THANJAVUR: Remember that scene in mega-blockbuster Bahubali where actor Prabhas lifts a giant Shivalinga on his shoulders and places it under a waterfall, just to save his mother the hassle of carrying pots of water to the lingam to offer abhishekam? Now imagine Lord Shiva lifting a Shivalingam himself. Sounds strange? A researcher recently found two almost identical sculptures of Shiva in the Cauvery Delta districts that have him carry the lingam on his shoulders.
Such a depiction has not been found anywhere else in the State, said historian ‘Kudavayil’ M Balasubramanian, holding that these sculptures are rather unique. The sculptures, estimated to be dated around 10th Century, were commissioned by chieftains of the Chozhas, said Balasubramanian, who identified them. Explaining the peculiarities, he said the early Chozha period sculptures at Moovarkoil in Kodumbalur in Pudukkottai district and Melappazhuvur in Ariyalur district, were made following Kalamuga Pasupata Saivite concepts.
Quoting Agamas that talk about the construction of temples, he said Shiva was represented in many forms in sculptures. The sculpture at Moovarkoil, commissioned by Bhooti Vikramakesari of Irukku Velir dynasty, a chieftain under Chozha emperors, has Shiva with the lingam on his right shoulder and reclining on a sitting bull. One of his legs is folded horizontally and the other vertically, exuding a splendorous posture, noted the historian. Of his four arms, the front right is placed benevolently on the bull’s head while the front left arm shows varadamudra symbolising grace. The rear left arm carries a deer. The lingam is on the rear right shoulder. Shiva is depicted with his distinctive matted hair, fish-shaped earring worn by women in one-ear and a bathra ear-ring worn by men on the other.
In the Keezhaiyur Shiva Temple at Melappazhuvur in Ariyalur, which is known as Avani Kandharva Easvara Griham, there are two Shiva shrines that are adjacently placed. On the upper deck of the southern shrine is a Shiva sculpture that is distinctly similar to the Shiva form in Kodumbalur.
In this sculpture, too, Shiva is found carrying Shivalinga on his right rear shoulder. But in his left rear hand, he has a Rudraksha mala instead of the deer. This sculpture was commissioned by the chieftains of the Chozhas belonging to the Pazhuvettarayar clan, Balasubramanian said.