PALLAVA ICONOLOGY A STUDY
N.Nandhivarman
The
Ecole Francaise D'Extreme Orient[ EFEO] is a place where silently lot of
research is done but it is all in
French. "To know about all Saiva agamas one had to go to Paris University
which had done extensive and intensive research", says Dr.Vijayavenugopal
of the Epigraphy section of this French Institute." There are lots of
Tamil scholars knowing French, but they don’t translate all these researches
into Tamil. This results in French people having better knowledge on our
culture than we” he says. As I frequent this institute I found the
photographers Ravindran and Ramasamy Babu equally knowledgeable on all Temple
Art of Tamil Nadu. They were showing in computer screen a pillar with a
sculpture, and a young French lady immediately said it is from Kailasanatha
temple of Kanchipuram. I was dumbfounded. Most Tamils may have visited temples,
but just by seeing a sculpture they wont be in a position to recapture its
identity and history.
[The
narrative panel of Lord Lingodbhavar at Kailasanathar temple in Kanchipuram]
I
got introduced and enquired about her mission. She is Valerie from Paris
University who had come all the way from France and had stayed here at
Pondicherry for 8 months. Miss Valerie is doing her PhD on Pallava iconography
under the guidance of Ms.Nalini Balbir who works at University of Paris.
Ms.Nalini Balbir, her Professor is specializing in Jainism. She had sent her
two students to stay in Pondicherry to undertake researches. That is how
Valerie, a French girl had come here. Another Srilankan Tamil girl Udaya
Velupillai is doing research on Sirkazhi temple. It is needless to say that
Mr.Jean Deloche took 6 years to do a research on Gingee. The time taken,
efforts put in to make a research and the dedication of these scholars makes
them excel in their findings. In another rare feat to the team of scholars is
that the 11,000 manuscripts collected meticulously and preserved by EFEO
Pondicherry had been declared last week as world heritage having been accepted
by UNESCO.
Miss
Valerie says that the " Pallavas invented new iconography in 7 to 8 th
centuries, which never existed before. According to Miss. Valerie it is the
beginning of South Indian iconography. Of particular mention is that of Saivite
iconography for which no parallels are found in the North India. But when it
comes to Vaishnavite iconography we find similar evidences in North India. The
best of Pallava iconography belongs to the period of Rajasimha Pallaveshwaran.
Kailasanatha temple of Kanchipuram is a temple with very rich evidences of
art”.
The
idol of Lingodbhavar at Kailasanathar Temple Kanchipuram may appear to be
depicting a myth about ego clashes between Hindu pantheons of gods. It shows
Lord Shiva coming out of Lingam and Lord Vishnu in Varaga form digging
the Earth to trace his feet. Lord Brahma assumes the bird form of “annaparavai”.
And goes to find Lord Shiva’s head.
In midway he returns with failure, whereas the efforts to reach his foot
also did not bear fruit. Explaining the inner meaning of this myth it is said
Brahma denotes mental power and Vishnu physical power. The message of the
sculpture is that you can’t reach god by either mental power or physical power.
This narrative panel of mythology is a remarkable piece of Pallava art.
[The idol of Lord Nataraja in a different
posture at Kailasanathar temple]
A picture or sculpture is worth a
thousand words. Iconography is the traditional art of portraying figures in
pigment that symbolically mean more than a simple depiction of the person
involved. Icons have been used by different religions including Hinduism,
Buddhism, and Christianity. “In the case of the various Hindu gods almost
everything is considered symbolism. The figures are blue-skinned (the color of
heaven) with multiple arms holding various symbols depicting aspects of the god
(the drums of change, the flower of new life, the fire of destruction, etc.).
The many heads, eyes, feet, and arms do not have to be taken literally” opined
a scholar. Iconography had grown into a new science called iconology. Nowadays
study is devoted to all hidden aspects and meanings with the origins of such
art forms, hence new name of iconology gained currency.
Soviet
scholar Sergei Tokorav in his History of Religion writes “The cult of cross has
nothing to do with the supposed instrument used for Christ’s execution. The
Romans did in fact crucify people on crosses but they were in the form of
letter “T”. The Christian cross was extremely an ancient symbol that can
be found in Egyptian, Cretan and other art work. Its origin is hard to
establish, but it is certain that cult of cross had nothing to do with the
legend of the crucification of Christ”.
As
in West in India too nowadays scholars are looking for hidden meaning and roots
of various symbols in the art. The snake on Lord Shiva denotes the Snake cult
of the early Naga society. There is a debate among scholars about the origins
of Saivism. One school claims it emerged from the lost continent of Lemuria.
Other school argues that it came from Kashmiri Saivism.
Near
Baroda there is a place called Karom, which is shortened form of Kayaroganam.
It is from this place, a sect of Saivism Kayaroganam emerged. In
Tamil Nadu Nagapattinam is called Thirunagai
Kayaroganam., indicating the spread of that sect here. Kaya aroganam,
indicates we have to reach upwards to God. Kaya avaroganam
means God descending to Earth. These two sects of Saivism differ on this point.
From this sect the musical term aroganam and avaroganum came,
says Dr.Vijayavenugopal. There is also an opinion that Chola emperor Rajarajan
brought pasupatham sect of Saivism from North.
All
these researches done in French will help Miss Valerie get a doctorate from
Paris University. She refuses to talk about her research thesis, which is
justifiable. But after this thesis is
submitted until it gets translated in English and Tamil, people of Pondicherry
or Tamil Nadu will have to remain in dark about its content. The time
difference will result in Tamil scholars lagging behind in updated knowledge on
iconology.
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