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SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES
hands are seen the abhaya, trident, noose and the kettle-drum ; the left hands exhibit the skull and the fire-pot and the postures vismaya and gaja-hasta. On the right and left sides respectively are Nandi and Gaurī.
Other Āgamas again, refer to 108 dancing forms of Siva nine of which are said to be celebrated. Of these latter the only one that deserves to be noted is that in which the god has his right leg raised straight up so as to reach the top of
Ūrdhva-
Tandava.the crown (ushnisha). Perhaps, this is the Ūrdhva-tāndava, described already. He may have four, eight or sixteen arms.
baram; its
history.its temple. Tradition has it that years ago a king from the north, called Simhavarman, came south on a pilgrimage. All this part of the country was then one huge forest. The king happened to bathe in a well, and immediately found himself transformed into a bright golden figure. He assumed the name Hiranyavarman " the gold-armoured " on that account and covered with gold the Siva temple which he discovered near that well. It is stated that before him the sages Patanjali and Vyāghrapāda had worshipped there. Simhavarman and Hiranyavarman are Pallava names and denote that the origin of the temple may be roughly traced to that period. Historically, it was the Chōla king Parāntaka I, surnamed Vīra-Chōla and Vīra-Nārāyana (A.D. 907 to about 951) who covered the Chidambaram temple with gold, perhaps for the first time. Successive Chola kings, after him, are known to have added to the grandeur of it.[1] A later Pallava chief of the thirteenth century A.D. called Perunjingadēva boasts of having conquered the four quarters and utilized the booty secured, in decorating the eastern gōpura of the Chidambaram temple which he had himself constructed. [2] The great Vijayanagara king Krishnadevaraya of the sixteenth century A.D. built the north gopura of the same temple after his victorious return from
- ↑ The devotion of Rājarāja I to the god at Chidambaram and the rich presents which he must have made to the temple there, evidently earned for him the titles Srī-Rājarāja and Sivapādasēkhara ; Rai Bahadur Venkayya thinks that Rājarāja built at Tanjore the big temple of Rājarājēsvara (i.e., Brihadīsvara) in order to commemorate the conferring of these titles. He consecrated therein the god Siva and called him Ādavallān, i.e., the expert dancer, after the famous Natarāja of Chidambaram.
- ↑ It is from this gōpura that the best illustrations are secured. The gōpura is very rich in sculptures and has various forms of Siva and his attendant gods. In this gōpura are also found illustrations of the 108 postures in dancing, mentioned in the Bhāratiya-Nātyasāstra (vide Madras Epigraphical Report for 1913-14, Plates I to IV). They are appropriately meant to be connected with Natarājā the king of dancers.
