Temples in Seranur

Seranur is a very small village at a distance of 20.5 km. west of the district headquarters of Pudukkottai on the road to Manap-parai and 1.5 km. south-east of Kudumiyamalai. It is approached by a rough country track.

Vamsoddharakanathak temple (Kulottunga-solisvaram)

It has a small and neglected temple of great historical importance known as the Vamsoddharakanathar temple. From the body of one of the inscriptions (P.S.I., 163) found on the south wall of the ardhamandapa of the temple, we learn that it was once known by the name of Kulottunga-solisvaram. This inscription, belonging to Kulottunga III, contains an almost complete narration of the conquests and other military achievements of this ruler. His first two wars with the Pandyas, and the wars with the Telugu Chodas of Kanchi and Nellore and the Kakatiyas of Urangai (Orugallu or modern Warangal) are described in this inscription. We further learn from this record that he attacked and conquered Karuvur, the capital of Kongu nadu and celebrated his vijayabhishekam there. He is then said to have proceeded to Madurai and on the way he won two batdes against the Pandyas at Mattiyur and Kalikkottai and on reaching Madurai he performed virabhishekam in a grand style which is described in most eloquent terms in this inscription as well as in the one at Kudumiyamalai (which is almost a copy of the Seranur record). It is a unique record^[1] of his military achievements and temple-building activities—unique in its grandeur even among Chola inscriptions. This inscription records a royal gift of four velis of land as devadana iraiyili to this temple to be effective from the 31st regnal year. The last Madurai expedition and conquest must have therefore taken place between the 24th and the 30th regnal years of Kulot-tunga III after which he assumed the title of Tribhuvanavira deva. The earliest reference to this title is found in an inscription at Tiruvarur dated in his 24th year (ARE 554 of 1904) in which the Lord of the temple is fancied as describing the king as natti tolan (Our companion). The term Vamsoddharaka, by which the deity is known, would seem to refer to the king himself as the preserver and perpetuator of the Chola race.

The temple consists of the garbhagriha which is a square 1.73 metres to a side, the antarala which projects 90 cm. forwards towards the east followed by an ardhmandapa measuring 4.65 metres long and 3.66 metres broad. The superstructure over the garbhagriha is in brick and square in cross-section. It is an eka-tala srivimana, with devakoshtas (niches) on the walls of the garbhagriha and grivakoshtas in the superstructure. These niches are all empty; only two stray sculptures which must have belonged to these niches are found now in the premises of the temple, one of Durga and the other of Brahma, both of them headless and in a damaged condition. They have been kept in the loose propped against the eastern wall of the ardhamandapa right of the entrance. The Department of Archaeology of Tamil Nadu would do well to restore them to their original places or arrange to preserve them in the new Museum at Madurai.

The entire structure is a composite one with a common low adhishthanam and no upapitkam. The adhishthanam consists of an upanam, three-faced kumudam, kantham, vari and varimaaam. The walls of all the chambers are adorned by decorative pilasters. The walls of the ardhamandapa are covered by extensive inscriptions, one of which has already been referred to.

It would be useful to observe certain noticeable trends in the art and architecture of this era. At almost the same time, say between a.d. 1205 and 1210, both the modest, obscure and simple edifice of Kulottunga-solisvaram at Seranur, and the celebrated massive and extensive temple of Tribhuvanesvaram at Tribhu-vanam near Kumbakonam came up—the former in the battle-scarred region on the traditional Chola-Pandya borderland and the latter in the heart of the Chola desa, Both of them were built after Kulottunga Ill’s third Madurai expedition and victory. The latter is a grand cathedral-type temple, built to celebrate his victory, and commemorate his greatness, very much like the Rajarajesvaram at Tanjavur or Gangaikondasolisvaram of Raje-ndra I. In contrast, the Seranur temple is small, simple, modest and eka-tala. These two coeval temples illustrate two totally different styles of temple architecture of the era.

Another example of such co-eval contrasts can be seen between the simple single-tiered gateway (gopuram) in the Nilakanthesvara temple at Laddigam (near Madanapalli) and the seven-storeyed, highly evolved gopuram of the famous Nataraja temple at Chidambaram, both the structures coming up at the same time, i.e., during Kulottunga I’s rule.

In this connection it may be relevant to mention the case of the ribbed kumudam (kumudam is an essential moulding of an adhishthanam) found in the basements (adhishthanam) of the various constituents of the temple—the garbhagriha, the other halls and chambers, and the gopuram. Based on a theory formulated by him, viz. that the ribbed kumudam made its first appearance only in in the 16th century, J.C. Harle concluded that the gopuram of the Tribhuvanesvaram temple at Tribhuvanam, which has this ribbed kumudam, should be attributed to the 16th century. Then arose the anomaly of an inscription of Kulottunga III, which was simultaneously engraved on the adhishthanam of the srivimana and the gopuram referred to. The principal inscription of Kulottunga III, which is engraved on the basement of the srivimana, refers to his extensive conquests and benefactions including tentpiebuilding activities, and the identical inscription found on the basement of the gopuram is a contemporary copy of the original engraved on the srivimana. In fact, ribbed kumudams made their appearance centuries earlier. They are found in Chola temples even from the days of Aditya I (a.d. 870-907), as for instance at Takkolam (vide my Early Chola Art, Pt. 1, pp. 212-15), and Parantaka I (a.d. 907-955), as at Tondaimanad (vide my Early Chola a.d. 907-985, pp. 101-4). The ribbed kumudam of the Amrita-ghatesvara temple at Melakkadambur of the early 12th century is another noteworthy example (vide my Four Chola pp. 47-59 and also Plates 35-54),

Students engaged in defining canons of style should bear in mind these different aspects of' co-eval art while generalising and defining features of style in art and architecture of a particular region or period. (Pl. 349).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This record is dated in the 31st year of Tribhuvana Vira devar. See my article “The Later Cholas—their decline and fall” for a discussion of the three Pandyan wars, in the Journal of Oriental Research, Madras, Vol. XIII, No. 1; also see “Conquests of Kulottunga III,”, Journal of Oriental Research, Madras, Vol V, pt. III, 1931.