Darasuram - Stories in Stone

From the time I read Ponniyin Selvan about 17 years back I have been wanting to go on a tour to Tanjavur and Kumbakkonam and visit some of the magnificent temples built by the Chola kings. While I have been to Tanjavur/ Kumbakkonam many times it was always because of a religious ceremony/ event like when when we had our child's tonsure done for her first birthday etc. This December my brother made it happen for me and we did a 3 day tour of the Big 3 Chola temples, and thanks to my SIL (husband's sister) who sent me many of Kudavayil Balasubramaniam's books on the Cholas I was able to read in advance and prepare myself for the sights. 

We did Darasuram the first day, Periya Kovil (Big Temple) on the second and Gangai Konda Chozhapuram on the third. In addition we made stops at the usual Vaishnavite temples of Uppiliappan, Nachiayar Kovil, Sarangapani etc. We also did a tour of Tiruvaroor for the first time but with only an hour we didn't get a chance to savor the temple. If ever there was a place that seemed steeped in mysticism it was Aroor. I hope to go back especially after reading Kudavayil's book on this temple.

I am going to break the blogpost into 3 as I have many pictures I would like to share and document a bit on each temple and its highlights. This one is going to focus on Darasuram.

Built by Rajaraja II (1146 to 1163 AD), the son of Kulothunga II (1133-1150), Darasuram aka Rajarajeswaram / Airavateeswarar temple was built by this king as a tribute in stone to the works of his teachers Sekkizhar and Ottakkoothar. Steeped in the literature of these amazing poets, the King decided to build a temple similar to his ancestors but depicting scenes from the works of his illustrious teachers. The temple is now recognized as a World Heritage Monument and is a short drive from Kumbakkonam. One can spend all day here if one stopped at every sculpture and analyzed the story behind the carvings. However, I managed to hit only some of the highlights. It would have been amazing to have a good guide who knew both Tamil poetry and the temple well but we couldn't find one. So with only my recollections of Kudavayil's lectures I acted as our guide. Before I write about the sculptures here are a couple of external views of the site.

The East Gopuram (or what remains of it)

The East Gopuram must have had red bricks that seem to have been lost to the ravages of weather and people who didn't realize the importance of the site. But the remaining structure speaks of what would have been a magnificent entrance to the site. You can see the second Gopuram below and it has 3 levels. Kudavayil states that the East Gopuram would have had 7 levels, so you can imagine the east gopuram in all its glory in your mind's eye.

Second Rajagopuram at the entrance

Side View of the Vimanam

Back View of the Vimanam

The main vimanam resembles a chariot and has a number of mandapams, Stone pillars at various mandapams hold the structure together. Surrounding the Vimanam are some of the amazing sculptures in niches. Here are a few.

Shiva as Agoramoorthy with 14 snakes

With 4 heads facing 4 directions and snakes all over this is one of the dances of Shiva and unlike the Anandatandavam (Happy Dance) when he has only 1 snake, this one features 14.

Sarabamoorthy - Shiva as a Lion with 8 legs and wings ending the Narasimha Avatar

There is a small temple for Sarabamoorthy. While not exactly a gryphon, this avatar of Shiva shows him as an eight-legged lion with wings. Following Narasimha's slaying of the asura Hiranya, the anger of Narasimha had not abated and he was wreaking havoc. So it is said that Shiva took the form of Sarabamoorthy and quelled Narasimha to save the world from his anger. If you look closely you can see the Devas in the heaven, and at the bottom the conch and chakra are falling towards the earth indicating that the Saraba is carrying Narasimha to the heavens. Unfortunately the white cloth hides the wings of the Saraba.

Arjuna fighting Shiva the Hunter for a wild boar and gaining Shiva's favor

The story of Arjuna winning the Pashupatastra is told in the form of a narrative sculpture above. You can see Arjuna doing penance in the bottom row; The row above shows Arjuna fighting Shiva as the Hunter; the third row from below depicts Arjuna surrendering and the top row shows Shiva revealing his true identity.

Lingothbhava Moorthy - with Brahma & Vishnu on either side

The above sculpture shows the story of the dispute between Brahma and Vishnu regarding who was the greatest when a Linga appears in front of them. Vishnu seeks the bottom in the form of a boar while Brahma takes the form of a swan and seeks the top. When both fail, they recognize the endless linga to be Shiva and give up their pride. You can see the boar and the swan in the main sculpture with Brahma and Vishnu on either side as mini-sculptures.

Mahishasuramarthini (Kottravai)

Ravana

 

 

Another narrative sculpture of interest is the story of Ravana lifting Mount Kailasa. Reading from the bottom to the top one can see Ravana's chariot parked to the side as he is unable to cross the mountain and is therefore lifting it. One the next level you can see monkeys, deer and other animals and also Indra and other sages. The third level shows Uma holding onto Shiva as the mountain shakes and finally Ravana bowing to Shiva and Uma while Shiva is ready to bestow a sword.

Shiva as Bhairava

AdhiSandiKeshwarar

 

More beautiful black-stone sculptures are seen along the niches of the main Vimanam. I took only a few pictures which I have posted above.

I haven't read Periyapuranam since I left high school many decades ago and I couldn't recollect everything Kudavayil had written about. But I went looking for the series of sculptures where the Saint Appar sings to the birds and beasts (kinda like St.Francis for those familiar with how he is depicted in Western art). I was especially looking for a sculpture showing Appar singing to the bird referred to in Tamil as "Magandril". Most tamilians have heard of the bird called "Andril" which only now I realize is from the Ibis family. The Andril is often used in Tamil poetry to depict faithfulness as it is a monogamous bird. I have not been able to figure out what bird is the "Magandril" - could it be a flamingo? In any case I was having a hard time locating the sculpture when I finally asked the Priest at the temple who kindly led my brother and I to the exact location. Here are those sculptures!

Appar singing to the "Magandril" - the next set of birds are peacocks

Another famous story depicted in almost all Chola temples is Rama killing the monkey Vali thus aiding his brother Sugreeva to ascend the throne. I appreciated how intertwined the legs of the two monkeys are as they wrestle each other.

Rama killing Vali

Another two-part narrative sculpture depicts the story of Shiva destroying Lord Kama (Lord of Love). Read from right to left you can see Shiva meditating and Kama aiming his bow and arrow at him. The next part shows Kama fallen and his wife Rathi begging the Lord's forgiveness.

Shiva reducing Kama to ashes

 

The king was obviously a lover of dance and music as seen by the number of sculptures devoted to music and dance. I don't have a whole lot of pictures as I didn't want to spend all my time looking through my phone. But there was one sculpture of a pregnant woman being assisted by midwives that was quite amazing. So here it is

Pregnant women being assisted

You can see the doctor approaching the pregnant woman with a medicinal bottle of some sort. The temple was not just for depicting stories from scriptures but everyday life too!

One can also spend a lot of time just admiring each entryway and the decoration of the stairs. Elephants are mostly used but you can also see sculptures of lions devouring elephants. Here are a few samples

I am going to stop here as I can go on and on. The place is a treasure trove and if one knew the stories from Periyapuranam, Kandapuranam, Ramayana, Mahabharata, then one can spend a lifetime here savoring each and every stone. I didn't touch upon the paintings from the Nayak period as I don't know much about that time period and I am yet to read about that.

Overall Darasuram was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I am greatly indebted to the historian Kudavayil Balasubramanian for his books and lectures on Tamil heritage sites. Discovering his works has been one of the highlights of 2022 for me. I wish the authorities would do more to protect this temple from vandalism and misuse. For a comparison the gothic cathedrals of France like Saint Denis (1140s?) were built around the same time and Darasuram deserves to stand alongside such famous cathedrals. I wish there were signposts at all the main sculptures informing visitors about what they were seeing. I thought someone with enterprise would sell pamphlets or books about the site near the site. Very little information was available and there was no easy way to hire qualified guides. I wish I had taken my copy of Kudavayil's book with me, but I hope to go again sometime in the future and will check out all the other sculptures I missed.