Monuments of Sittannavasal in Pudukottai

SITTANNAVASAL MONUMENTS

Presented by

S. Swaminathan([email protected])

Location of Sittannavasal

a small village in the Pudukkottai district

of Tamilnadu, is a world-famous archaeological site.

Sittannavasal,

It lies at 15 km from Pudukkottai on the road to Illuppur.

Trichy

Thanjavur

Pudukkottai

KaraikkudiTo

Mad

urai

To Illupur

It is renowned for its mural paintings in the Jaina cave temple.

These paintings are second only in importance after Ajanta paintings and have an important place in the Indian art history.

It was a flourishing centre of Jaina influence where Jainism flourished for over 1200 years (3rd century BC to 10th century AD).

Arivar-koil

There are four interesting monuments on and around a large rocky hillock:

Sittannavasal monuments


There are a number of natural caverns with polished stone- beds in this hillock where Jain ascetics performed austerities.

One of such caverns, called Ezhadippattam, contains 17 stone-beds, with inscriptions in Tamil dating from 3rd century BC.

Ezhadippattam


A tarn situated on the northern part of the hillock, with a submerged rock-cut shrine inside.

Navachchunai


This village was one of the oldest inhabited sites in this area.

The megalithic burial sites here testify to this.

Burial sites

ARIVAR-KOIL

Originally thought of an excavation of Mahendra-varma Pallavan, this is now considered to be a Pandya contribution

Still there is uncertainty regarding the origin of this temple

Arivar-koil

This is a Jaina cave temple,

excavated before the 9th century AD

and has the famous mural paintings

Arivar-koil

The cave temple lies on the west face of the hillock, near the northern end.

A walk of about 100 feet over the sloping rock takes the visitor to the cave temple.

ARIVAR-KOILarchitecture

Garbha-griham

Ardha-mandapam

Pillared-veranda

an ardha-mandapam

A mukha-mandapam that was added

in 9th century AD has collapsed.

The pillared veranda is a later addition

in the 20th century.

The cave temple consists of a garbha-griham,

and a pillared veranda.

Originally the entire space, except the floor, had been plastered and painted.

But only a part of the paintings on the ceiling and

patches elsewhere remain.

Pillared-veranda

This pillared veranda, in front, is a later construction, added in the 20th century by the Tondaiman-s of Pudukkottai.

It provides much needed protection from rain and sun.

Pillared Varenda

It mentions about the repair and extension of the cave temple by a Jaina Acharya called Ilan Gautaman,during the reign of the Pandya king, Srimaran-srivallabhan (9th century AD).

Pillared Varenda

It is from this inscription we find that the cave temple was excavated before the 9th century.

A 17-line Tamil inscription on the rock-face of the original cave can be seen from here.

Ardha-mandapam

Ardha-mandapam

From the front veranda one enters

this ardha-mandapamwhich is

22½ feet by 7½ feet.

On the side walls are two niches containing sculptures of a Tirthankara and an Acharya.

The ardha-mandapam contained some exquisite paintings,

of which precious little remains.

Garbha-griham

Garbha-griham

Beyond the ardha-mandapam is this Garbha-griham.

It is 10 feet by 10 feet.

On the back wall are three images carved in relief. On the ceiling is carved a Dharma-chakra.The ceiling contains relics of paintings.

ARIVAR-KOILsculptures

There are only five sculptures,

all in relief, in this cave temple.

Two of them are

in the ardha-mandapam, on the side-walls.

The garbha-griham

contains three figures in a row,

on the rear-wall.

These sculptures are of Jaina Tirthankara-s and Acharya-s.

Ardha-mandapam

The niche on the southern wall contains a figure of Parsvanatha,

the twenty-third Tirthankara.

He is seated cross-legged in the dhyana (meditative) pose.

There is a five headed serpent spreading its hood over his head identifying him as Parsvanatha.

Ardha-mandapam

The niche on the northern wall is a figure of a Jaina Acharya seated in the same pose.

There is a single umbrella over the head of the image, which indicates that it is not a Tirthankara.

Ardha-mandapam

Garbha-griham

The northern and central figures have ‘mukkudai’ (‘triple umbrella’), indicating them to be Tirthankara-s.

The southern figure has a single umbrella, and probably a Chakravarti or an Acharya.

On the back-wall of the garbha-griham are three images carved in relief in a row.

All of them are in the same dhyana (meditative) posture.

Garbha-griham

ARIVAR-KOILpaintings

Indian Paintings

Sittannavasal paintings are an early example of post-Ajanta period painting and

are of the classical Ajanta style with variation in the handling of the material

by the artists.

Ajanta, 200BC-600AD

Indian Paintings

Kanchipuram7th century AD

The paintings in Kailasanatha Temple in Kanchi antedate the Sittannavasal paintings.

Indian Paintings

The paintings in Brihadiswara Temple in Thanjavur are the continuation of the Sittannavasal tradition.

Thanjavur1100AD

Sittannavasal Paintings

The technique used is known as fresco-secco, that is, painting done on dry wall.

In this process,the surface is first covered with lime plaster,then

coated with lime-wash and the painting done on it.

Mineral colours of permanent nature were employed for the painting.

The subjects of the Sittannavasal paintings include

the Samava-sarana of the Jaina mythology,

a few solo-pictures, that includes dancing damsels,

birds, floral decorations, and

various carpet canopy designs.


Originally the entire cave temple, excluding the floor, including the sculptures was covered with plaster and painted.

Only traces of these are now extant.

All these paintings, which would rank among the great

paintings of India, are barely visible now,

mainly due to vandalism with in the last 50-60 years.


But Jouveau Dubreuil and T.A. Gopinatha Rao brought it before the archaeological world in 1920.

This Jaina site and its paintings werefirst noticed by a local historian

S. Radhakrishna Iyer in 1916.


The layer of painting, which we see today and admire,

is probably the work of Ilan-Gautaman (9th century AD),

mentioned in the inscription.

In 1942, Dr. S. Paramasivan and K.R. Srinivasan found that there are two layers of paintings, an earlier and a later superimposed over the earlier one.

These are some of theearliest frescos in South India and

only example of early Jaina frescoes.


Ceiling of ardha-mandapam

On the ceiling of ardha-mandapam, canopies of floral pattern are painted over the two relief

images.

The samava-sarana composition

In Jainism, where worship of great souls occupies an important place, Tirthankara-s are the most venerated religious prophets.

One of the five important events in the life of a Tirthankara is the first sermon after attaining the kevala-jnana (realisation),

in a specially designed complex called Samava-sarana.

This Samava-sarana is a favourite motif

for representation in the Jaina temples.


The scene painted in the ardha-mandapam is a lotus tank which is a part of the Samava-sarana complex.

It is the second region, called khatika-bhumi (region-of-the-tank).

Here, we see, the bhavya-s (the good ones), rejoice while washing themselves,

as they pass on from region to region in order to hear the discourse of the Lord

in the heavenly pavilion of Samava-sarana.



This painting shows bhavya-s enjoying themselves in a pool, full of flowering lotuses.

Flowers with their stalks and leaves, various kinds of fishes frolicking, a makara (mythical fish), buffaloes, elephants and numerous birds are shown with simplicity, charm and naturalness.



One is picking lotus flowers with his right hand and has a basket of flowers slung on the other.

The pose and expression of the bhavya-s shown in the picture have a charm and beauty, which compel attention.


Two of them are shown together in one part of the tank.

His companion carries a lotus in one hand, the other is bent gracefully, the fingers forming the mrigi-mudra (‘deer-gesture’).


The three figures are naked, except for their loin-cloths.

The hair is neatly arranged and the lobes of the ears are distended.

The third bhavya, an extremely beautiful figure,

carries a bunch of lotus over his left shoulder and lily over

his right.


The three figures are naked, except for their loin-cloths. The hair is neatly arranged and the lobes of the ears are distended.


Pillars of ardha-mandapam

There were some exquisite paintings of dancing girls on the pillars.

These priceless treasures are now lost forever and only their outlines are traceable today.

These animated figures, with their broad hips, slender waists, and elaborate ornaments,

recall the beauty of the apsara-s of mythology; their pose and expression

suggest rhythm and dynamic movement.

These portraitures of dancers must rank as one among the best

in the whole of India.

One of them has her left arm stretched-out in lata-hasta pose and right arm bent at the elbow.


Her ears are adorned with olai (patra-kundala), rings set with gems, and her arms decked with bracelets and bangles.

The other is even more graceful. Her left arm stretched-in

lata-hasta pose, while her right arm is bent at the elbow.

The head-dress and the ornaments of this dancer are very distinct. The hair is decked with flower garlands.


There is also remnant of a painting of a royal couple, on the southern pillar.


There are paintings on the corbels, beam and cornice. On the corbel are scroll designs with lotuses.

Painted lotuses in different stages of flowering.

Cornice & beam of ardha-mandapam

In front of each of the two pillars are painted hamsa (mythical swan).

The painting on the cornice is made up of carpet designs with lotuses.

On the northern wallare the figures of fruits and flowers in yellow and red.

Cornice & beam of ardha-mandapam

Ceiling of garbha-griham

The painting above the three relief sculptures suggests a carpet, with striped borders and irregular squares and circles interlinked.

Within the squares are lotus flowers.

Inside the circles is a cross, with two human figures on upper side andtwo lion figures on the lower side of the horizontal arm.

EZHADIPPATTAM

Ezhadippattam

Ezhadipattam is the name given to a natural cavern where over more than a thousand years since 3rd century BC, Jaina ascetics practiced severest penance

such as Kayot-sarga (meditation-till-salvation-in-standing-pose) and sallekhana (fasting-unto-death).

A few hundred meters south of the cave-temple is the beginning of the path that leads to Ezhadippattam.

Ezhadippattam

The cavern is near the top of the centre of the hill,

on the eastern side. But the approach is from the west.

Originally this path to the cavern, along a narrow ledge was difficult and dangerous.

The Cavern

Ezhadippattam

Entry to the Cavern

The cavern is roomy but low. The floor is marked out into spaces

for seventeen beds, each with a sort of stone pillow.

They are highly polished.

The stone-beds

Most of the beds are inscribed. But all these inscriptions are barely visible now, due to vandalism within last 50-60 years.

One of the beds, the largest, is the oldest It contains an inscription in Tamil

in the Tamil Brahmi script of the 3rd century BC. This is one of the oldest lithic records of South India.

Inscriptions

It mentions that Ilaiyar of Tenku-ciru-posil made this seat for Kavuti born at Kumizhur in erumi-naadu (probably in Karnataka).

Inscriptions

Near other beds, names of other Jaina ascetics who practised

penance are inscribed.

There are a number of inscriptions belonging 7th to 10th

centuries AD.

There are a number of stone-beds and inscriptions around Ezhadippattam.

Ezhadippattam; stone beds & inscriptions nearby

There is also a passage to reach the hill through a very narrow cavern,

now under disuse.

NAVACH-CHUNAI

Navach-chunai

The pool takes its name from a naval-maram (Syzygium jambolanum) close by.

Jambunatha submerged cave temple

The sunai contains a submerged Pandya rock-cut shrine inside.

It contains a lingam in the centre and a narrow passage to walk around. The water is occasionally baled out, and the lingam is worshiped.

However, there is no clue as to why such temples were excavated at all.

MEGALITHIC BURIALS

Megalithic Burials

Certain typical modes of disposing the dead in the mega-lithic period

(3rd century BC to 1st century AD) are preserved in the Pudukkottai tract.

Excavations reveal three types of burials in Pudukkottai region:

• grave-burials, practised by poor people,

• urn-burials, in which the dead men were buried in a sitting posture in a large earthenware pot and

• burials in deep stone-chambers formed of stone slabs (cists).

Megalithic Burials

Quite a few burial sites are found in Sittannavasal

Megalithic BurialsLoosely called ‘dolmans’,

these are stone-capped burial monuments with chambers in stone.

Mudu-makkal-thazhi (‘burial-pots-of-the-old-people’) is the most widely used local name.

These are easily identifiable by the appearance of a circle of laterite or granite stones

and small boulders on the surface of the spot.

OTHER INTERESTING PLACES

Other places of interestAt the foothills of the hillock, on the western side,

are two temples in ruins.

One is dedicated to Siva and

another to a Goddess.

There are a few loose sculptures

near to these shrines.

These two temples have not been studied in detail yet.

Other places of interest

There are shrines for local deity, Ayyanar with the customary

terracotta sculptures of horses, etc. nearby.

The Sittannavasal Complex offers an opportunity to travel in time

from the 3rd century till modern times,and to savour certain unique features of our past.

Thank you…

SudharsanamA centre for Arts and culture

2 Palace NagarPudukkottai 622005

Tamilnadu, India.

A presentation by…

www.pudukkottai.orgwww.sudharsanam.org

[email protected]

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Monuments of Sittannavasal in Pudukottai

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