adikāranandi festival, the kathotsava and the festival of the sixty-three Śaivite Saints draw a large number of devotees. Particularly the festival of sixty-three saints is very famous.
It will be interesting to trace in brief the worship of these saints in religious history. The Śivāgamas do not refer to the worship of these saints as such. However, they specifically mention the worship of the devotees. Though Appar and Sambandar refer to some of the devotees among the sixty-three, a codified list of sixty two saints is given for the first time by Sundarar in his Tiruttoṇḍatogai. Including him the total number of the Saints becomes sixty three. Sundarar is considered to be a contemporary of the Pallava king, Kaḻarchingan, who is eulogised by him in glowing terms as one who was engaged in ruling the world surrounded by sea (kaṭalcūḻnta ulakelām kākkiṉṟa perumāḷ............). Kaḻarchingan is identified with the Pallava king, Rājasimha (690-730), who was one of the greatest devotees of Śiva and had the title of Śivachūḍamaṇi.
Some of the saints among the sixty-three stand out prominently in history. Apart from the four great saints, Appar and others, Kochcheṅgaṇṇan, Cheraman Perumal, Ciruttoṇḍar, Aiḍigal Kādavarkön (this king is identified with Pallava Simhavarman) and Kādavarkön Kaḻarchingan are well-known. The Tirutoṇḍatogai of Sundaramūrti was enlarged by Nambiāṇḍār Nambi in the 10th century and it was put in an epic form by Sekkiḻār in his magnum opus, the Periyapurāṇam. Three important works in Sanskrit deal with the life of the sixty-three saints, Skandapurāṇa, Śivarahasya, and Śivabhakta mahātmya. The names of the saints are sanskritised in these works.
Interestingly, the sixty-three saints were very popular in the Kannada country. The Kannada works, Aruvattumuvarpurātancharite in prose, Triṣaṣṭi purātana charite in poetry by Karnataka Chakravarti and Aruvattumuvar purātana saraṇara charite by Virūpākṣa kavi are famous and deal with the life of these saints as found in the Tamil country. The saints are designated by their Tamil names in these Kannada Works.
Representations of the saints in sculptures are fairly well-known from about the ninth century. The Vasiṣteśvara temple of Karuntataṅguḍi, which is ascribed to about 10th century, carries beautiful sculptures of Tirunāvukkarasu and Sambandar. During the period of Rājarāja I and his Successors, many copper images of the saints were gifted to Tañjāvūr and other temples. The earliest representation of all the sixty-three saints is noticed in the Airāvateśvara temple of Dārāsuram, where they are shown in the prākāra wall and the name of each saint is inscribed below. Scenes from the life of some of the saints, including Appar, Sambandar and Sundaramūrti are noticed with label-inscriptions at the base of the central shrine. This temple was constructed by Rājarāja II (A.D. 1150-73) who held the title of Rājagambhīra. He was the son of Kulottunga II.
Sekkiḻār was Kulottuṅga's minister and expounded his Periyapurāṇam at Chidambaram. It is but proper that Kulottuṅga's son should have given a prominent place to the sixty-three saints. Ever since, the saints have been represented in all the temples and their festivals performed in a grand scale; and the festival at Mylapore is the most popular.