30th
September 2018
The
visit to this temple is a part of the Pudukottai Heritage visit. Thirumayam is a
corrupted word of Thirumeyyaim (A Land of
Truth). This place was ruled by Mutharaiyars, Chozhas, Pandyas, Vijayanagara,
Pallavas, Hoysalas, Thondaimans, and Sethupathis. There are two rock-cut cave
temples on the south side of the hill and a rock-cut cave on the North, which
may be approached through the ladder. Out of the two caves, one is excavated for Shiva
and the other for Vishnu.
Moolavar : Sri Sathyagiriswarar
Consort : Sri Venuvaneswari
Some
of the important features of this rock-cut cave temple are...
The
entrance to the Rajagopuram is of 3 tiers, and the Maha Mandapam is after that. The sanctum Rock-cut cave faces east with a Rishabam/ Idabam in front. Moolavar and Rishabam / Idabam are excavated
from the mother rock. Moolavar is 65 CM tall on a 69 cm tall vesara avudayar. The dwarapalakas
Soola Thevar & Mazhuvadayar, and Lingothbavar in front of the rock-cut caves
look cute. The artha mandapam, Ambal shrine, A Banu Uma Maheswarar Shiva sannadhi,
Bairavar, Navagrahas, Suryan, Chandran, Mahaganapathy, Natarajar are in the praharam built in the latter period. The
temple premises also have a natural pond.
HISTORY AND INSCRIPTIONS
On
the north side of the rock-cut cave, there are Pallava grantha inscriptions called Parivathini (which means
a Veena with 7 strings, mentioned in
Amarakosa, Raghu Vamsam, and Buddha Charithiram), which is the oldest of all the
inscriptions. On the South side of the sanctum, it was believed that there was a
musical inscription, and the same was chiseled
out in the 13th century, and Sundara Pandyan’s 7th year rule
inscription was inscribed. Traces of old inscriptions can be seen. This
inscription has 47 lines. The inscription also records the removal of the old
inscription, since it was written in an unknown language. This inscription gives
the details of the dispute between Shiva and the Vishnu Temple regarding the sharing of property and how it was
resolved during the Hoysala period, in front of Appanna Dhanda Nayakar. As per the
inscription, the common land, water body, and periphery belonging to both temples are to be shared in a ratio, ie, 2/3 portion to the Vishnu temple and 1/3 to the Shiva temple.
The
rock-cut cave has 9 inscriptions and belongs to the Rajarajan & Rajendra Chozha,
Maravarman Sundara Pandyan, and Parakrama Pandyan periods. Compared to Kunrandar
Kovil, Mahadevar, and Veerasigamani rock-cut caves, this Thirumayam rock-cut cave
may have been excavated during the 7th-century Pallava period.
INSCRIPTIONS
The
Pallava king Mahendravarman I’s period
Pallava Grantha and Sanskrit inscription, on the north and south walls of the
rock-cut Śiva temple. This contains an invocation to Lord Siva in the beginning
and gives the names of musical notes such as rsabham, gāndhāram, pañcamam,
dhaivatam, nişādam and madhyamam.
NOTE:
1. The remaining portion of the inscription is highly damaged. This
inscription in 'unknown language' was ordered to be erased in the time of
Maravarman Sundara Pandya, and his record of the seventh year was incised in its
place (See IPS, no. 340). The following inscriptions in Tamil characters
assignable to the seventh century C.E. are also found in the same temple.
The Pallava king Mahendravarman I’s period Pallava Grantha, Sanskrit and Tamil inscription, on the north
wall of the rock-cut shrine in the Satyagirīśvara temple, mentions (the seven-stringed musical instrument called) parivādinidā and refers to pugirper
(dance-masters?) who taught (karanam) and mukkan-niruvam (dance pose?).
The 8th-century Pallava-period Tamil inscription on a slab in the west prākāra of the
central shrine in the Satyagirinatha-perumāļ temple records that Perumpidigu
Perundēvi, the mother of Videlvidugu Viluppēradi-Araisan alias Sattan Maran, repaired (the temple) and granted a village, as unņāligaipuram, including (the
right of collecting) kārānmai and miyātcci.
References:
ARE,
1940-1, no. 221; IPS, no. 4; Ibid., (Trans), 10-11.
Inscriptions of the Pallavas by T V Mahalingam.
ARE, 1906.
South
Indian Inscriptions Volume - XII, no. 7-A; TASSI, 1956-7, 87-93.
IPS 13.
The inscription- old and new can be seen
TEMPLE TIMINGS
The temple will be kept open from 07.00 hrs to 12.00 hrs, and from 17.00 hrs to 20.00 hrs.
HOW TO REACH :
Thirumayam
is on the way to Pudukottai, Chettinad, from Trichy.
21
km from Pudukkottai and 68 km from
Trichy.
The nearest
Railway Station is Trichy.
Soolathevar- Rock-cut Dwarapalakas - Mazhuvudayar
Lingothbavar
ROCK CUT CAVE SHIVA TEMPLE INSIDE THIRUMAYAM FORT. MALAYAKKOVIL (MALAKKOTTAI).
The
cave is inside the fort, excavated for Shiva to a size of 2.88 m x 2.7 m x 1.99 m, 10 meters high
from the ground level. The entrance is 2 meters x 94 CM, carved in three steps on top and side, and looks like a wooden frame. A ladder arrangement
has been provided by ASI (Archaeological Survey of India). A Shiva Lingam of 66 cm Tall on a 95 cm square avudaiyar was excavated from the mother rock. The komukha is supported by a bhuta gana. On the side, there is a Pallava grantha inscription, which may be about Parivaathini, a 7-string Veena.
INSCRIPTIONS
The
Pallava king Mahendravarman I’s period
Pallava Grantha and Tamil inscription on
the rock to the left of the entrance into the rock-cut shrine facing east of
Malayakovil (Malakkottai), consists of three parts, the first being written in
Pallava-Grantha and the rest in Tamil characters. The first part mentions
Parivādinidā. The remaining lines are taken to mean as follows: "Behold
the method of learning the science parivādini as enunciated by Gunasēņa."
The divine qualities of the musical instrument, Parivādini, are also referred
to.
NOTE
1. Similar labels are found in the caves at Tirumayyam, Kudimiyāmalai and
Tirugo-karnam in the present Pudukkottai district.
2. Similar labels are found in the cave at Tirumayyam in the same district.
3. K.R. Venkataraman feels that Gunasena was the author of the vidya (ie., the
particular musical compositions), and says that he was by no means Gu abhara.
Since sina was a suffix in the names of South Indian monks of the Digambara
order of Jainism, it is quite possible that Gunasena was a Jaina monk who
was an adept in music (TASSI, 1956-7, 92).
References:
ARE, 1940-1, no. 221; IPS, no. 4; Ibid.,
(Trans), 10-11.Inscriptions of the Pallavas by T V Mahalingam.
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