manager. Kshētrapāla is worshipped first in every Siva temple, before commencing the regular service for the day. The Prayōgasāra says: "Whoever performs any ceremony without first worshipping Kshētrapāla, the fruit of that ceremony is without doubt destroyed by Kshētrapāla." His naked form and the name Mahā-Bhairava by which he is addressed during the Sribali ceremony suggests that Kshētrapāla in his essence must be allied to Bhairava.[1]
All these awe-inspiring forms of the Saiva cult, including others which are mentioned in the Āgamas, but not often met with in South-Indian temples, received special worship from the adherents of the early Saiva sub-sects known as Pāsupatas, Kālāmukhas and Kāpālikas, as well as from the Lingāyatas of later origin.[2]
XXV
Among the attendant ganas of Siva who, like the gods just described, are identified with one or another aspect of Siva himself, may be Chandēsa.mentioned Chandēsa, Bhringīsa and Nandīsa. The first is counted as the foremost of the servants of Siva and is hence called in Tamil inscriptions and the Periyapurānam, Ādidāsa-Chandēsa. [3] The Kāsyapa-Silpa tells us that he is made up of the sterner side of Siva's nature and appears in each millennium (yuga) with different names and symbols. In the Krita-yuga he receives the name Prachanda, is of angry appearance, rides on an elephant and has the jatāmakuta and sixteen arms. In Trētā-yuga he is seen smiling, has eight arms and dishevelled braids of hair, and goes by the name Chanda. In the third or Dvāpara-yuga he has four hands, the lion vehicle, Jatāmandala, protruding teeth and a fearful face. His weapons then are the tanka, trident, noose and the hook. In the Kali-yuga he has a peaceful appearance and the bull vehicle, has his locks made up in the
- ↑ Mayūrabhanja, (p. xxxiv, fig. 13), gives a description of Kshētrapāla calling him Mahākāla and Bhairava. The Silpasāra in describing Vatuka-Bhairava, calls him also Kshētrapāla.
- ↑ In the famous temple on the Srīsailam Hill (Kurnool district) where the influence of the Lingāyata sect was once very great, is a pavilion adjoining the Nandi-mandapa. An inscription of the fourteenth century A.D. describes it as the place where the votaries, evidently of the Vīrabhadra form of Siva, offered up their heads in order to propitiate the furious god ; Madras Epigraphical Report for 1914-15, p. 92, paragraph 15.
- ↑ In Epigraphic records the documentary transactions of a Siva temple are stated to be conducted in the name of Chandēsa, the supposed manager of the temple. Even now, visitors to a Siva shrine have to report themselves before Chandēsa prior to leaving the temple premises and clap their hands as if to show that they are not carrying with them any portion of the temple property.
