Hunters, Wood-cutters and Pastorals

[Full title: Socio-Religious Life of the Pallava Period: Hunters, Wood-cutters and Pastorals]

Depiction of hunter is seen in the Bhagiratha penance panel at Mamallapuram, Kailasanatha and Vaikunthaperumal temples at Kanchipuram. In the Bhagiratha penance panel, two men holding a bow can be identified properly as hunters (fig. 32). One of them is seen carrying a pot on his shoulder. In the Kailasanatha temple, on the wall of one of the angalaya shrines is depicted the duel scene, between Arjuna and Siva (fig. 33). In accordance with the puranic legend, the panel depicts Siva as a hunter. In the Vaikunthaperumal temple, a panel on the north wall depicts a picture of hunting involving a man blowing a trumpet and chasing two deer. The 9^th century A.D. apsidal shrine within the Bhaktavatsala temple complex at Tirukkalukunram, depicts on the vallabhi course, the story of Kannappa-nayanar, who belonged to the hunter community (fig. 34). It is a narrative panel with repetition of the main character i.e. Kannappa. First he is shown carrying two pigs, each suspended from either ends of a pole carrying on his shoulder. In the next instance, he is shown in the act of removing his eye. Abstaining him from such an act a hand is seen projecting from the Siva linga. Even though the incident narrated appears to be legendary in character, yet it shows the presence of hunter tribes, who probably did not mix with the mainstream population. They could be identified with the vettuvars of the Sangam age inhabiting the hilly regions. An examination of the location, where the Kannappan legend was said to have happened (i.e. the region around Srikalahasti, Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh), shows that it is a hilly region with plains in between them. Mr. Lockwood and Gift Siromoney^[1] identified this depiction as the earliest representation of the story of Kannappa-nayanar.

Depiction of men carrying axe can be seen in the Govardhanadhari panel and Bhagiratha penance panel at Mamallapuram. They may be regarded as men, who subsisted by cutting forest wood or as a villager who has gone to the forest or village outskirts to collect wood for his own domestic needs.