Indian History and Architecture A passage to the Indian History and Monuments About Contact Index Map Subscribe to Comments Kudumiyanmalai – The Lord with Pony-tail October 9th, 2010 by Saurabh Introduction – Kudumiyamalai is located about 20 km from Puddukkotai town. The village is centered around a small hillock, where a cave temple has been carved on its foot. This cave temple, locally known as Melaikkovil, has been extended continuously during later times which suggests that this place held quite an importance in the past. We found many inscriptions in and around this temple which go till the advent of British which suggests that this region would have enjoyed the continuous patronage from various dynasties which ruled over this region. However once bustling with social and cultural activities, at present this is a small idle village. Kudumiyanmalai Temple Complex History – River Vellar, flowing north of Puddukkotai town, was the boundary line between the Cholas and Pandya empire. During the time of Mahendravarman I (CE 600-630) this region might be under Pallavas through their vassals, northern part of Puddukkotai, however they were not able to retain it for long and Pandyas won back this from them. Mahendravarman I would have got this region from his father, Simhavishnu, in heritance. Simhavishnu in turn would have won this from the hands of the Cholas. The Cholas were in hibernate mode till their resurgence in ninth century. Till that time, this region oscillated between the Pallavas and the Pandyas. Hence Puddukkotai became the important town witnessing various clashes between these two dynasties. Muthariyars and Irukkuvelirs were the vassal chief of the Pallavas and the Pandyas, which acted as the proxies in the wars between these two kingdoms. There are very few reference of the Pallavas found in inscriptions of this region, one such reference is the defeat of Nandivarman Pallavamalla (CE 730-796) in the hands of Maravarman Rajasimha (CE 730-760) at Kodambalur in Velvikudi and Sinnamanur plates of Pandyas. The presence of musical inscription, written in seventh century Grantha script, suggests that this cave temple would have been in existence at or before that time. There are other early Pandya inscriptions as well which are dated to seventh and eighth century. From the time of Cholas, we have many inscriptions telling us the continuous extensions of the temple. As the early inscriptions are found in the cave temple and in its boundary wall, hence the main structural temple seems to be remodeled in later times. This remodeling would have done in the time of Maravarman Sundara Pandya I. The Cholas won over vast region of Tamilnadu in ninth century and kept it with them till thirteenth century. Pandyas re-surged in thirteenth century and got back the region from the hands of the Cholas. After them, this region came under the Vijayanagara rulers. The temple got patronage under Vijayanagara rulers as we see mention of prince Vira-Kampana-Udaiyar and viceroy Gopa-timma in inscriptions. After the fall of Vijayanagara, Madurai Nayakas ruled over this tract of land. Later this went into the hands of Marungapuri chiefs and after them to Pallava Rayars. Sivendezhunta Pallava-rayar did many extensions to the temple in form of gopuram, mandapa, flower gardens and temple car. Rock-cut cave temple was extended in the reign of Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1686-1730) who built a mandapa in front of the cave with his minister Kurundha Pillai. In 1730 Pacchai Tondaiman opposed the succession of Vijaya Raghunatha Raya and took shelter in this temple. However he was defeated and forced to surrender to Vijaya Raghunatha Raya. Vijaya Raghunatha Raya (1730-1769) was crowned in this temple in 1730. Later he built the steps to the mandapa, built earlier by Raghunataha Raya. In 1865, Raja Ramachandra Tondaiman celebrated a kumbhabhishekam in this temple. Outside of Cave Temple This town would have been known as Tirunalakkundram in 8th century as suggested by one inscription of Kochadayan Ranadheeran or Sadayan Maran (CE 700-730) of early Pandyan dynasty. Later in 14th century, this has been referred as Siganallur (Shikhanallur), with the main deity as Siganaatha (Shikhanatha) in the temple. Later in 17th century we see a reference to Kudumiayanmalai, with the main deity as Kudumiyaar. There is an interesting story behind this name, Kudumiyaar. As per the story, from sthala-puranam, a king, Sundara Pandiyan, used to visit the temple daily in the evening to perform his prayers. The priest used to give the prasadam to the king after his evening prayers. One day the priest was waiting for the king and the king did not turn up. Since it was getting late so the priest gave prasadam to a temple dancer. Just when the dancer was leaving the king entered into the temple. The priest got scared as prasadam was finished, so he borrowed the flowers from the dancer which were already worn by her. The priest offered those flowers to the king as prasadam. The king noticed as strand of hair in those flowers hence asked for explanations for the presence of the hair from the priest. The priest was very scared so he lied that the hair is of the lord, Shiva’s head. The king was astonished and locked the priest inside the temple telling him that he will come tomorrow to see if the deity really has hair or not. The priest prayed the whole night to lord Shiva to save him. The next day the king arrived and he found a tuft (kudumi) on Shiva lingam. When he tried to pull it, the blood came out of lingam. This is how the deity in this shrine is known as Kudumiyaar and the place as Kudumiyamalai. Another version of the story replaced the temple dancer with the lover of the priest. There is another interesting fact that kudumi not only meant tuff of hair but also the top of hill. In that case Kudumiyaar seems to the god on top of the hill. It seems, this story may have been invented in 17th-18th century. Let’s go to the monuments now. Cave Temple Cave Temple – Excavated on the eastern slope of low rising hillock, this cave temple would have been excavated in early seventh century. Originally this cave temple was attributed to Pallavas, however now it has been seen as an early Pandya shrine. As per K R Srinivasan, Pallavas were never in this region hence it is hard to assign this to them. However though Pallavas were not directly ruling this area, but it was with Muthariyars who were vassals of the Pallavas. The original cave temple is 12 feet by 13 feet hall. The ardha-mandapa inside, measuring 23 feet by 8 feet. In front of the cave, is a maha-mandapa, which was built in the reign of Kulottunga Chola I (1070-1120). The mandapa in front is built during the reign of Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1686-1730) and his minister Kurundha Pillai. Later Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1730-1769) built the steps to this mandapa. The pillars of the ardha-mandapa are very different from Pallava pillar style as they resemble more to Chalukyan style of Badami. Inside the main sanctum is a Shiva linga, carved out in situ from the original rock of the cave. Above the sanctum door lintel are four dwarf figures. Two figures are in opposite direction just above the sanctum door, while two figures are shown moving away are placed at the corners of the door lintel. All the four are shown in flying profile. There is a Ganesha, valamburi (referred if the trunk is curled to right), figure carved on the inner wall of this temple. He is shown with two hands, left hand is holding a rosary while the left hand is holding some unidentifiable object. He is wearing a karanda-makuta on his head and a yajnopavita across his waist. There are two free standing images inside this cave, one is of Chandikesvara and another is of Somaskanda. On south of the mandapa of this cave, on prepared wall of the rock, is carved the celebrated musical inscription. There is a five feet high Ganesha, this time idampuri (if the trunk is turned to left), image carved in relief to the right of this inscription. This musical inscription is a topic of controversy. Inscribed in Pallava Grantha script in Sanskrit language. Now, we know that Pallava Grantha script was started during Pallavas. This Grantha script evolved in style during its usage in later times. In the evolution of this script, we find four stages, archaic & ornamental, transitional, medieval and modern. The initial archaic and ornamental Grantha script is known as Pallava Grantha script. Being archaic and ornamental, this script was perhaps only used to inscribe inscriptions but not in regular daily usage. Transitional Grantha script is seen in later Pallava times and Pandyan times. As stated earlier this musical inscription is written in Pallava Grantha, hence the common understanding would be that it was done by some Pallava king. Among Mahendravarman I, Mamalla and Rajasimha, this Pallava Grantha script is also used by Mutharaiyar chiefs. Many scholars, like of K R Srinivasan, are in opinion that this region was not under Pallava reign so this inscription could not be related to that dynasty. We will talk about it in details while dealing with the inscriptions of this monument. Out of the cave, on little north of the cave, on the hill above are carved figures of sixty-three nayanars with Shiva with Parvati and Nandi standing in the middle. Temple Corridor Shikanatha Temple – This is the main structural temple of the complex. The current temple is the result of continuous growth and extensions with time. This temple consists a garbha-griha (sanctum sanctorum), ardha-mandapa, maha-mandapa, sabha-mandapa, anivetti-kal-mandapa and ayirakkal mandapa. The original sanctum and ardha-mandapa would have been built during tenth century during the Chola reign, however the current sanctum and ardha-mandapa are recent structure, even later than of other four mandapas. When you enter into the temple, you first pass through ayirakkal mandpa (thousand pillars mandapa) supported on 645 pillars. The pillars have sculptures of Vishnu incarnations and various scenes and figures from epic Ramayana. From the style and architecture, this would have been executed during Vijayanagara period. We also see similar thousand pillar mandapa at other locations, which were also executed during Vijayanagara period. From this mandapa, you will pass through anivetti-kal mandapa (vasanta mandapa). This hall has life size sculptures of various gods, including Kama (Manmatha), Rati, Ganesha, Ravana, Narasimha, Shiva as urdhva-tandava-murti, Rama, Vishnu, Subramanya, Mohini. There are two figures of Nayaka rulers as well in this mandapa. At the end of this hall, entrance into sabha-mandapa, are two dvarpalas in portrait sculptures. They are shown with four hands holding a massive club which is entwined with a serpent. One feet of the dvarpala is resting above the hood of the serpent. Passing through these dvarpalas, you enter into sabha-mandapa. This mandapa is built in Pandya style and has exquisite bronze collection. There is a stone image of Nataraja which is about 6 feet high. In the bronze collection, you will find Chandkeshvara and Somaskanda. Next you enter into maha-mandapa where more bronze statues are enshrined. You will find Ganesha, Subramanya, Subramanya as Shashta, Sapta-matrikas, Shiva as Bhikshatanamurti. There are two nayanars, Sambandar and Manikka-vachakar as well among the bronzes. After this you pass through ardha-mandapam which is remodeled recently. Though it is remodeled, it preserves the old sculptures, in which you will find a Ganesha sculptures and dvarpalas of ninth century. There is a covered pradakshina-path around the main shrine. On the inner walls of this path you will see Lingodbhavar, Sapta-matrikas, Jyestha, Subramanya, Gaja-Lakshmi and Saiva saints (nayanars). These images are from various periods. The niche of the main shrine house Dakshinamurti on south, Vishnu on west and Brahma on north. The arrangement of deities in niche are as per shilpa-sastra and this arrangement is very common in the temples of Chola period. Sub Shrine Subsidiary Shrines – In this temple complex, two more shrines are constructed, Akhilandesvari Shrine and Soundara-nayaki Amman shrine. The first one is located in the pradakshina-path of the maha-mandapa of main temple. There is a rashi-mandapa in front of this shrine, where on the roof are carved twelve zodiac signs. Soundara-nayaki Amman shrine is located south of the cave temple and was built by danseuse of Kudumiyamalai. As per an inscription, a deva-dasi Umaiyalvi-Nachchi, referred to as the daughter of Durgai-aandar, bought some of the temple’s lands for 73,300 gold coins. She also built Amman shrine dedicated to the goddess Malaiya-mangai or Soundara-Nayaki. This shrine is consisted of garbha-griha, ardha-mandapa and mukha-mandapa. Above the hill is located a Murugan shrine which seems to be Pandya construction of thirteenth century. Inscriptions of the Cave Temple – There are about 120 inscriptions found in the cave temple and in the temple. Most of the inscriptions are of the nature of some grant or endowment towards the temple in various periods. These inscriptions have helped a lot to trace the history of the town and the temple. However the most important inscription of the cave temple is the musical inscription carved on the living rock on south of the cave temple. This inscription is carved on 13 by 14 feet wall and is in good state of preservation. This inscription is written in Pallava Grantha script and is in Sanskrit language. The Pallava Grantha script used in this inscription is of archaic and ornamental style which was in use during seventh century among the various Pallava inscriptions. This inscription was discovered in 1904 by Rao Saheb H Krishna Sastri and was edited by Rao Bahadur P R Bhandarkar in Epigraphia Indica volume XII. He states that the characters of the inscription resemble closely to early Chalukyan period and belong to seventh century. He edited the inscription with relation to the musical notes but not on the epigraphy comparisons. The earliest music treatise of India is Natyasastra of Bharata Muni. However the chapters of this work are handled and re-handled and all parts of it are not from same period. This text can be assigned to fourth century. The next treatise on music is Samgita-ratnakara by Sarngadeva, which is written between CE 1210 and 1247. Hence the discovery of a music inscription, dated in between these two works, is of great importance. It is divided into seven sections corresponding to the seven classical ragas of the time. These seven sections are 1) Madhyamagrama, 2) Sadjagramah, 3) Shadava, 4) Sadharita, 5) Panchama, 6) Kaishikimadhyama, and 7) Kaishika. Each section consists of a collection of groups of four notes, arranged in sub-sections of sixteen, each sub-section taking up one line of the inscription. The music in the inscription appears to be intended for the vina, since it has been given the title chatushprahaarasvaragamah or authoritative texts of notes produced by four striking (of the string). It is clear that the seven ragas of the inscription do not appear in the Natyasastra of Bharata, but they appear in Samgita-ratnakar. Hence this inscription is the earliest record of these seven ragas however when they came into existence is not very clear. Let’s have a look at the inscription first, Musical Inscription Page 1 of 3 | Next page Posted in Between 501 to 1000 CE, Pallavas, Tamilnadu | 13 comments Previous post: Pallava Cave Temples of Trichy Next post: Mahendravadi – Vishnu Temple of Mahendravarman Powered by the WordPress Mobile Pack | Theme designed by ribot Switch to our desktop site Indian History and Architecture A passage to the Indian History and Monuments About Contact Index Map Subscribe to Comments Kudumiyanmalai – The Lord with Pony-tail October 9th, 2010 by Saurabh Introduction – Kudumiyamalai is located about 20 km from Puddukkotai town. The village is centered around a small hillock, where a cave temple has been carved on its foot. This cave temple, locally known as Melaikkovil, has been extended continuously during later times which suggests that this place held quite an importance in the past. We found many inscriptions in and around this temple which go till the advent of British which suggests that this region would have enjoyed the continuous patronage from various dynasties which ruled over this region. However once bustling with social and cultural activities, at present this is a small idle village. Kudumiyanmalai Temple Complex History – River Vellar, flowing north of Puddukkotai town, was the boundary line between the Cholas and Pandya empire. During the time of Mahendravarman I (CE 600-630) this region might be under Pallavas through their vassals, northern part of Puddukkotai, however they were not able to retain it for long and Pandyas won back this from them. Mahendravarman I would have got this region from his father, Simhavishnu, in heritance. Simhavishnu in turn would have won this from the hands of the Cholas. The Cholas were in hibernate mode till their resurgence in ninth century. Till that time, this region oscillated between the Pallavas and the Pandyas. Hence Puddukkotai became the important town witnessing various clashes between these two dynasties. Muthariyars and Irukkuvelirs were the vassal chief of the Pallavas and the Pandyas, which acted as the proxies in the wars between these two kingdoms. There are very few reference of the Pallavas found in inscriptions of this region, one such reference is the defeat of Nandivarman Pallavamalla (CE 730-796) in the hands of Maravarman Rajasimha (CE 730-760) at Kodambalur in Velvikudi and Sinnamanur plates of Pandyas. The presence of musical inscription, written in seventh century Grantha script, suggests that this cave temple would have been in existence at or before that time. There are other early Pandya inscriptions as well which are dated to seventh and eighth century. From the time of Cholas, we have many inscriptions telling us the continuous extensions of the temple. As the early inscriptions are found in the cave temple and in its boundary wall, hence the main structural temple seems to be remodeled in later times. This remodeling would have done in the time of Maravarman Sundara Pandya I. The Cholas won over vast region of Tamilnadu in ninth century and kept it with them till thirteenth century. Pandyas re-surged in thirteenth century and got back the region from the hands of the Cholas. After them, this region came under the Vijayanagara rulers. The temple got patronage under Vijayanagara rulers as we see mention of prince Vira-Kampana-Udaiyar and viceroy Gopa-timma in inscriptions. After the fall of Vijayanagara, Madurai Nayakas ruled over this tract of land. Later this went into the hands of Marungapuri chiefs and after them to Pallava Rayars. Sivendezhunta Pallava-rayar did many extensions to the temple in form of gopuram, mandapa, flower gardens and temple car. Rock-cut cave temple was extended in the reign of Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1686-1730) who built a mandapa in front of the cave with his minister Kurundha Pillai. In 1730 Pacchai Tondaiman opposed the succession of Vijaya Raghunatha Raya and took shelter in this temple. However he was defeated and forced to surrender to Vijaya Raghunatha Raya. Vijaya Raghunatha Raya (1730-1769) was crowned in this temple in 1730. Later he built the steps to the mandapa, built earlier by Raghunataha Raya. In 1865, Raja Ramachandra Tondaiman celebrated a kumbhabhishekam in this temple. Outside of Cave Temple This town would have been known as Tirunalakkundram in 8th century as suggested by one inscription of Kochadayan Ranadheeran or Sadayan Maran (CE 700-730) of early Pandyan dynasty. Later in 14th century, this has been referred as Siganallur (Shikhanallur), with the main deity as Siganaatha (Shikhanatha) in the temple. Later in 17th century we see a reference to Kudumiayanmalai, with the main deity as Kudumiyaar. There is an interesting story behind this name, Kudumiyaar. As per the story, from sthala-puranam, a king, Sundara Pandiyan, used to visit the temple daily in the evening to perform his prayers. The priest used to give the prasadam to the king after his evening prayers. One day the priest was waiting for the king and the king did not turn up. Since it was getting late so the priest gave prasadam to a temple dancer. Just when the dancer was leaving the king entered into the temple. The priest got scared as prasadam was finished, so he borrowed the flowers from the dancer which were already worn by her. The priest offered those flowers to the king as prasadam. The king noticed as strand of hair in those flowers hence asked for explanations for the presence of the hair from the priest. The priest was very scared so he lied that the hair is of the lord, Shiva’s head. The king was astonished and locked the priest inside the temple telling him that he will come tomorrow to see if the deity really has hair or not. The priest prayed the whole night to lord Shiva to save him. The next day the king arrived and he found a tuft (kudumi) on Shiva lingam. When he tried to pull it, the blood came out of lingam. This is how the deity in this shrine is known as Kudumiyaar and the place as Kudumiyamalai. Another version of the story replaced the temple dancer with the lover of the priest. There is another interesting fact that kudumi not only meant tuff of hair but also the top of hill. In that case Kudumiyaar seems to the god on top of the hill. It seems, this story may have been invented in 17th-18th century. Let’s go to the monuments now. Cave Temple Cave Temple – Excavated on the eastern slope of low rising hillock, this cave temple would have been excavated in early seventh century. Originally this cave temple was attributed to Pallavas, however now it has been seen as an early Pandya shrine. As per K R Srinivasan, Pallavas were never in this region hence it is hard to assign this to them. However though Pallavas were not directly ruling this area, but it was with Muthariyars who were vassals of the Pallavas. The original cave temple is 12 feet by 13 feet hall. The ardha-mandapa inside, measuring 23 feet by 8 feet. In front of the cave, is a maha-mandapa, which was built in the reign of Kulottunga Chola I (1070-1120). The mandapa in front is built during the reign of Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1686-1730) and his minister Kurundha Pillai. Later Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1730-1769) built the steps to this mandapa. The pillars of the ardha-mandapa are very different from Pallava pillar style as they resemble more to Chalukyan style of Badami. Inside the main sanctum is a Shiva linga, carved out in situ from the original rock of the cave. Above the sanctum door lintel are four dwarf figures. Two figures are in opposite direction just above the sanctum door, while two figures are shown moving away are placed at the corners of the door lintel. All the four are shown in flying profile. There is a Ganesha, valamburi (referred if the trunk is curled to right), figure carved on the inner wall of this temple. He is shown with two hands, left hand is holding a rosary while the left hand is holding some unidentifiable object. He is wearing a karanda-makuta on his head and a yajnopavita across his waist. There are two free standing images inside this cave, one is of Chandikesvara and another is of Somaskanda. On south of the mandapa of this cave, on prepared wall of the rock, is carved the celebrated musical inscription. There is a five feet high Ganesha, this time idampuri (if the trunk is turned to left), image carved in relief to the right of this inscription. This musical inscription is a topic of controversy. Inscribed in Pallava Grantha script in Sanskrit language. Now, we know that Pallava Grantha script was started during Pallavas. This Grantha script evolved in style during its usage in later times. In the evolution of this script, we find four stages, archaic & ornamental, transitional, medieval and modern. The initial archaic and ornamental Grantha script is known as Pallava Grantha script. Being archaic and ornamental, this script was perhaps only used to inscribe inscriptions but not in regular daily usage. Transitional Grantha script is seen in later Pallava times and Pandyan times. As stated earlier this musical inscription is written in Pallava Grantha, hence the common understanding would be that it was done by some Pallava king. Among Mahendravarman I, Mamalla and Rajasimha, this Pallava Grantha script is also used by Mutharaiyar chiefs. Many scholars, like of K R Srinivasan, are in opinion that this region was not under Pallava reign so this inscription could not be related to that dynasty. We will talk about it in details while dealing with the inscriptions of this monument. Out of the cave, on little north of the cave, on the hill above are carved figures of sixty-three nayanars with Shiva with Parvati and Nandi standing in the middle. Temple Corridor Shikanatha Temple – This is the main structural temple of the complex. The current temple is the result of continuous growth and extensions with time. This temple consists a garbha-griha (sanctum sanctorum), ardha-mandapa, maha-mandapa, sabha-mandapa, anivetti-kal-mandapa and ayirakkal mandapa. The original sanctum and ardha-mandapa would have been built during tenth century during the Chola reign, however the current sanctum and ardha-mandapa are recent structure, even later than of other four mandapas. When you enter into the temple, you first pass through ayirakkal mandpa (thousand pillars mandapa) supported on 645 pillars. The pillars have sculptures of Vishnu incarnations and various scenes and figures from epic Ramayana. From the style and architecture, this would have been executed during Vijayanagara period. We also see similar thousand pillar mandapa at other locations, which were also executed during Vijayanagara period. From this mandapa, you will pass through anivetti-kal mandapa (vasanta mandapa). This hall has life size sculptures of various gods, including Kama (Manmatha), Rati, Ganesha, Ravana, Narasimha, Shiva as urdhva-tandava-murti, Rama, Vishnu, Subramanya, Mohini. There are two figures of Nayaka rulers as well in this mandapa. At the end of this hall, entrance into sabha-mandapa, are two dvarpalas in portrait sculptures. They are shown with four hands holding a massive club which is entwined with a serpent. One feet of the dvarpala is resting above the hood of the serpent. Passing through these dvarpalas, you enter into sabha-mandapa. This mandapa is built in Pandya style and has exquisite bronze collection. There is a stone image of Nataraja which is about 6 feet high. In the bronze collection, you will find Chandkeshvara and Somaskanda. Next you enter into maha-mandapa where more bronze statues are enshrined. You will find Ganesha, Subramanya, Subramanya as Shashta, Sapta-matrikas, Shiva as Bhikshatanamurti. There are two nayanars, Sambandar and Manikka-vachakar as well among the bronzes. After this you pass through ardha-mandapam which is remodeled recently. Though it is remodeled, it preserves the old sculptures, in which you will find a Ganesha sculptures and dvarpalas of ninth century. There is a covered pradakshina-path around the main shrine. On the inner walls of this path you will see Lingodbhavar, Sapta-matrikas, Jyestha, Subramanya, Gaja-Lakshmi and Saiva saints (nayanars). These images are from various periods. The niche of the main shrine house Dakshinamurti on south, Vishnu on west and Brahma on north. The arrangement of deities in niche are as per shilpa-sastra and this arrangement is very common in the temples of Chola period. Sub Shrine Subsidiary Shrines – In this temple complex, two more shrines are constructed, Akhilandesvari Shrine and Soundara-nayaki Amman shrine. The first one is located in the pradakshina-path of the maha-mandapa of main temple. There is a rashi-mandapa in front of this shrine, where on the roof are carved twelve zodiac signs. Soundara-nayaki Amman shrine is located south of the cave temple and was built by danseuse of Kudumiyamalai. As per an inscription, a deva-dasi Umaiyalvi-Nachchi, referred to as the daughter of Durgai-aandar, bought some of the temple’s lands for 73,300 gold coins. She also built Amman shrine dedicated to the goddess Malaiya-mangai or Soundara-Nayaki. This shrine is consisted of garbha-griha, ardha-mandapa and mukha-mandapa. Above the hill is located a Murugan shrine which seems to be Pandya construction of thirteenth century. Inscriptions of the Cave Temple – There are about 120 inscriptions found in the cave temple and in the temple. Most of the inscriptions are of the nature of some grant or endowment towards the temple in various periods. These inscriptions have helped a lot to trace the history of the town and the temple. However the most important inscription of the cave temple is the musical inscription carved on the living rock on south of the cave temple. This inscription is carved on 13 by 14 feet wall and is in good state of preservation. This inscription is written in Pallava Grantha script and is in Sanskrit language. The Pallava Grantha script used in this inscription is of archaic and ornamental style which was in use during seventh century among the various Pallava inscriptions. This inscription was discovered in 1904 by Rao Saheb H Krishna Sastri and was edited by Rao Bahadur P R Bhandarkar in Epigraphia Indica volume XII. He states that the characters of the inscription resemble closely to early Chalukyan period and belong to seventh century. He edited the inscription with relation to the musical notes but not on the epigraphy comparisons. The earliest music treatise of India is Natyasastra of Bharata Muni. However the chapters of this work are handled and re-handled and all parts of it are not from same period. This text can be assigned to fourth century. The next treatise on music is Samgita-ratnakara by Sarngadeva, which is written between CE 1210 and 1247. Hence the discovery of a music inscription, dated in between these two works, is of great importance. It is divided into seven sections corresponding to the seven classical ragas of the time. These seven sections are 1) Madhyamagrama, 2) Sadjagramah, 3) Shadava, 4) Sadharita, 5) Panchama, 6) Kaishikimadhyama, and 7) Kaishika. Each section consists of a collection of groups of four notes, arranged in sub-sections of sixteen, each sub-section taking up one line of the inscription. The music in the inscription appears to be intended for the vina, since it has been given the title chatushprahaarasvaragamah or authoritative texts of notes produced by four striking (of the string). It is clear that the seven ragas of the inscription do not appear in the Natyasastra of Bharata, but they appear in Samgita-ratnakar. Hence this inscription is the earliest record of these seven ragas however when they came into existence is not very clear. Let’s have a look at the inscription first, Musical Inscription Page 1 of 3 | Next page Posted in Between 501 to 1000 CE, Pallavas, Tamilnadu | 13 comments Previous post: Pallava Cave Temples of Trichy Next post: Mahendravadi – Vishnu Temple of Mahendravarman Powered by the WordPress Mobile Pack | Theme designed by ribot Switch to our desktop site templedarshan.blogspot.in/2010/01/story-behind-name-kudumiyanmalai.html
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