Praise, Politics, and Language: South Indian Murals, 1500-1800 Anna Lise Seastrand Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Anna Lise Seastrand All rights reserved ABSTRACT Praise, Politics, and Language: South Indian Murals, 1500-1800 Anna Lise Seastrand This study of mural painting in southern India aims to change the received narrative of painting in South Asia not only by bringing to light a body of work previously understudied and in many cases undocumented, but by showing how that corpus contributes vitally to the study of South Indian art and history. At the broadest level, this dissertation reworks our understanding of a critical moment in South Asian history that has until recently been seen as a period of decadence, setting the stage for the rise of colonial power in South Asia. Militating against the notion of decline, I demonstrate the artistic, social, and political dynamism of this period by documenting and analyzing the visual and inscriptional content of temple and palace murals donated by merchants, monastics, and political elites. The dissertation consists of two parts: documentation and formal analysis, and semantic and historical analysis. Documentation and formal analysis of these murals, which decoarate the walls and ceilings of temples and palaces, are foundational for further art historical study. I establish a rubric for style and date based on figural typology, narrative structure, and the way in which text is incorporated into the murals. I clarify the kinds of narrative structures employed by the artists, and trace how these change over time. Finally, I identify the three most prevalent genres of painting: narrative, figural (as portraits and icons), and topographic. One of the outstanding features of these murals, which no previous scholarship has seriously considered, is that script is a major compositional and semantic element of the murals. By the eighteenth century, narrative inscriptions in the Tamil and Telugu languages, whose scripts are visually distinct, consistently framed narrative paintings. For all of the major sites considered in this dissertation, I have transcribed and translated these inscriptions. Establishing a rubric for analysis of the pictorial imagery alongside translations of the text integrated into the murals facilitates my analysis of the function and iconicity of script, and application of the content of the inscriptions to interpretation of the paintings. My approach to text, which considers inscriptions to be both semantically and visually meaningful, is woven into a framework of analysis that includes ritual context, patronage, and viewing practices. In this way, the dissertation builds an historical account of an understudied period, brings to light a new archive for the study of art in South Asia, and develops a new methodology for understanding Nāyaka-period painting. Chapters Three, Four, and Five each elaborate on one of the major genres identified in Chapter Two: narrative, figural, and topographic painting. My study of narrative focuses on the most popular genre of text produced at this time, talapurāṇam (Skt. sthalapurāṇa), as well as hagiographies of teachers and saints (guruparamparā). Turning to figural depiction, I take up the subject of portraiture. My study provides new evidence of the active patronage by merchants, religious and political elites through documentation and analysis of previously unrecorded donor inscriptions and donor portraits. Under the rubric of topographic painting I analyze the representation of sacred sites joined together to create entire sacred landscapes mapped onto the walls and ceilings of the temples. Such images are closely connected to devotional (bhakti) literature that describes and praises these places and spaces. The final chapter of the dissertation proposes new ways of understanding how the images were perceived and activated by their contemporary audiences. I argue that the kinesthetic experience of the paintings is central to their concept, design, and function. TABLE OF CONTENTS Figure List iii Note on Transliteration and Translation vii Major Sites: Names, Dates and Style Groups viii Acknowledgements xii Chapter 1 – Historiography, Style, and Plan of the Dissertation 1 Historiography of Nāyaka Painting 2 Proposal of Style Groups 6 Historical Background 18 Patronage and the Nāyaka temple 24 The Nāyaka Temple : Space, Place, and Practice 30 Plan of the Dissertation 35 Chapter 2 – Style, Typology, and the Role of Text in Nāyaka-period Murals 41 Painting Typologies of the Nāyaka Period 42 Narrative 44 Figures: Iconic and Portrait 59 Topographic 76 Text 97 Conclusions 99 Chapter 3 - Visual Narratives and Nāyaka Murals: Talapurāṇic, Bhakti, And Hagiographic Texts 102 The texts: Talapurāṇam, Bhakti Poetry, and Guruparamparā 103 Sites and Saints at Tiruppuṭaimarutūr 113 Position 2 116 Position 7 119 Position 10 120 Position 15 122 Texts and Temples in the Nāyaka Period 124 Talapurāṇam and Maṭam Patronage at Maṭavār Vaḷākam 126 Talapurāṇam and Hagiography at Āḻvār Tirunakari 140 The West Ceiling 146 The North Ceiling 146 The East Ceiling 148 Conclusion 157 Chapter 4 - Patrons and Portraits 160 Defining South Indian Portraiture: Text and Image 161 Āvuṭaiyārkōvil – Royal Patronage 164 Kanchipuram Kāmakōṭi Kāmākṣi Amman Temple 167 Kailasa 175 Maṭavār Vaḷākam – Maṭam Patronage 179 Nattam – Merchant Patronage 184 i Donor Inscriptions 186 Portraits 189 A Royal Goddess and her Devotees 192 Conclusion 200 Chapter 5 – Topographies: Representing Space and Place 204 Bhakti at Āḻvār Tirunakari: Divya Desams and Divya Prabhandam 207 Networks and Patronage: pāṭal peṟṟa talams and Tēvāram at Avuṭaiyarkōvil 214 The Cosmic Body of God: a Unique Viśvarūpa at Atiyamāṉkōṭṭai 224 Svarga - Celestial Space 227 Prithvī – Terrestrial Space 231 Pātāla – Subterranean Space 240 Conclusion 245 Epilogue: Murals as Performance through Participation 248 Works Cited 257 Figures 276 ii FIGURE LIST Figure 1. Vīrabhadra Temple, Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh Figure 2. Chennakesava Temple, Somappalle, Karnataka Figure 3. Vīrabhadra Temple, Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh Figure 4. Cennakeśava Temple, Somappalle, Andhra Pradesh Figure 5. Figure detail, Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 6. Courtly figures, Vīrabhadra Temple, Lepakshi, Andhra Pradesh Figure 7. Tēṉupurīsvara Temple, Paṭṭīccaram Figure 8. South prākāra wall, Tēṉupurīsvara Temple, Paṭṭīccaram Figure 9. Vēnukōpāla Pārtasārati Temple, Ceṅkam, Tamil Nadu Figure 10. Cennarāya Perumāḷ temple, Atiyamāṉkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 11. Rāmānuja cries hearing Yadavaprakasha's explication; Ātinātar temple, Āḻvār Tirunākari, Tamil Nadu Figure 12. Ramalingavilasam, Ramanatapuram, Tamil Nadu Figure 13. Piḷḷais, Kanchipuram Kamakshi Temple, Ātmanātasvāmi Temple, Tirupperundurai, Tamil Nadu Figure 14. Naṭarāja Temple, Citamparam, Tamil Nadu Figure 15. Aḻakar Kōvil, Tamil Nadu Figure 16. Vijayanagara Empire at its greatest extent, mid-16th century; Image credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vijayanagara-empire-map.svg Figure 17. Map of sites Figure 18. Rāma and Tāṭakai; Cennakeśava Temple, Somappalle, Andhra Pradesh Figure 19. Tāṭakai, detail; Cennakeśava Temple, Somappalle, Andhra Pradesh Figure 20. Rāma and Tāṭakai; Rāmalingavilasam, Rāmanathapuram Figure 21. Tāṭakai, detail; Rāmalingavilasam, Rāmanathapuram Figure 22. Maṇikkavācakar Narrative Panel; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimarudūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 23. Māṇikkavācakar narrative, detail; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 24. Māṇikkavācakar narrative, detail; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 25. Māṇikkavācakar narrative, detail; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 26. Māṇikkavācakar narrative, detail; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 27. Māṇikkavācakar narrative, detail; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 28. Rāmāyaṇa narrative; Pirakatāmpāḷ Temple, Putukkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 29. Rāmāyaṇa narrative; Pirakatāmpāḷ Temple, Putukkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 30. Rāmāyaṇa narrative; Pirakatāmpāḷ Temple, Putukkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 31. Rāmāyaṇa narrative; Pirakatāmpāḷ Temple, Putukkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 32. Rāmāyaṇa narrative; Pirakatāmpāḷ Temple, Putukkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 33. Gajalaksmi; Tēṉupurīsvara Temple, Paṭṭīccaram Figure 34. Bhairava; Tēṉupurīsvara Temple, Paṭṭīccaram iii Figure 35. Ñanambikai; Tēṉupurīsvara Temple, Paṭṭīccaram Figure 36. Dakṣiṇāmūrti; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimarudūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 37. Daśāvatāra; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimārutūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 38. Bhadrakali and Ardhanarisvara; Nārumpūnātasvāmi Temple, Tiruppuṭaimarudūr, Tamil Nadu Figure 39. Nammāḻvār; Ātinātar temple, Āḻvār Tirunākari, Tamil Nadu Figure 40. Viṣṇu teaches the Prabhandam to Nammāḻvār and Madura Kavi; Ātinātar temple, Āḻvār Tirunākari, Tamil Nadu Figure 41. Nammāḻvār; Ātinātar temple, Āḻvār Tirunākari, Tamil Nadu Figure 42. East wall; Ātinātar temple, Āḻvār Tirunākari, Tamil Nadu Figure 43. Rāma Enthroned;Vēnukōpāla Pārtasārati Temple, Ceṅkam, Tamil Nadu Figure 44. Rāma Enthroned; Cennarāya Perumāḷ temple, Atiyamāṉkōṭṭai, Tamil Nadu Figure 45. Rama Enthroned; Rāmalingavilāsam, Ramanatapuram Figure 46. Rāma Enthroned; Tāṇumālayaṉ temple, Suchindram, Tamil Nadu Figure 47. Rāma Enthroned, detail; Tāṇumālayaṉ temple, Suchindram, Tamil Nadu