Among the numerous temples that dominate the landscape at the extreme end of South India, the most popular for its reneration and prominent by the historical and architectural points is the Suchindrum temple near Kanyakumari. It is a charming tiny village on the banks of river Palayar,1 visited by a large number of pilgrims all the year round. Suchindrum temple may well be considered as one of the store-houses of the richest specimens of art and sculpture in stone.
The Gopuram itself is a gigantic structure depicting mythological stories from the Puranas.2 The moment, one enters the temple through the Gopuram which is 134 feet high, comes across the hallow trunk of a tree estimated to be over 2500 years old. The trunk has been plated to preserve it from decay. In that hallow, there are three Lingams – Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, the Trinity of Indian scriptures and the image of Anusuya who turned them into babies is at its centre. By its side, the Nandi (White Bull) of Siva is installed looking towards the sanctum where the Trinity are installed in the form of a Linga, having 16 moons (Chandrakala) one over the other under the canopy of the serpent Naga.3 Here also all the Trimurtis are in the same shape of a Lingam and it is believed that at midnight Lord Indra comes and worships them till dawn. That is why the daily rituals in this temple are over by dusk, leaving the night free for Indra to worship.4
The white bull of gigantic stature is known to be 800 years old. This is made out of a paste of holy chunks; consequently its colour is milky white. There are ornamental carvings on the neck. At the entrance to the main temple, there are two gigantic door-keepers, Dwarapalakas. Their physical features are robust and owe-inspiring. In two other pillars close by are two gigantic yalis. The yali is a lion with elephant trunk. In front of the sanctum sanctorum, there is Chempakaraman mandapa with 32 pillars depicting exquisite carvings below the ceiling.5 The entire story of Anusuya and of Ramayana have been carved on the northern and southern sides respectively. By the side of the sanctum, there is the main deity of Vishnu, made of eight different minerals, fixed to the wall. There is a silver casting to the deity and no water is poured over the image. Round the corridor, there is a number of images of female lamp-bearers, commonly known as ‘Deepa Lakshmis’ attached to each pillar of the corridor. The features of these lamp-bearers vary from pillar to pillar, showing the different styles of dressing and decorating the hair.
In the northern corridar, there are four musical pillars”6 cut out of a single block of granite stone, in the fashion of slender cylindrical rods, producing different musical sounds when tapped. Two pillars have 33 cylinders and the other two have 25 cylinders. The pillar having 33 cylindrical rods gives the sound of Jalataranga and the other one of a Tambura.
One of the pillars having 25 cylindrical rods gives the sound of Mridangam (drum) and the other of the Sitar (the harp). Selection of the different kinds of stones which can produce different musical notes and the skill shown in making the cylinders numbering 33 and 25 from a single block of granite with the crude chisel of the sculptors,7 is a real marvel, which should be seen to be understood. The four pillars with their different sound-producing effects represent a musical party and produce a symphony of the music sung in praise of the Lord.
By their side, there are two other pillars facing each other. These are the sculptural depictions of Ramavarma and Marthanda Varma, the kings of Travancore.8 In olden days in the temples, there were dancing girls to dance to the accompaniment of music before the God at appropriate times.9 There are carvings of two such dancing girls in Suchindrum. One of them in a dancing pose holds one – Kili Deepam ie. a lamp shaped like a parrot. The ornaments worn by them give an insight into the social customs of those days. There is yet another mandapa, known as Navagraha mandapa, in front of the temple dedicated to a gigantic Vinayaka. This is also called as Vasantha mandapa. On the ceiling 12 Zodiacal signs have been carved on the stones with 9 planets at the centre.10
There is a small temple on one side of the corridor with the idol of Nataraja, known as Chitra Sabha.11 At the entrance to the Chitra Sabha, there are two beautiful carvings, one depicts Siva as a mendicant going a begging followed by a deer and Kundodaran, his attendant, holding a bowl on his head to receive the alms. On the left side of the same pillar, the wife of the Rishi of Darukavana is seen dropping alms into the bowl with a spoon. At the corresponding pillar of the Chitra Sabha entrance is the carving of the figure of Lord Krishna with his flute in hand and one feels as if the eternal tune is till ringing. There are numerous idols of Vinayaka, the God of success. Maya Ganapathi is an image where Ganapathi has got his legendary wife Maya, the illusion. There is yet another Vinayaka known as Sakshi Vinayaka, who witnessed the redemption of the curse on Indra. Vallabha Vinayaka is the most peculiar, holding by his left arm with his wife Vallabha. The southern corridor is a very long one where mass feeding took place in olden days. There are rectangular – shaped vessels, made of stone, for keeping different curries (food items) for serving the large number of people who used to assemble. In the northern corner of the western prakaram, there is a small temple made of wood exquisitely carved out, containing Rama and His consort Sita. The skillful carvings on wood are worth seeing.
There are at present four temple cars, one each for the God, the Goddess, Ganesha and Muruga. All of them are carved in a special wood and have several layers which bear on them faces ornamentally carved panels depicting various deities and puranic themes.12 These carvings are still in an excellent state of preservation, recalling the mastery of the wood carver in design and workmanship. Suchindrum temple is a veritable museum of Hindu art apart from its religious significance. The annual car festival takes place in December and this festival lasts for ten days.
END NOTES
- V. Meena, Suchindrum, (Kanyakumari : Kari Kumari Arts, 2004), p. 1.
- A.V. Thiyagaraja Aiyar, Indian Architecture, (Madras : Addison and Co., 1962), Vol.I, p. 49.
- Ibid., pp. 366-369.
- Suchindrum Stalapuranam (Tamil), (Suchindrum : Dewaswam Publications, 1995), pp. 2-5.
- K.K. Pillai, The Suchindrum Temple, (Chennai : Kalakshetra Publications, 1953), pp. 334-335.
- S.V. Subramanian, G. Rajendran (ed.), Heritage of the Tamils : Temple Arts, (Madras : IITS Publications, 1985), p. 430.
- Stella Kramrisch, J.H. Cousins, R. Vasudeva Poduval (ed.), The Arts and Crafts of Travancore, (Thiruvananthapuram : Govt. of Kerala Publications, 1999), p. 8.
- R. Vasudeva Poduval, Travancore Inscriptions A Topographical List, (New Delhi : Asian Educational Services, 1990), pp. 193-200.
- Adoor K.K. Ramachandran Nair, Kerala State Gazetteer, (Trivandrum : Govt. Publications, 1986), p. 273.
- Emily Gilchriest Hatch, Travancore, (London : Oxford University Press, 1933), pp. 251-254.
- T.N. Neelakantaru, The Suchindrum Temple, (Nagercoil : Pioneer Muthu Printing House, 1984), pp. 30-33.
- S. Padmanabhan, In and Around Kanyakumari, (Nagercoil : Kumaran Pathippagam, 1981), p. 12.