Preparations are under way for the kumbabishekam of Sri Satya Vageeswarar temple on July 14 at Kalakkad.
It is a puzzle - how this temple at Kalakkad in Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, with its wealth of inscriptions, sculptures, murals, music pillars and a towering rajagopuram with about 1,500 stucco figures has never come under the spotlight. It has a big granary too.
While granary bins made of wood are found in temples and palaces in this part of southern Tamil Nadu, the one at Kalakkad temple is a masonry granary. The temple has features that go back to the Chola period and so could be more than 800 years old.
Preparations are under way for the kumbabishekam of Sri Satya Vageeswarar temple on July 14 at Kalakkad, Nanguneri Taluk, Tirunelveli.
Stucco figures
A highlight of the kumbabishekam is the renovation of the temple's 135 ft tall, nine-tiered rajagopuram which teems with 1,500 stucco figures. They were made of ‘sudhai' (lime mortar) which were broken over a period of time. “We used the original material used in making these stucco figures, for making them again. We never used cement. For painting them, we used natural pigments. We never used synthetic paint,” said K.R. Chandrasekaran, treasurer, Kalakkad Bhaktar Peravai, which is spearheading the temple's renovation. “On July 14, the kumbabishekam will be performed between 8.35 and 9.35 a.m.,” he said.
On the inner walls of the rajagopuram's nine storeys there are about 200 beautiful murals, portraying scenes from the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha, Tiruvilaiyadal Puranam (Siva Leelas), Siva's marriage to Parvati, episodes from the lives of the Tamil Nadu's Saivite saints, Siva as Bhikshatana, Rati and Manmatha, Krishna Leelas, the wedding of Saivite saint, Sundarar and so on. The wooden floors and pillars of the nine floors have been repaired and painted anew.
S. Balusami, associate professor of Tamil, Madras Christian College, Tambaram, Chennai, said an inscription in the temple of Parakrama Pandyan, issued in his sixth regnal year i.e., in 1548, spoke about ‘Vanavan Naattu… Kalakkad alias Chola Kula Vallipuram.' Other inscriptions in the temple also called the village ‘Kalakkad alias Chola Kula Vallipuram.'
The sculptures in the temple belonged to circa 16th century CE and they included those of Boothala Veera Udaya Marthanda Varman, a king of Travancore or Venadu.
Dr. Balusami said: “Boothala Veeran was an important king of Venadu or Tiruvadi. He built a palace at Kalakkad, named it ‘pudhu veedu' (New House) and lived there for a long time. The front mantapam in the temple, with pillars that emit music when tapped, was built by him.” He was also called Puli Marthanda Varman.
“The Boothala Veeran's sculpture is splendid. He has a sword and is surrounded by warriors. Two other remarkable sculptures are that of Bheema and Purusha Mrigam,” Dr. Balusami said.
There are sculptures of two steadfast friends, Cheraman Peruman Nayanar and Sundarar, the Tamil Saivite saint, in the temple. While there is a small sculpture of a horse at the base of that of Cheraman Peruman, there is a sculpture of an elephant on the pedestal of Sundarar's portrait.
(According to legend, Cheraman Peruman and Sundarar, reached Kailash, the abode of Siva, on a horse and an elephant respectively. There is a Chola mural masterpiece in the Brihadeeswara temple, Thanjavur, depicting their journey to Kailash).
The temple has a big masonry granary which is normally found in Cholamandalam. “The bin could have been used to store paddy during times of drought or when the temple was used as a fortress to fight battles,” said Chandrasekaran.
Dr. Balusami, who has a Ph.D. for his research on the murals belonging to the Nayak period in 14 temples in Tamil Nadu, estimated that the murals in the Satya Vageeswarar temple could have been painted during the late 17th century or 18th century CE. “They have a lot of local/regional style,” he said.
In the description of T. Satyamurthy, former superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, the murals are “an amazing art gallery of puranic themes.” The REACH Foundation, of which Dr. Satyamurthy is one of the founders, plans to restore these murals which have been vandalised.
