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Kudumiyanmalai and Sitthannavasal

Sunday, 28th November 2004

Kandha left early in the morning to go to Karaikkudi to attend the family function he had come for. We set out at about 8 a.m. and took a walk through the town. We had breakfast in a small vegetarian restaurant - the food was very good and very inexpensive, served by a smiling old man.

We walked a bit further and found a taxi to take us to Kudumiyanmalai and Sitthannavasal. A friendly driver named Venkatesh took us in his shiny new Ambassador taxi and we set off. As we were leaving the town, we saw a huge mansion set amidst rambling grounds. It was the king's palace, and was now the seat of the Collector of Pudukkottai District. We made a note to come back and see it.

Kudumiyanmalai

I had been keen on going to Kudumiyanmalai for quite sometime - this was the place where my family name - Sigamany - has its origins. The temple at Kudumiyanmalai is dedicated to Shikagireeswarar (one of whose honorifics is Sigamanynathar, whence the family name), or Siva, and has a lingam which is supposed to have a lock of hair, or a kudumi.

When we reached the temple, there was a huge marriage party and the place was quite crowded. As I stepped into the corridor leading to the sanctum, I was astounded by the wealth of statues that flanked the passage. Not only were they numerous, but they were exquisite in their execution as well. This was the more "recent" part of the temple, being constructed by the Naickers, Thirumalai and Poochi, in the 10th century AD! The inner part containing the sanctum was older, and was built by the Cholas about a couple of centuries earlier. The oldest part of the temple was a cave temple, carved into the hillside by that sculpture-mad dynasty, the Pallavas, in the 7th century AD.

We were shown around the temple by Nagarajan, an obliging and friendly priest who also spoke a smattering of English. It was interesting to note how easily he flitted between history and mythology, never for one moment making even the slightest distinction between them. To coin a term, he was a true religionist!

Pictures and descriptions of the sculptures can be found here.

Sitthannavasal

After the visual extravaganza of Kudumiyanmalai, we set off for the fabled (and sung about even in trashy Tamil movie songs!) Sitthannavasal, that haven of frescoes which have been hailed as the South's answer to Ajanta. We had already read Soma Basu's none-too-encouraging account of her disappointing trip to the place, and were bracing ourselves for another dose of the same.

The road to Sitthannavasal was infested with marauding monkeys, and were were wary of them. But thankfully the midday sun seemed to have lulled them into a state of somnolescence that made them loll about lazily in the cool shade of the plentiful banyans. This suited us well and we made our way up to the cave unmolested by any simian. We were asked to buy a ticket by a caretaker of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) named Sowrisan. He then proceeded to point out to us details in the once-brilliant paintings that adorned the ceiling and walls of the grotto. There was a brief pillared forecourt and an inner meditation room (called a mukhamandapam and a garbagriha in the ASI board put up outside). The ceiling and walls of the forecourst were covered with fading frescoes. Painted entirely of natural dyes, it was easy to imagine how resplendent it would have looked in its heyday. Brilliant reds, yellows and greens predominated, and abstract designs were interwoven with images of sages, animals, flowers and plants. An interesting drawing was that of the king and his consort - apparently the drawing of the Great Pallava, Mamallan.

The inner room was tiny, maybe eight feet by eight feet, and had bas reliefs of some of the tirthankaras. This was also a resonating chamber - if you stood in the centre and hummed at a particular frequency, the room was filled with sound, and continued even after you stopped. The ceiling of the inner room too was covered with paintings.

Sowrisan gleefully told us that photography was forbidden, even without a flash. So I had to be content with standing outside and getting pictures with my pitiful zoom.

Pictures of the paintings can be seen here.

We then made our way back to Pudukkottai, and stopped at the Palace on the way. For some strange reason, the Collectorate was working in spite of it being a Sunday, and we were able to see only the outside of the Palace. It was a very recent structure, being built in 1913, and had a strong British influence. After getting pictures, we headed back to the hotel.

Pictures of the Palace are here.

We had to go out to another hotel to have lunch as the restaurant at Hotel Maaris was closed - after lunch, we rested awhile before driving back to Chennai.

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