Page:South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses.djvu/238

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218

SOUTH-INDIAN IMAGES

for the goddess Durgā and one for Jyēshthā were caused to be made in that temple. ^[1] At Kukkanūr in the Nizam's Dominions, there is a celebrated Brahmanical temple dedicated to Jyēshthā. In Southern India her worship nowadays is much neglected, if not altogether avoided, she being supposed to be the goddess of misfortune and poverty.

X

In contrast to the ugly and fearsome goddesses mentioned above, there exist in the Hindu Pantheon other Saivite goddesses who are described as Bala-
Tripura-
Sundari.
Saubhāgya-
Bhuvanēsvari.mild and extremely beautiful. Among these may be mentioned Bālā-Tripurasundarī of dazzling brilliance, " like a thousand suns bursting forth at the same time " ; Saubhāgyabhuvanēsvarī, of red hue, a jewelled crown, a smiling face and heaving breasts, who holds a pot of gems in one hand and a red lotus in the other (fig. 136) and who places her right foot on a treasure of gems ; Annapūrna.Annapūrna ^[2] of two or four arms who, in the former case, holds gracefully in one hand a jewelled vessel containing food and in the other a spoon to distribute the same (among her devotees), or in the latter, holds the noose and the hook in two hands and shows the protecting and the boon-giving postures in Gayatrī,
Savitrī and
Sarsvatīthe others ; the goddesses Gayatrī, ^[3] Savitrī and

↑ Ind. Ant., Vol. XXII, p. 68. It may be noted that Mr. T. A. Gopinatha Rao in his Elements of Hindu Iconography (p. 391 f) considers the figures of Subrahmanya and his consorts worshipped in one of the chief rock-cut shrines of the temple to be Jyēshthā with her bull-faced son on one side and her fair daughter on the other. The figures are, indeed, much worn out and their features are indistinct ; nor are the crow-banners characteristic of Jyēshthā, clearly visible. Two cocks, however, the banner of Subrahmanya, engraved on the rocky side walls of the same shrine and contemporaneous with the images, prove beyond doubt that the group is one of Subrahmanya and his two consorts and not of Jyēshthā. The shrine of the latter goddess, referred to in the inscription, is in a different compartment, in the lower storey of the same rock-cut temple. At Ānamalai,not far from Madura, is a similar rock-cut shrine of Subrahmanya but with only one goddess. The cock-banner of the god is, again, very clearly shown on the side walls, as in the Tirupparangunram shrine. People call it Sramanankōyil " the temple of Sramana (i.e., a Buddhist or a Jaina) " though the actual name must have been Saravanan-kōyil, " the temple of Saravanan " which latter name is connected with Saravanōdbhava, a synonym of Skanda-Subrahmanya.
↑ Literally, one who is full of food (to give to her devotees). This is the name of the famous goddess in Benares, who is also sometimes called Visālākshi. " the broad-eyed.*
↑ Gayatrī is of the nature of fire (or Brahmā), has four or ten arms and four faces and rides on a swan ; Savitrī is of the substance of Rudra, has four arms, four faces, twelve eyes and the bull vehicle ; Sarasvatī partakes of the nature of Vishnu, rides on Garuda, has four arms and one face and holds in her hands the Vaishnavite symbols, the discus, conch and the club as also the palm of protection.

[1] Ind. Ant., Vol. XXII, p. 68. It may be noted that Mr. T. A. Gopinatha Rao in his Elements of Hindu Iconography (p. 391 f) considers the figures of Subrahmanya and his consorts worshipped in one of the chief rock-cut shrines of the temple to be Jyēshthā with her bull-faced son on one side and her fair daughter on the other. The figures are, indeed, much worn out and their features are indistinct ; nor are the crow-banners characteristic of Jyēshthā, clearly visible. Two cocks, however, the banner of Subrahmanya, engraved on the rocky side walls of the same shrine and contemporaneous with the images, prove beyond doubt that the group is one of Subrahmanya and his two consorts and not of Jyēshthā. The shrine of the latter goddess, referred to in the inscription, is in a different compartment, in the lower storey of the same rock-cut temple. At Ānamalai,not far from Madura, is a similar rock-cut shrine of Subrahmanya but with only one goddess. The cock-banner of the god is, again, very clearly shown on the side walls, as in the Tirupparangunram shrine. People call it Sramanankōyil " the temple of Sramana (i.e., a Buddhist or a Jaina) " though the actual name must have been Saravanan-kōyil, " the temple of Saravanan " which latter name is connected with Saravanōdbhava, a synonym of Skanda-Subrahmanya.

[2] Literally, one who is full of food (to give to her devotees). This is the name of the famous goddess in Benares, who is also sometimes called Visālākshi. " the broad-eyed.*

[3] Gayatrī is of the nature of fire (or Brahmā), has four or ten arms and four faces and rides on a swan ; Savitrī is of the substance of Rudra, has four arms, four faces, twelve eyes and the bull vehicle ; Sarasvatī partakes of the nature of Vishnu, rides on Garuda, has four arms and one face and holds in her hands the Vaishnavite symbols, the discus, conch and the club as also the palm of protection.

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