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Art languishes in dilapidated Jain temple
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At Thiruparithikundram, on the banks of the River Palar, near Kanchipuram, are two Jain temples, which are a shambles. Yet the beauty of the paintings in the bigger temple is an artist's delight, avers PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY.
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Theerthankara procession... the unusual technique of continuity is employed here. Dancing girls amazingly lifelike... — Pics. by K. C. Gandhirajan.
BASED ON the recommendations of Prof. Chandru of the College of Fine Arts, Hari, anothertemple enthusiast, and his wife Swarna set off on a December afternoon, to visit Thiruparithikundram, on the outskirts of Kanchipuram, where a little known Jain temple is located. On reaching Kanchi we spent a while paying heed to the enthusiastic but totally misguided directions we received until we were on the right road to the village.
The Trilokyanath Temple, the larger of the two temples is on the bank of a meadow at the end of the town. Beside it is a smaller temple, in ruins, frequented by local gamblers rather than devotees. The doors of the bigger were shut and we had to have it opened by Padmagandhi, a septuagenarian Jain spinster, who is hard of hearing, and a member of one of the two Jain families still living opposite the temple. The few rooms in her house are all that remains of the once extensive school that the village was famous for.
"I will shut the doors sharp at five and no cameras in," she warned, "and this applies even if you are Jains," she added as an afterthought. Climbing the few steps and passing through the door, the temple still didn't "look" like a Jain temple for right in front of us was a Dwajasthambham and a Bali peetam and very Hindu looking vimanams. The ravages of time on the structure were evident, with shrubs growing in the gaps on the paved floor and huge bushes on the walls. A mandapam of four rows of pillar leads to the long rectangular chamber, which in turn has sanctums for the three deities. From the place we stood, we could make out the royal blue tinges on the pillars. They didn't prepare us for the profusion of frescos on the ceiling of the mandapam. These are indeed what make the temple so special.
Prof. Chandru's comments now proved useful for I could have a clearer understanding for the frescos. The four rows of pillars segment the ceiling into four long strips. The geometric designs on the first part are completely eroded.
The second part has a large Samvasarnam, which has the Theerthankara at the centre of many concentric circles with auspicious symbols and celestial beings in the corners.
On either side and on the other two parts are stories from the lives of Mahavira, Neminatha, Ambik (or Dharmadevi, a folk deity incorporated into Jain worship as a Yakshi) and Rishabanatha.
All the paintings have Tamil Grantha captions but the gracefulness of form and the electrifying choice of colours made the titles as irrelevant as the subject was mesmerising.
With some schools of Jain thought assimilating the story of Krishna in their mythology, a large section of the paintings portray the life of Krishna. At the end of a half-hour viewing of all the paintings we all had our favourites.
The dancing girls with their amazingly lifelike coloured saris, galloping horses and elephants, delicately tinted lotus petals, lifelike lizards and the ingenious collapsible tables were high on the list.
The paintings are also important to the student of art for they portray an unusual technique employed by the painter to keep the narrative alive. The link one panel to the next, the painter repeats a figure performing two actions one after another.
For example, we have a person receiving a baby from another and in the next panel the same person facing in the opposite is shown giving the baby to a lady. Even more interesting is a procession of devotees with kalasams going forward towards a Theerthankara.
The one closest to the Theerthankara is bathing the Theerthankara. In front of this procession is another procession of people in a backward slanting pose. By this the artist indicates that the latter procession is of those who have emptied their kalasam and are going away without showing their backs to the monk, as a mark of respect.
The mandapam leads to a narrow room, which has sanctums for the three deities, Mahavira flanked by Dharmadevi and another Theerthankara. The sanctums are circular with the main one having a golden image that is either painted or gilded, seated between two attendants. There was a wonderful fragrance in the room and that became an added excuse to have a closer look at the beautiful bronzes.
We came out and circled the temple and paused to look at the sacred Kora tree (the Kalpavriksha) and the even larger peepul trees that had grown on the simple vimanams, one of which had completely crumbled.
In further keeping with the Hindu influence were the remnants of a beautifully carved Sesha Vahanam that had definitely seen better days. We couldn't take a closer look at it or the paintings above due to the waist-high stacks of firewood and the ASI board warning of the temple' protected status. The board inside was in a better condition than the one outside, which looked completely rusted up!
The temple, by some accounts, dates back to the 9th century and had certainly seen better times. The area was prosperous, thanks to several Pallava kings who professed Jainism, and was inhabited by the Jain commentator Suranandhi and Irusappar, a Jain monk, who established a musical mandram at the place (the painted mandapam is called the musical mandapam).
Legends attribute its construction to Vamana and Mallisena, two Jain sages who asked their Pallava disciple to do so. Other speak of King Simhavishnu and his wife giving the land. Going by the inscriptions recorded from the 1890s to the 1920s, the temple had received large grants of land, even whole villages from Parakesarivarma Chola, Kulotunga Chola who conquered Madurai. The settlement is referred to as Jina Kanchi.
Sage Pushpasena Vamanarya constructed the gopuram in circa 1199. Pallava kings like Alagiya Pallavan has contributed to the construction of the walls in the 13th century. Vijayanagar Kings like Krishnaraya have also bequeathed land and had had the 14th century paintings repainted in the 16th-17th centuries.
We sat by the steps and finally listened to Padmagandhi's voluble criticisms of just about everything in the world. Her gesticulations and accent made it all the more interesting! After spending considerable time on her views on the general decadence of society and the inflationary trends of the economy at large, she came to what we may call the nub of the issue, the history of he temple itself.
The temple has been in their family for seven generations but by her father's time the temple and the remnants of its approximately 600 acres of land were given to a trust. The temple then passed on to the Archaeological Survey, which hopefully, with help from members of the prosperous Jain community, will conserve the temples better in the years to come. "I don't believe in these Gods myself and can't remember all the information, you must have come when my father was alive. I just don't want this to become a roofless ruin," she said. We agreed to consider ourselves fortunate to have visited the temple today when the paintings are partially discernible rather than a century later when even this will not be possible!
Having been accustomed to hearing sordid episodes of Hindu-Jain/Buddhist antipathy in the past centuries, it was heartening to note the amalgamation of two religions in this temple as well as to hear our guide speak of the local non-Jain commitment to preserve the temple. Particularly surprising were the lavish grants from the staunch Saivite Chola kings.
How to get there
Thiruparuthikundram is a village on the banks of the Palar River, a little off the Pillaiyaarpalayam suburbs of Kanchipuram.
It is not inaccessible but locals in Kanchi tend to hear the name as Thiru-ParamKundram, so be careful to confirm that you want to go to the "Buddha temple". Take the road that connects the Kachapeswarar temple to Kailasanatha temple. You will pass by the Kanchi Kudil museum on your left.
Turn left soon after and you will see many weavers' houses on your right. In a few minutes, you will find a temple on your left and a road opposite leading to another temple. Take the road, and turn at the last left and then right soon after.
It will help to ask for directions here to Pillaiyarpalayam-Thiruparithikundram. You will be on the right track if you cross Kali-Amman temple on your left, pass a board on your right indicating that you are leaving Kanchi, cross a bumpy road on the riverbed and then turn left again.
Go straight down this bumpy road till you see a Pillaiyaar temple under a tree, turn right and you will see the temple. If you pause and wonder whether all this is worth it, ask Hari or Swarna, their emphatic "Yes" will erase all doubts!
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