| Mahabalipuram
Parts of this great port and capital city of the Pallavas who, at one time ruled the whole region from southern Andhra and eastern Karnataka down to Tanjore in modern-day Tamil Nadu, are believed to have been submerged by the ocean whose waves once lapped gently at its shores. It is intriguing to think that perhaps it was divine intervention that saved these magnificent temples though parts of the city itself were lost.
Most of the remains of the non-religious structures in the city indicate that they were made of brick and wood, and therefore perished. In its time, Mahabalipuram, now a quaint tourist centre situated close to Chennai, must have been a highly developed and beautiful metropolis with an adequate supply of water obtained form an efficient canal system.
Mamallapuram, as it was also know, was the site of the initial Dravidian experimentation in both rock-cut and free standing temple architecture which set a precedent for the dynastic styles that succeeded it. The rock-cut style prevailed from the 6th to the 7th century AD. With two variations, the monolithic ratha-s (chariots) at Mahabalipuram and its 10 mandapa-s rock-cut, pillared halls - still nascent in style and similar to those of the Krishna, Guntur and Nellore districts and Tiruchirapalli.
Both belonged to the first phase of Pallava architectural development (the second consisting of the Mahabalipuram Shore temple and the Kailasanatha and Vaikuntaperumal shrines of Kanchipuram) but the former were probably models for temples rather than actual shrines in themselves and blatantly exhibit their Buddhist chaitya origins. They pre-date the Surya temple at Konark and perhaps inspired Bishu Maharana to build a chariot temple on a more grandiose scale.
The Eight Ratha
T he eight ratha-s in Mahabalipuram, commonly called the Pandava chariots or the 'seven pagodas', probably appearing as such from the sea, are better preserved than their Orissan 'replica', Konark. Being of one piece of stone, each carved from a half-mile long granite outcrop near the beach and another further south, about 250 feet in length, the former were in no danger of falling apart due to poor balance or shaky foundations.
Erupting out of the ground, these early and relatively small works face different directions and vary from one to three storeys in height. They prefigure various elements of the Dravida style of temple-building such as the two story vihara prasada (sanctum sanctorum) and the gopuram. Indeed, the elevation and detailing of these shrines appears to be a direct ancestor of the south Indian temple gateways rather than the temples themselves.
The ratha-s include the Valaiyankutti and Pidari, a Ganesha temple and small shrine to Durga, imitating perhaps a crude village hut or shrine and named for Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas. There is also the similarly sized but two story Nakul-Sahadeva ratha, with an 'elephant back' (humped) roof, which may be dedicated to Indra.
The three grand ratha-s of the older Pandavas were left in various stages of completion. These are the Arjuna, dedicated to Siva, now cracked down its middle; the Bhima shrine with its resemblance to a Buddhist place of worship a barrel-like roof with curved vault and studded with small horse-shoe windows; and the three story Dharmaraja (or Yudhistira) ratha with its imitation of a thatched roof.
They all appear to be direct translations of local wooden architecture and the Buddhist stone style into an altogether new form from which the gopuram evolved centuries later. Around them are large carved figures of animals like lions (the Pallava symbol of power, repeated in all the Mahabalipuram shrines and in other Pallava cities) and elephants, rough-hewn but realistic in representation.
This quality of earthy realism is unique to Mahabalipuram. Though these shrines are some of the most primitive in the history of the south, their images may be more easily comprehensible to the modern viewer than much of the later work whose significance is lost in confusing symbolism.
At Mahabalipuram the positioning of the various sculpted characters, often life-size, is unconstrained. The motion of human limbs frozen in different acts is realistic - milking a cow, carrying another figure or a vessel, praying to god, holding up a draped dhoti to walk across the rock and the expressions on their faces ingenious. The proportions of animals like the elephant, the cow, the calf and the monkey are uncontrived and arguably far more beautiful than many examples of supposedly more sophisicated sculpture.
The Mandapa
This realism also extends to the mandapa-s. The 10 halls at Mahabalipuram are none deeper than 25 feet nor higher than 20. All are dedicated to Vishnu except for the Trimurthi cave. Though this last is ostensibly in honour of the holy trinity, Siva is given pride of place, appearing as the dominant central figure. A large Siva linga is set in the floor in front of the three-headed idol.
The other mandap-s include those of the Pandava, the Mahishasuramardini (Durga) and Adi Varaha caves and although all possess massive and well-crafted pillars, they are but frames for the sculpted myths within. The first cave possesses a fine relief of the Krishna Govardhan legend, in which Krishna holds up the Govardhan mountain to protect his townsfolk who are shown engaged in the normal activities of dairy farming. A particularly fine details is that of a farm hand, distinctly Buddhist by face and headdress, reverently bent before a cow, milking her while she washes her calf. The hand almost feels the soft fuzz on the calf's back, the tilt of the cow's head is so natural there would be no surprise if she suddenly turned and lowed.Go to Top |
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