South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses
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ASIA II MB- • ! 00/ CORNELL UNIVERSITY* LIBRARY Date Due >Sf{JviVre > -&h—2 RftPP )9 -Af v^r- tjy J A j£ **'lr *7 i !! in ^_ fc-£r Pg&diJBii'* Cornell University Library NB 1001.K92 South-indian images of gods and goddesse 3 1924 022 943 447 AGENTS FOR THE SALE OF MADRAS GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS. IN INDIA. A. G. Barraud & Co. (Late A. J. Combridge & Co.)> Madras. R. Cambrav & Co., Calcutta. E. M. Gopalakrishna Kone, Pudumantapam, Madura. Higginbothams (Ltd.), Mount Road, Madras. V. Kalyanarama Iyer & Co., Esplanade, Madras. G. C. Loganatham Brothers, Madras. S. Murthv & Co., Madras. G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras. The Superintendent, Nazair Kanun Hind Press, Allahabad. P. R. Rama Iyer & Co., Madras. D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co., Bombay. Thacker & Co. (Ltd.), Bombay. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta. S. Vas & Co., Madras. S.P.C.K. Press, Madras. IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. B. H. Blackwell, 50 and 51, Broad Street, Oxford. Constable & Co., 10, Orange Street, Leicester Square, London, W.C. Deighton, Bell & Co. (Ltd.), Cambridge. \ T. Fisher Unwin (Ltd.), j, Adelphi Terrace, London, W.C. Grindlay & Co., 54, Parliament Street, London, S.W. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. (Ltd.), 68—74, iCarter Lane, London, E.C. and 25, Museum Street, London, W.C. Henry S. King & Co., 65, Cornhill, London, E.C. X P. S. King & Son, 2 and 4, Great Smith Street, Westminster, London, S.W.- Luzac & Co., 46, Great Russell Street, London, W.C. B. Quaritch, 11, Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London, W. W. Thacker & Co.^f*Cre<d Lane, London, E.O? *' Oliver and Boyd, Tweeddale Court, Edinburgh. • E. Ponsonby (Ltd.), 116, Grafton Street, Dublin. ON THE CONTINENT. Ernest Leroux, 28, Rue Bonaparte, Paris. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Holland. SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES OF GODS AND GODDESSES [PRICE, 5 rupees 8 annas.] [8 shillings 3 •pence.'] The Tanjore temple. SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES OF GODS AND GODDESSES BY H. KRISHNA SASTRI, b.a., Rao Saheb, Assistant Archceological Superintendent for Epigraphy-, Southern Circle. Published under the authority of the Government of Madras. MADRAS GOVERNMENT PRESS. 1916. ' */. M , 1 ! ' " 'f. / 1; V] y.r ,^ s v. \> ,/ * i AGE, TH IS little book owes its origin to a suggestion made by His Excellency Lord Carmichael, when he was Governor of Madras in the year 19 12. He felt that, while there was a multitude of books dealing with Hindu religion and incidentally with Hindu iconography, there was no popular handbook which would give information about the images one commonly sees in temples or museums in Southern India, and that it would be a distinctly useful thing to supply that want. The Madras Government entrusted the task to me, presu- mably because my official duties bring me very often to visit the various temples in the Province and to study and classify the images found therein. When I accepted the task, I was not fully aware of the difficulties that lay before me. In the first place, there were very few printed books, in Sanskrit or in translations, that gave the orthodox description and significance of the images set up in temples. And when I managed to collate notes from a few old manuscripts treating of this subject, it was almost impossible in several instances to reconcile the discrepancies which they showed or even to understand the technical terms which abounded in them. In some cases, the descrip- tion of a particular image found in the local chronicles or Sthala-Purdnas could not be traced in the Agamas. I am not altogether sanguine that I have steered clear of these difficulties and succeeded in presenting a clear and readable account to the average reader. vi PREFACE My chief source of information in compiling this book has been an excellent work entitled " Tattvanidhi," published by the SrI-Venkatesvara Steam Press at Bombay, and compiled by His Highness the Maharaja Mummadi Krishnaraja Vodeyar Bahadur of Mysore. A short bibliography of other Sanskrit works consulted by me is given at page xv. Among the many friends who have kindly helped me in this task, my special thanks are due to Sir J. H. Marshall, Kt., c.i.e., m.a., litt.d., f.s.a., Director-General of Archaeology, Simla, and his assistant Mr. V. Natesa Aiyar, b.a., for extracts from ancient manuscripts on the subject of Indian iconography ; to Mr. A. H. Longhurst, Archaeological Superintendent, Southern Circle, for the numerous illustrations without which the book would be almost unintelligible ; and to Mr. C. S. Anantarama Aiyar, the Under Secretary to the Government of Madras, for much valuable criticism which has been of great assistance to me. My thanks are also due to Mr. T. Fisher, Superintendent, Government Press, Madras, for his many kind suggestions about the get-up of the book and a practical arrangement of the numerous illustrations. OOTACAMUND, ist April igi6. H. KRISHNA SASTRI. — —; TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. PAGES Temples and images, the subject of Agamas and Silpa-Sastras ; origin of stone temples in the Pallava period (page if.)—Their development in the Chola period (2)—Signs to distinguish a Saiva temple from a Vaishnava temple ; ritual generally followed in temples ; annual festivals (31".)—Ritual in temples of village-deities (7) 1—9 CHAPTER II. BRAHMA. Not worshipped as the chief deity in a temple ; his images and general description (10)—Various forms ; illustrations (n) 10—-16 CHAPTER III. VISHNU. His general description (17) —Incarnations (22) — Boar incarnation and the reverence paid to it by the early South-Indian kings (22f.) — Man- lion incarnation and its varieties (24!.) —Dwarf incarnation (3of.) Rama incarnation (35f.)—Krishna incarnation and varieties (37L.) Buddha and Kalki incarnations (47)^—Anantasayin, Padmanabha or Ranganatha (5of.) —Jalasayana, Vaikuntha-Narayana, Lakshmi- Narayana, Garuda-Narayana and Yogesvara- Vishnu (S2f.) —The 24 general forms of Vishnu ; Panduranga, Hayagriva and Venkatesa (55f.)— Pradyumna or Manmatha, Vishvaksena and Garuda (62f.) Hanuman (64f.)— Sudarsana(66f.) Saligram a stones (7of.) ... 17—71 CHAPTER IV. SIVA. His temples and their non-sectarian nature ; liuga, symbol of Siva its significance, description and varieties (72f.) —Subsidiary images to his sportive forms (74f.) in a Siva temple ; importance attached The general foim.Rudramurti ; its description and varieties; Pancha- dehamurti and Maha-Sadasiva (76f.)--Nataraja and his several dan- its cing postures (77f.)—The Chidambaram temple ; history (88f.) Dakshinamurti and his various forms (89X)— Lingodbhava (93f.)— Mohinl (97f )—Kankalamlirti (103)— Kalyana- Bhikshatana and . sundaramurti (i03f.)— Somaskanda and allied forms (i07f.) —— viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Vrisharudha (I I3f.) —Chandrasekharamurti (U4f.) —Ardhanari (I20f.) —Harihara (125)— Gajahamurti (i25f.) —Gangadhara (l2gf.) — Kalaharamurti (i32f.) —Nilakantha (I37f.) —Tripurantakamurti ) (I40f.) —Kiratarjunamurti (141 f.) —Chandesanugrahamurti (l43f Sarabhamurti (147/.) —Pasupatamurti, Rakshoghnamurti, Aghora- murti, Bhairava and his various forms, Mahakala and Kalagni- Rudra (l48f.) —Virabhadra and his various forms (iSSf.) —Kshetra- pala (iS9f.) — Chandesa, Nandisa, Bhringlsa and Jvaradeva (i6if.) Ganapati and his various forms ; his popularity (i65f.) —Skanda and his different forms ; the antiquity of his worship ( 1 77 f.) ., , ... 72 — 183 CHAPTER V. SAKTI-GODDESSES. Their significance (184) —Their division into three classes and their worship on chakras, yuntras and pithas (185) — Sarasvati and her different forms (iS5f.) —Lakshmi and her different forms (i87f.) The eight energies of Vishnu personified (189)— General description of Gauri or Parvati (190) —The Saptamatrikas (igof.) — Sakti god- desses holding Vaishnavite symbols : Chainunda, Durga, Mahishasura- mardini and Maha-Lakshmi (196— 211) — Kalaratrl, Tvarita, Tripura- Bhairavl, Vajraprastarini, Sura, Surapriya, SrividyadevI, Pranasakti, Svasthavesini, Satruvidhvamsini, Ugra-Tara, Dhumravati, Sulini, Pratyangira, SJtaladevi, Trikantakidevi, Bhiitamata and Sivaduti (2iif.) —Jyeshtha-Lakshml (2i6f.) —Bala-Tripurasundari, Saubhag- yabhuvanesvari, Annaptirna, Gayatri, Savitri and Sarasvati, Tuiaja- Bhavani, Rajamatangl, Laghusyamala, \'aruni, Ivurukulla and Vindhyavasini t2l8f.) — Lalita, Tripurasundari and Rajarajesvari; their worship on Bala-yantra and Sri-chakra (220f.) ... ... 184—222 CHAPTER VI. VILLAGE DEITIES. Their origin traceable to Tantrik goddesses ; names of a few of them (223f.) — Their worship and worshippers (226) —Ceremonies peculiar to temples of village deities ; Draupadi temples a.n&iaragam (226f.) Sati-worship and the fire-walking ceremony (229)—Village gods : Aiyanar and Karuppannasami (229f.) —Hero-worship; devil-dances (234) 223—234 CHAPTER VII. MISCELLANEOUS DEITIES. The nine Planets (235) —The Sun ; his description and the Surya-yantra (235f.)--The Moon and the other Planets (239f.) —The Dikpalakas : Indra, Agni, Yama, Nairrita, Varuna, Vayu and Kubera (24if.) — The Nagas (248L)—The demi-gods : Yakshas, Vidyadharas, etc., and Dvarapalas (25 if.)—Saints and sages (254^)—The three religious Saiva and Vaishnava reformers ; saints (259^) —Jaina imao-es (262f.) — Pedestals, postures, symbols, weapons and jewellery of images (265^) 235—272 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispiece. The Tanjore temple. Fig. 1. Gopura, Naxasimha temple ; Mangalagiri 2. Back view of central shrine, Siva temple ; Gangaikonda solapuram ..... 5 3- Haridranadi tank ; Mannargudi 6 4- Processional images (metal) ; Madura 8 /#/a-utensils Uttattur . S- Lamp patterns and ; 9 12 6. Brahma ; Seven Pagodas 7- Do. Kumbakonam 13 Do.