Chapter 66

Poetic Celebration of the Temple: Centrifugality

• Pivotalisation of the Temple in Devotional Poetry

• Temple, God and the Landscape in the Decads of Nammāļvār

• Temple, Lord Vişņu and Landscape in the Decads of Tirumangai

Āļvār

• Temple as Core of the Sacralised Geography

• Normalisation of Bhakti

• Eulogisation of Sri Vallabha

202

The poetic compositions of Nammāļvar and Tirumangai Āļvār are two

of the works that hail the temple of Tiruvallavāl and the deity consecrated

there. The period of these compositions seem to mark the beginning of a new

era in the history of the temple. The period of the stalapurāņā —named Sŗī

Vallabha Kşētŗa Māhātmya—represents yet another significant phase of the

celebration of the temple.

The numerous compositions of the two poets—Nammāļvar and

Tirumangai Āļvār mentioned above—form part of the huge collection of

Vaişņavite devotional poetry. These compositions are argued to have provided

the ideological plane for making the temple self evident. Further it projected

the cult of the purāņic/Brahmanic religion represented by that institution.1 The

Stalapurāņā would enable us to see how the Vaişņavites reformulated the

relationships between the temples, the Brahmins and those with whom they

interacted. This reformulation in turn redefined the man-land relations; this

process gained centrality for the temple among them.

Pivotalisation of the Temple in Devotional Poetry

It may be necessary to make an overview of what is generally referred

to as the Bhakti literature before focussing on those Bhaktā-s who hailed the

deity of Tiruvallavāl and the geographical setting of the temple. This is done

to glean out the localness and heterogeneity within the meta-unity of the

Bhakti literature.

The composers of the various poems known as Alvāŗ-s and Nayanāŗ-s

were the saints acclaiming Vişņu and Siva and their exuberant devotional

songs were compiled into collections known as Dēvāram [Tevāram] and

1 For an closer understanding of the argument see Kesavan Veluthat., “Into the Medieval and out of

it : Early South India in Transition” Presidential Address, Indian History Congress Session II 1997, p. 30.

203

Divya pŗabandham respectively.2 It is added that the “poems celebrate every

orthodox shrine they visited … and constitute the most priceless treasure in all

Tamil literature”.3 An important development associated with bhakti is

generally discussed as a departure from the cult of tribal or folk deities to the

universalism of godhead and the transformation of cult centres and extant

shrines to structured institutional forms for the practice of formalised religious

observances. It necessarily included the emergence of the temple as the focus

of the bhakti in the early works of the Heroic period such as Paripāţal and

Tirumurukkāŗŗupaţai. These transformations have been conceived in literature

first by the Alvārs and after a short time lag, by the Nayanārs. The expressions

of Bhakti arose and progressed and attained sophistication, extolling God

through melodious hymns and seeking emotional union of the self with the

absolute. The latter was signified by a local deity/temple image.

Bhakti literature has been viewed as part of a wider religious movement

initiated by the worshippers of Siva and Vişņu to stem the rising tide of

heresy.4 It is also being viewed as part of a temple movement wherein the

temple functioned as the institutional base for socio-economic and political

relations5.

2 For details see K A N Sastri, A History of South India.,(1976), O U P, New Delhi, p. 5. 3 Ibid. 4 The heretical religions implied are Jainism and Buddhism which have been wielding tremendous

influence in South India. See K A Neelakanta Sastri, The Pandyan Kingdom, Luzac and Co, 1929, p. 97, See also his The Colas, (1937), Reprint 2000, University of Madras, p. 635 and A History of South India, OUP, 1955, p. 423.

5 Scholars have been trying to outline the correspondence between the emergence and proliferation of the religious institution of the temple and the rise and spread of the religious ideology of Bhakti. They maintain that the composition of the bhakti hymns provided the ideological plane for making the temple central to all contemplation and that it projected the cult of the purāņic/Brahmanic religion represented by that institution. An accompanying inference found in historiography is that the picture of a temple-centred, ritual-bound, Brahmin-dominated functioning of the society could be explained as a stage of material development characterised by the reconstitution of the new mode of agrarian organisation initiated by the Brahmin house-hold which was capable of dominating the earlier modes by entering into relations with them in the processes of production. The emergence of the temples at the centre of these developments is in

204

It is argued that the bhakti—vocalised in the Vaişņavite and Saivite

literature from the seventh to the ninth centuries—served as the dominant

ideology for the hierarchically structured agrarian society of contradictory

relations.6 Of late Bhakti has also been viewed as discourse7 wherein the

ritual, temple and their functionaries emerge as clearly discernible objects.

This has already been discussed in an earlier chapter.

The formulations of Friedhelm Hardy on the inter-relationship between

the ideology of Bhakti and the cultural contexts of the Vaişņava temples are of

immense value to us. He attempts a conceptual understanding of the ‘temple’

in the Ālvāŗ poetry and the subtle philosophical and theological

transformations that were taking place over a period of time. He also examines

the pattern of ideological and emotional responses that the temple movement

evoked.8 The major deductions of Hardy, relevant for our study of the

Vaişņava temple of Tiruvallavāl for the period from the ninth to the fifteenth

centuries are recapitulated here.

1. Though notions of Vişņu as a transcendental god beyond space and

time and the local temple as his abode already prevailed in the poems

of the Heroic period, the poems composed by the Ālvārs represent a

this case perceived of as the externalisation of a new ideological superstructure. Accordingly, the new ‘Brahmanical religion’ has been explained as the dominant ideology in the new social formation. This arguably stands in opposition to the heroic society and made itself the new religious sensibility. For details see Kesavan Veluthat., “Into the Medieval and out of it: Early South India in Transition” Presidential Address, Indian History Congress Session II, 1997, p. 30. Also see his “Temple base of the Bhakti Movement in South India”, PIHC, 1979, Waltair. Also see Rajan Gurukkal, Cultural History of Kerala, Vol. I, pp. 264-265.

6 Rajan Gurukkal, Cultural History of Kerala, Vol I, p. 265. 7 Also see Rajan Gurukkal., his “Towards a new Discourse: Discursive Processes in Early South

India”, Tradition, Dissent and Ideology, OUP, Delhi, 1996, pp. 313-327. 8 Friedhelm Hardy, “Ideology and Cultural Contexts of the Vaisnava Temple”, Indian Economic

and Social History Review, Vol. XIV, Jan-March, 1977, pp. 120-149.

205

new era. A marked increase in the number of the temples had also

taken place and the ‘temple religion’ became complex.9

2. The phraseology employed by the Ālvārs to portray Vişņu’s presence,

“Vişņu is in the temple”, clearly affirms the notion of the temple as the

place where the god resides. The terms expressive of the places of

residence are iţam (house/residence/place), ūŗ (village/town), nakaŗ

(temple town), tālạ̣vu (resting place), kōvil (palace/temple) and iraipāti

(palace).10 It is noteworthy that the abodes of Vişņu or the ‘temple’

envisaged in the poems as discerned above, covers a range of places/

locations from a hill or foot of a hill to a palace. In all the cases the

figure in the temple is regarded as a manifestation of Vişņu and not

used in the sense of an ‘image’ or vigraha.11 The Ālvār poetry affirms

the local god as none other than the universal transcendental Vişņu.12

Nevertheless there is no dissolution of the individuality of the local god

altogether, rather the Ālvār-s took great care in describing the local

setting of the individual temple. They also began a trend, which in

course of time came to be standardised: to address the local god by his

own specific name.13

3. Temples figuring in the earlier phase of devotional literary

compositions sought to link a particular temple to the universal god

Vişņu. But compositions of the later phase engaged in the depiction of

9 It is argued that the notion of a place of worship is not widely found in Early Tamil poetry. Later

works in the Cankam corpus is argued to have been representing a new phase wherein Vişņu is being conceived as the transcendental god beyond space and time. See Friedhelm Hardy, Op cit, p.122.

10 Friedhelm Hardy, Op cit, p.123. 11 Ibid. 12 See Ibid, p.124. 13 Ibid. Hardy cites the example of Nammāļvār addressing the god of Tiruvinnakar as Oppar il

appan. It is pointed out that the temple came to be known by the name Uppiliyappan Temple.

206

Vişņu as being present simultaneously in a number of temples in

numerous names. The multiplicity of the temples comes to be

expressed as Vişņu’s līla and also his eagerness to be in the vicinity of

as many people as possible.14

4. The concept of arcâvatāra was brought in to explain in philosophically

and theologically satisfactory terms, the question of Vişņu being

transcendent and at the same time being present in many temples as

Arca or temple image. By arcâvatāra is meant the incarnation of Vişņu

in the temple image. If avatāra meant to explain the notion of Vişņu’s

mythical manifestations, the concept of arcâvatāra explained Vişņu’s

presence in numerous temples lying spread out.15 It is also observed

that according to the arcâvatāra concept, each temple image was a full

avatāra and these have found their place in the genre Stalapurāņā.16

Of the 108 Vaişņavite temples of South India comprising the

Divyadēśam-s, 13 are in Kerala. These temples are collectively referred to as

the Divyadēśam-s of Malainadu or the Pāţalpeŗŗa Kşētŗańaļ of Kerala.17 We

may now proceed to evaluate the compositions of the two Bhaktās,

Nammāļvār and Tirumangai Ālvāŗ hailing the temple of Tiruvallavāļ and so

too the community around the temple. Of the twelve Ālvāŗ-s figuring in the

devotional literary movement of the early medieval period, two have sung of

the temple of Tiruvallavāl and the surrounding areas. However the period of

14 Ibid, pp.124-125. 15 See Ibid, pp.126-127. 16 Ibid. 17 The temple sung about in the devotional literature of the Vaisnava saints are Tiruvenparicaram

(Tirupatisaram), Tiruvarraru (Tiruvattar), Tiruvananthapuram, Tiruppuliyoor (Puliyoor), Tiruchenganroor (Trichittattu/ Chenganoor), Tiruvaranvilai (Aranmulai), Tiruvanvandoor, Tiruvallavāl (Tiruvalla), Tirukkudittanam, Tirukkadu karai (Trikkakkara), Tirumulikkalam (Mulikkalam), Tiruvittuvakkodu (Tirumattakkodu), Tirunavay For details see P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha Kşētŗa Caritram,1987, Tiruvalla, p. 399.

207

these poets are topics of debate and dates ranging from the seventh to the tenth

centuries have been assigned to them.18 Their compositions are in the form of

decads written in the Antāti poetic scheme.19 According to this scheme, a

stanza begins with the last letter or word of the preceding stanza. Eleven

stanzas on the Temple and deity of Tiruvallavāl by Nammāļvār have been

included as the fifth decad in the collection called Tiruvāimoļị̣̣ and ten stanzas

of Tirumangai form the ninth decad of the collection entitled Tirumoļị̣̣.

Temple, God and the Landscape in the Decads of Nammāļvār

The decads of Nammāļvār articulate the intense passionate love and

devotion of the poet to lord Vişņu, likened to the love of a girl towards her

lover. Expressing her agonising pain in the mysticism of separation, they seek

reunion with the lord who reigns over the region around the temple and who

abides in the temple. As such these decads are phrased as the sensuous and

angst expressions of a girl divulging to her attendants, intense desire to seek

reunion with her lover in his abode.20 The attendants on their part are shown as

trying to dissuade the girl from doing so. The alluring imageries in the poem

of both the landscape and the lord are the captivating melody and its repeated

singing could elevate the temple such that the devotees of Vişņu and the

temple remained within their fold with greater devotion.

The nature of interrelationship between the temple, its deity and the

landscape rendered in the stanzas may now be attempted. The last stanza—the

eleventh one—gives the name of the author and makes an assertion to the

poet’s guarantee of “fulfilment of life” in the repeated singing of the preceding

18 See M G S Narayanan., Perumals - - -, p. 189. Also R Champakalakshmi and S Gopal.,

Tradition, Dissent and Ideology, p.139. 19 For details see P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha Maha Ksketra Caritram (Malayalam), 1987,

Tiruvalla, p. 400. 20 See for details Fiedelm Hardy, Op. cit, pp. 136-137

208

ten stanzas, since are verses praising the lord of Tiruvallavāļ. This is not

merely a guarantee for everything that a Bhaktā desires in this world, this is

also an affirmation of the broad eschatological position of the Vaişņava

scheme of things, which lays hold on such ideals as ‘fulfilment of life’ for all

humans. It can be seen that the act of singing the ten stanzas would be

tantamount to surrendering the self and everything that belongs to the Bhaktā

before the lord of Tiruvallavāl and consequently the ultimate realisation of the

destiny for which he is born in this world.21 Further, the singing of the stanzas

is a way of being with the lord of Tiruvallavāl in the temple and as such it is

claimed as a symbolic enactment of what the Bhaktā would continue to do in

heaven.22 Then, for all Bhaktās singing the stanzas to comply with the

exhortation is at once an act rational enough and an enunciation proper for

extolling Vişņu. This is not all. The exhortation for the regular recitation of

the poem or the singing of the song has to be construed as a direct invocation

to make it part of convention through repetition. A necessary outcome of the

same is the subjectification of the singers and the listeners.

Throughout the poem, Vişņu is invariably depicted as the invincible

and dear god and lord of Tiruvallavāl. Images in this ensemble are Kōnārai23

(yedukulēswara), Ninŗa pirān24 (one who gives his appearance), Nītuŗaikinŗa

pirān25 (one who reigns over), Nacchara vinaņaimel nambirāvitu26 (one who

reclines on the snake), Kaņņalangaţţi tannaikkani27 (one who is as sweet as

21 For an understanding of the Vaişņavite notion of surrender by the Bhaktā, see Ibid, p.134. 22 See Ibid, pp. 134-135. 23 Tiruvaymoli IX, 1. Translation as Yedukuleswara made by P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha---,

p.403. 24 Tiruvaymoli IX, 2. 25 Ibid: 3. 26 Ibid: 4. Translation as given by P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha - - -, p. 404. 27 Tiruvaymoli IX, 5. Here Kannalangatti has been translated as sugar candy See P Unnikrishnan

Nair, Op cit, p. 403.

209

sugar candy), Mānkaral kōļappiran28 (one who came in the form of a dwarf),

one who has swallowed the whole world,29 one who measured out the land

with his feet30 and the one who gives vision holding the sudaŗsanacakŗa,31 and

Narayana32.

The poet’s illustration of ‘Tiruvallavāl’ over which Vişņu is conceived

to be invested with the right to be with supreme distinction (vāņaruļuka) is

made through a chain of absorbing and colourful descriptions of the

geographical space around the Temple. These may be listed as follows: (1) the

place where grows tall arecanut palms, jasmine flowers laden with nectar and

surrounded by sweet smelling rills33 (2) the place from where comes breezes

grazing the golden and sweet smelling flowers34 (3) the place where could be

heard the chanting of Vedic mantŗā-s like the rumbling of oceans and where

the scent of the sacrificial smoke would freely flow35 (4) the place where

green arecanut palms would come leaning on to the thatched roofs of the

houses36 (5) the place which is kept in the shade of the smoke coming from the

fire altars of the Brahmin households37 (6) the place from where comes the

melodious humming if the beetles which surpasses the beauty of the songs of

the pāņā-s, the gentle breeze and the tall and dense trees38 (7) the place which

has cool and deep ponds in which grows the red lotus and the black kūvaļam

28 Tiruvaymoli IX, 6. Here Mankaral kolappiran has been translated as Vamana murthy. See P

Unnikrishnan Nair, Op cit, p. 403. 29 Tiruvaymoli IX, 7. 30 Ibid, IX, 8. 31 Ibid, IX, 9. 32 Ibid, IX, 10. 33 Tiruvāymoli. IX, 1. 34 Ibid, IX, 2. 35 Ibid, IX, 3. 36 Ibid, IX, 4. 37 Ibid, IX, 5. 38 Ibid, IX, 6.

210

flowers39 (8) the place which yields sugarcane from which juice is crushed

and which yields ripe red paddy and flowers40 (9) the place which

overfloweth of music produced by the beetles that outclass the sweet sound of

the vīņa41 (10) the place which is revered by the heaven and earth every day.42

Tiruvallavāl in the poem denotes simultaneously the proper name of the

temple and a given geographical space. A sense of territoriality concomitant

with the projection of the temple’s name as generally applied over a given

geographical and social space recurs in all the ten stanzas. If Tiruvallavāl is

the extension of the temple over a spatial continuum, it leads one to the

inference that Tiruvallavāl combines the temple and constitutes a spatial

continuum to have reach over it so that it enables the ‘master of the temple’ to

exercise power over those dwelling within it.

The conditions that permitted the projection of a temple-name over a

given domain are thus made foundational for the exercise of authority. This

has to be understood as the strategic manoeuvre whereby Tiruvallavāl comes

to be constituted and defined with the temple as the centre. While being

central to the region in the physical sense, it was also the ideological-ritual-

religious centre in the hymns. In the poetic depictions, Tiruvallavāl is a place

from where the chanting of Vedic mantrā-s could be heard and from where

arises the scent of the sacrificial fume. It is also referred to as a place, which

could be seen only hazily through the layers of fumes arising form the fire

altars of the Brahmin households. One finds in the above picturisation, a

strategic omission of several communities dwelling therein and as an

exclusive zone of brahmanic habitation and rituals. The picturisation permits

39 Ibid, IX, 7. 40 Ibid, IX, 8. 41 Ibid, IX, 9. 42 Ibid, IX, 10.

211

no visibility of other doctrines, religions and even other castes in Tiruvallavāl.

In effect the carpet cover arbitrarily made by the poem transforms a given

geographical space with numerous peoples inhabiting it, into a composite

unity where the interests and observances of the Brahmins could prevail. The

geographical space is in this way reified as an exclusive zone of brahminical

authority.

Temple, Lord Vişņu and Landscape in the Decads of Tirumangai Āļvār

Of the 108 divyadēsam-s hailed in the whole corpus of Bhakti

literature, Tirumangai Āļvāŗ had composed hymns on only 89. The hymnist

has roughly been assigned a date later than Nammāļvār making no claims

regarding his exact lifespan.43 The ten stanzas sung in praise of Srī Vallabha

are presented in the ninth decad as the seventh Tirumoli of Nalāyiram

Divyapŗabandham.

As in the case of Nammāļvār’s composition examined above, the

decads of Tirumangai Āļvāŗ also conform to a particular narrative pattern. All

the ten stanzas draw a line of demarcation between the pleasures of the present

world and those of the other world. The hymns privilege the latter so as to

make the listeners ardent bhakta-s. Each of the stanzas reiterates the need to

embrace the lord of Tiruvallavāl after renouncing one’s associations with

worldly pleasures. This is a point that needs further elaboration.

The poet proceeds by presenting before the listeners of the hymns, two

separate paradigms drawn up of things that are of appeal to them from which

they would be compelled to choose from, during the course of their life. In the

first paradigm are the things that are synonymic of the lure and lustre of the

material world. In the second, the poet enlists the things characteristic of god

43 Champakalakshmi, From Devotion and Dissent to Domination - - -, p. 139.

212

or which proclaim the glory and majesty of the lord of Tiruvallavāl. The latter

is persuasively weighed against the former along a ‘false into true’ opposition

so as to privilege the latter. Descriptions and illustrations of values, things, and

experiences that comprise the first paradigm can be listed: (1) Values centring

around blood relationship as the basis of all relationships44 (2) Pleasures derived

from wayward amorous relations with women45 (3) The transitory pleasures

obtained from pretty young women46 (4) Lascivious pleasures from the gentle

and honey-tongued women47 (5) The pomp of such kings who reign with the four

military divisions such as the elephantry48 (6) Life that is locked in and stays

in flesh, nerves and skin, vested with the five senses and which is destined to

endure unending pain49 (7) The words of mortal human body that is the home

of all ailments50 (8) The body that is made of the five elements and that which

is easily susceptible to the craving for water, landed property and children51

(9) Teachings of the Sivites, Buddhists and Jains.52

The descriptions, expressions and attributes of the lord of Tiruvallavāl

that make up the second paradigm are as follows: (1) The cowherd prince who

reigns over Tiruvallavāl 53 (2) The one who wears the jaded golden crown and

who went as the mediator for the Pāņdavā-s54 (3) The lad who begged for land

and who rules over Tiruvallavāl from the king who wears the white 44 Tirumoli:VII, 1. 45 Ibid: 2. 46 Ibid: 3. 47 Ibid: 4. 48 Ibid: 5. 49 Ibid: 6. 50 Ibid: 7. 51 Ibid: 8. 52 The terms used are (i) Piņdiyāŗ (to mean Jains see Tamil Lexicon, Vol. V. p.2657), (ii) Pōtiyāŗ

(to mean Buddhist as used in Tēvāram Collection. See Tamil Lexicon Vol. V. p. 2965. Pōtiyāŗ in the poems are referred to as false teachers), (iii) Veļļiyāŗ(to mean Siva and Sukra. See Tamil Lexicon Vol. VI, p. 3796). It is to be noted that Tevāram makes not much of a distinction between the Buddhists and Jains and both are regarded as false teachers.

53 Tirumoli:VII, 1. 54 Ibid: 2.

213

umbrella55 (4) The one who reigns over Tiruvallavāl the place of unending

prosperity far exceeding the glories of heaven56 (5) The little one who sucked

the life out of Pūtana’s poison-smeared breasts57 (6) The one who embraces

the four Vedas, the five fires and the eight organs58 (7) the one who is the sun

which emits fire, the moon which emits pleasant light, the one who dwells as

the blue-skied59 (8) The lord who reigns over Tiruvallavāl and the one before

whom the soft-breasted goddess Lakshmi and we bow every day (9) The one

before whom the wise men prostrate and the one who wheedled out amŗut

from the ocean.60 The last decad ensures the devotees of Vişņu that they can

get rid of their sins, gain kinship and reach at the proximity of the feet of the

god almighty, provided they sang the above hymns which hail the glories of

the lord.

Temple as Core of the Sacralised Geography

The hymns provided a new way of recognising truths of the present

world and the next. Commitment to bhakti through the devotional hymns

invested the composers, singers and listeners with new statuses and

responsibilities. The composers and singers became bearers and messengers of

‘truths’. The listeners on their part were to adore the hymns, their composers

and the singers and also to defend and perpetuate passionately the ‘the truths’

that the hymns contained. In other words these were ‘truths’ transmitted

through the vocal reiteration of the decads regarding the Tiruvallavāl Appan,

the universal godhead and that complete submission to him is the definite

guarantee for benefits both in the present and in the future. We are left to

55 Ibid: 3. 56 Ibid: 4. 57 Ibid: 5. 58 Ibid: 6. 59 Ibid: 7. 60 Ibid: 8.

214

recognise this as the advance of a regime of power in which the Bhakti

regulates the Bhaktā for his/her well-being and guarantees eternal bliss. It

involves the realisation of a sacred geography with an ontological status where

the god reigns supreme and in which all else—to include people, property and

the various constituents of the geography. For those who were the devotees of

this cosmic god, the temple is inevitably the centring force/institution.

Of late Bhakti has come to be viewed as a new norm surfacing in the

Tamil heroic poems of Paripāţal and Tirumuŗukkaŗŗupaţai that started

producing the persuasive force which have reached its culmination in the ninth

and tenth centuries.61 The ritual, temple and their functionaries had already

become the subjects of the discourse of bhakti. The presence of earlier

devotional practices, which cannot be categorised as religious, and their

locations of worship were62 either wiped clean of existence or were fully

accommodated into a new pattern of Vaişņavite religious practice in

conformity with the ordering principles of the new discourse of Bhakti.

Accordingly, a distinction between the “self” and the “other” became

perceivable’. Here the Sivite, Buddhist and Jain devotees were made to

constitute the latter category and the Vaişņavite Brahmins became the ‘self’

in contrast to the above. A religio-social stratification takes place in this

instance, effecting a hierarchisation of power relations between them.

61 This has been dealt with in detail by Rajan Gurukkal. See his “Towards a new Discourse:

Discursive Processes in Early South India”, Tradition, Dissent and Ideology, Delhi, OUP, 1996, pp. 313-327.

62 Evidences of pre-Brahmanical temples may be hard to come by. But there are ever so many cases of cult centres with no shrine. Just an image or a totem served the purpose. There are several cases of the base of tree trunks being regarded as worshipping places in the region of Tiruvallavāļ. Among them the yakşi tara s were numerous. So were the rituals associated with these centres ranging from simple to complex to include, animal or even human sacrifices. For details see Chapter II entitled “The Locale”.

215

We may now proceed to see the thematic realignments made by the

bhakti and what they mean for the region of Tiruvallavāl.63 Explanations and

interpretations of the various scholars have come a long way in elaborating the

implications of the references to Bhakti found in the devotional literature and

their impact on the temples in some of the kingdoms of South India.64 We

intend to make use of insights from the above for examining the literary

materials available for the situation, specific to the region of Tiruvallavāl.

One can find three ways in which the notion of god has been projected

in the two hymns referred to above—associating the lord with his residence or

abode, ascribing to him verbs denotative of human action, depicting him as

one with a certain form or appearance. The expressions that associate him

with his abode or residence are “urai”65 (in) and “nakarul”66 (residing in). The

verbs ascribed to him denotative of human action are “vāl” (rule) and

“nēdulāikinŗa”67 (reigning over). The words that associate him with his

attributes, form and appearance are ninŗapirān68 (gives appearance to),

naccaravinaimel nambiranatu69 (one who rests on snakes), nātaniňňālamuņda

nampiranŗannai70 (one who contained the earth in his mouth), pirān nīlantāviya71

(one who has measured out the land etc. The projections of the lord with his

features and appearances are kaņņņalāngaţţi tannaikkaniyainnamutantanai72 (one

who is as sweet as sugar candy), culalil māli cakkaŗapperumānatu73 (one who

63 These would partake of the conceptions of god, temple, the places around the temple and the new

notions and schemes to which they were made committed. 64 For details see Friedhelm Hardy, Op. cit, pp.122-130. 65 Tiruvaymoli, IX, 1. 66 Ibid: 2. 67 Ibid: 3, 8. 68 Ibid: 2. 69 Ibid: 4. 70 Ibid: 7. 71 Ibid: 8. 72 Ibid: 5. 73 Ibid: 9.

216

wears the wheel as the weapon) etc. The binding made between the temple as

the sacred core of the region and the surrounding spatial continuum with the

people and property with all the constituents such as land, fields and rills,

flowers and crops, beetles and palms contained therein have already been

examined. The imaginations made possible in the depiction of god, temple and

the region may now be interrogated.

In the first place, the god is one who dwells with supreme distinction—

as the name of the place itself is made to declare—and Vallabha or Vallava is

the one who rules over the place. The descriptions provided in the two hymns

are those of the local setting of the particular temple and the adjoining place

taken together. But Vallabha or Vallava is at once conceived of as the

universal or transcendental god Vişņu. That is, the depiction is that of the

universal godhead in the particular. This is shown to be the pattern followed in

the entire corpus of Tamil devotional literature of the South.74 Tiruvallavāl

pictured in the hymn is much more than a casual place of residence of the lord

but the sacred space from where he demonstrates his presence in all pomp and

majesty.75 As for the lord, he is one invested with the otherworldly powers to

measure out the three worlds. As the lord, he is the owner of Tiruvallavāļ and

his control and authority over it is total. He is in possession of all royal powers

and prerogatives and displays them as well. He is synonymous with

Narayana76 and many more, which are flaunted all along the chain of antāti-s

in the hymn. These images attributed to the lord conform the purāņic

74 It is argued that localisation of the god rather than its universalisation applied as a rule to the

structure of the Tamil devotional literature from the 6th century to the 10th century. This is further argued as the point of difference between the religious/ literary movements of the South and North India. For discussion on the general representation on the notion of the local god as the derivative of the universal god. See Friedhelm Hardy, Op.cit, p.122. Also see Champakalakshmi, “From Devotion and Dissent to Domination” in Op. cit, p. 138.

75 Tiruvaymoli: 5. 76 10th Antati of the 9th Vaymoli makes the clear reference to Narayana.

217

representation of Vişņu —the one who reclines on the serpent,77 the one who

is the dwarf vāmana,78 one who has measured out the three worlds with his

feet,79 the one who wears the wheel as the weapon,80 one who went as

messenger for the Pāņdavā-s,81 one with the colour of the ocean,82 one who

begged land from Mahabali,83 etc. Exclusive devotion to the universal god in

the locality has also been asked for and the teachings of the Veļiyāŗ (saivites),

Piņdiyāŗ (Jains) and Pōtiyāŗ (Buddhists)84 are desecrated by depicting the

latter as ‘illusory’ as against the former, which is affirmed to be the ‘real’.

It is quite clear that all the stanzas in Tirumangai Āļvāŗ’s hymn are

resolute in privileging the lord of Tiruvallavāl —given visibility as one of the

incarnations of Vişņu —by drawing the contrast between the experiences and

associations of the material world with the majesty and greatness of his

tutelary god. But the ninth stanza goes even further. It is not just the false

lustre of the pleasures of the poet that he calls upon to renounce, but even the

influential Aryan doctrines of the Buddhists and Jains. It is no surprise that the

Ālvāŗ poetry had been brutal in its denunciation of Buddhism and Jainism as

‘false’ or ‘hoax’ or ‘bogus’. These were incidentally religions that emerged

with the strong resolve to fight the ritualistic Brahmanical religion in the

Gangetic basin in the sixth century BC. It is also a significant factor that these

religions were better organized and had stronger doctrinal foundations than

most of the other religious sects and creeds in South India during the period of

the later Sangam works. This will naturally raise the question—how come that

77 Ibid: 4. 78 Ibid: 6. 79 Ibid: 8. 80 Ibid: 9. 81 Tirumoli: VII, 2. 82 Ibid: 4. 83 Ibid: 5. 84 Ibid: 9.

218

the Saivites (velliyāŗ) came to be classed along with their traditional

enemies—Jains (Piņdiyār) and Buddhists (Potiyāŗ) and condemned on the

same persuasiveness? This has to be construed as a strategic manoeuvre to

make Tiruvallavāļ an unambiguous zone of Vaişņavite influence. If the Jains

and Buddhists were the serious impediments for the establishment of

Vaişņavite domination, then the role of the Saivites was virtually not different.

We may make an overview of the notions regarding the ‘cosmic’ as a

background for examining the nature of the relationship between the cosmic

god, temple and its adjoining places. This Brahmanic and Sanskritic concept

of transcendental absolute or cosmic god, who is an amalgam of Vişņu,

Narayana and Kŗişņa, is drawn from the wider referential field called the

Purāņā-s. This is to be construed as the strategy of inter-textuality employed

by the Bhaktās to integrate the local cult of Sŗī Vallabha to the purāņic

religion and to normalise the same. The act consists in the production of new

texts with the potential for altering the existent practices and conventions, but

all the time conforming to the limits set by the myths and iconographic forms

provided by the Purāņā-s and Āgamā-s.

What is brought to bear on this universal godhead in a local setting is

the establishment of an exclusive and absolute identity of the locality with all

its specificities and associations, as one incorporated within the conceptual

frame of the purāņic cosmology. What is meant is that the hymns seek to

reinterpret the generalised myth by incorporating the local idol into the

purāņic scheme. In so doing, not only the temple, but the region also gets

sacralised as the abode of the god.85

85 For an understanding of the multifarious dimensions of this sacralisation, one has to look at the

principal notions of the supreme/cosmic god from which the images used in the hymns has been drawn.

219

As already mentioned, Vişņu is accorded a distinguished position in the

Hindu pantheon as the ruler of the cosmos, presiding over the creation,

protection/preservation (of the dharma) and destruction and is taken as a

composite deity born out of an amalgam of Vişņu, Narayana and Krishna.86

The earliest of the images of this god associate him with the sun and so also

with the one who strides across the universe. This has been stretched to mean

the god of the unbounded capacity of motion and pervasiveness, who could

traverse the triple spaces, and who possessed the capacity to trounce mortals.

Living beings are conceived of as having their existence and movements only

within his three strides or footsteps (tŗi-vikŗama). Residing in heaven—which

is beyond the limits of all human conception—he is understood as the one

acting as the pillar of the universe. He is also identified with sacrifice and is

regarded as imparting his all-pervading power to the sacrificer who imitates

his strides.87

The power and kingly majesty of Vişņu are expressed through the

purāņic representation of the god in the Vaikhanas āgamā forms, i.e. standing

and sitting forms. The standing Vishnu is attired in royal garments and holds

in his hands, the sankhu (conch), cakŗa (discus), gada (club), or padma

(lotus). On his chest is the curl of hair known as the sŗīvātsa mark, a sign of

his immortality, and around his neck he wears the auspicious jewel Kaustubha

and is shown as having as his mount, the bird Garuddha (eagle). A major

aspect of the Vaişņava cult is the concept of avatāra or incarnations which

engage in explaining the social role of Vishnu in intervention in earthly

matters after departing from his heavenly abode of Vaikuņţha and incarnating

in an earthly form to restore the good order in the wake of any danger 86 Champalakshmi, The Sovereignty of the Divine: The Vaisnava Pantheon and the Temporal

Power in South India” in Sreenivasamurthy, et.al, Essaya on Indian History and Culture - - -, p. 53. 87 These impressions of the sacrifices offered to Vişņu as laid down in Satapatha Brāhmana.

220

threatening the dharma or universal law and order.88 The imageries found in

the poetry on Tiruvallavāl are the exact replays of the standardised notions of

Vişņu available in the Purāņā-s.

Having looked at the nature of the poetic depiction of the universal god,

we may examine the nature of the relationship between the cosmic god, the

temple and its adjoining places.89 Historians have been able find close

correspondence between the sovereignty of the divine and the temporal power

in the monarchies of the South during the early medieval period.90 The

necessary ideological foundations for the control of territory and people are

argued to have been drawn from the purāņic-cosmological worldview and

divine authority enshrined in the Tamil devotional literature.91 Presented as a

hero, master, chief, king and lord, Vishnu was regarded as taking control of

the temple and the region around. The argument has been stretched further to

content that the status accorded to the devotee of the lord is that of a subject,

servant or slave.92 Parallels have also been drawn between the depictions of

Vishnu in the Tamil devotional literature and the nature of political power

exercised in some of the new kingdoms like those of the Pallavas and the

Pandyas.93

88 The number of incarnations in the Vaişņava cult is 10 ranging from theriomorphic to fully

anthropomorphic manifestation. They are the Fish (Matsya), Tortoise (Kurma), Boar (Varāha), Man-Lion (Narasimha), Dwarf (Vāmana), Rāma-with-the-Axe (Paraśurāma), King Rama, Krişņa, Buddha, and the future incarnation, Kalkin. Thus Vişņu as the cosmic god has been attributed all-inclusive mastery and unquestioned authority over space and time.

89 The narrative scheme of the bhaktās as a rule is one which proceeds by conceiving the divyadesam under discussion, as a sacred space where the god reigns supreme. This may be sufficient to conceive of the cosmic god, as having absolute claims over any stretch of imaginable space and moments of time.

90 For a representative study see Champakalakshmi, The Sovereignty of the Divine: - - -. 91 Ibid, p. 56. Also Champakalakshmi, “From Devotion and Dissent to Domination” in Op. cit,

p.156. 92 This is the reading made in Friedhelm Hardy, Op. cit, p.132. This reading has been further

stretched to make find a landlord-vassal parallel in contemporary political practice. Also see Champakalakshmi, “From Devotion and Dissent to Domination” in Op. cit, p.155.

93 For detailed discussion on the parallel realms of the religion temporality, see Idem.

221

It has been elaborated by Hardy that in the early bardic poetry,

indications can be found of a symbolism by which Vişņu in the temple is

treated like a chieftain or king. But in the context of a total collapse of the

power structures that existed in South India during the third century, Vişņu

was emancipated from any association with the chief or king and grew to be

the sole entity that commanded /educed the praise and submission of the

devotees.94 The dimensions added to this authority are the notions of

protection, extended by Vishnu to his devotees and the total surrender, loyalty

and service offered by the devotee to the god. This has been likened to a

feudal relationship.95 The argument is that the portrayal of the above

relationship is reflective of the rules that determined the political order. Hence

the overlord-vassal relationship in the domain of polity was the exact parallel

to the god-devotee relationship in the domain of divinity.96 Friedhelm Hardy

also finds the king-subject relationship in the domain of the secular space as

the exact parallel to the god-devotee relationship of the domain of religion. In

either case the logical link between the two is ‘service’.97 It follows from this

that the status of the former as the ‘master’, determined the nature of the

‘service’ that had to be rendered by the latter as the ‘servant’.

The emergence of the bhakti tradition focussing on the image and the

temple and asserting an assimilative quality of purāņic Hinduism has been

dealt with by Romila Thapar as well. She lays hold on the inevitability of an

ideological assimilation to knit together socially diverse groups, particularly

when the diversities are sharper. According to her the significance of the new

cults and sects may lie in part in the focus on loyalty to a deity parallel to the

94 Friedhelm Hardy, Op. cit, p.132. 95 Ibid. 96 Ibid. 97 Ibid.

222

loyalty of peasants and others to an overlord.98 In the historiography of Kerala

also, the composition of the Tamil Devotional literature, has been dealt with

basically as a temple-based one which legitimised and strengthened the

emerging social formation where an essential loyalty to a deity parallel to the

loyalty of peasants and others to an overlord is envisaged.99 If the image

produced by the poets of this deity is that of the supreme lord or king, then his

abode—the temple—is an imperial mansion that commands the respect of the

devotees as servants.

The inferences found in the historiography listed above need to be re-

examined from a different vantage point. Given the pantheistic order prevalent

during that time, as evident from the composition of the idols, architecture etc,

it is doubtful whether literary references would lead us to inferences around

the overlord-vassal model. This imagination of Vishnu could be related to the

social order and social formation, but it need not be a materialised real. A

devotee is not merely a devotee of a particular god even if he/she has a

‘tutelary god’ or an işţadaivam; any one who enters into the womb of the

temple is at once a devotee of several other gods and idols within it or even

outside it.

Finding a mirror image of the relationship between devotee and god on

the vassal-lord relation seems to be a misnomer in our case. In the first place,

in the relationship between god and the devotee, what matters is bhakti and in

the latter case the considerations are things that are mundane/ evident or could

98 See Romila Thapar, Interpreting Early India, (1992), O U P, New Delhi, p.132. 99 M G S Narayanan, Perumals - - -, p. 202, M G S Narayanan and Kesavan Veluthat, “The Bhakti

Movement in South India” in S C Malik (ed.), Indian Movements: Some Aspects of Dissent Protest and Reform,(1978), Simla. passim Kesavan Veluthat, The Temple Base of the Bhakti Movement in South India” in K M Shrimali (ed), Essays in Indian Art, Religion and Society, 1987, Delhi, passim. Also his Political Structure of Early Medieval South India, pp.169, 240-241. Rajan Gurukkal, The Kerala Temple and the Early Medieval Agrarian Order, p. 67.

223

be things that are immanent in material processes. Secondly, in the former, the

propelling forces are not only things of this world but of the other world as

well. This makes the conception of a god-devotee relationship as the exact

parallel to the lord vassal relationship expressively untenable. If one finds

such a parallel or mirroring, then it could be extended to any level of

relationship which men may enter into.

Another dimension that needs to be highlighted here is that birudu-s

that were foisted on rulers or sovereigns either by the devotees or vassals need

not reflect a single relationship. For instance a tenant may lay unfathomable

long birudu-s to his overlord, suggestive of the latter’s status of feudal

dominance. However this is not seen repeated at the lower levels similar to the

god-devotee relationship.

As for the region of Tiruvallavāl, what has been realised is the

foundational notion of a distinct sacred and spatial unity of ‘Tiruvallavāl’, by

virtue of it being the domain of Lord Vishnu. The temple has centrality in

Tiruvallavāl as far as the bhaktā-s are concerned. Anyone singing the hymns

or anyone listening to it could wake up to dis-cover that the various

constituents of the landscape—all such things that are perceivable to the

public—are things that belong to the cosmic god and that his power pervades

through them. It is to be remembered that the descriptions of the two poets on

Tiruvallavāl very well match the constituents of the geography of the region

and are characteristic of the eco-type where the rivers flowing down the

uplands suddenly slow down as they reaches there.

What one is made to imagine through Tamil Devotional literature is the

celebration and hailing of bhakti as a way of being with god in this world. The

perception of a sacred space necessitated a redefining of the social relations in

224

the locality. In other words the temple by virtue of its status as the abode of

god comes to take up the pivotal place. Within the narrative scheme of bhakti,

the temple is made the core around which all forms of life and property are

made derivative and subordinate. Suffice it to say that this sort of a coupling

of the temple, god and geographic space were inconceivable before the

composition of the poems.

Normalisation of Bhakti

What has been made possible through the singing of the hymns of

bhakti is the adherence to a notion of the unity of the universal god, temple,

Bhaktās and landscape. As such this is a discursive reality. From the moment

of real-isation of the imagined reality, bhakti is recreated and perpetuated not

only by repeated invocation of the hymns as prescribed by the hymnists, but

through giving permanence to the rituals conducted on an everyday basis as

well as on occasional and periodic basis.

The anchorings already made by the Tamil devotional literature could

be summed up as the veneration of ritual worship, recognition of the temple as

the house of god and the authentication of the iconographic descriptions of the

purāņic deities. These may be close to the Āgamā and Tantrā,100 but clearer

indications of the same may be found in the later documents such as the

Tiruvalla Copperplates and the Stalapurāņā entitled Sŗī Vallabha Kşētŗa

Māhātmayam. The former lays bare the multifarious roles of the temple—

serving as the core of the region with its various institutions, rituals, workforce

and abundant resources and subordinating the various cults and doctrines

hostile to and alien to classical Vāişņavism.

100 See Champakalakshmi and Gopal (Eds.), Tradition, Dissent and Ideology, p.152.

225

Eulogisation of Sri Vallabha

The composition of the Stalapurāņā may be considered as a significant

landmark in centring the temple among the devotees. The remaining part of

the chapter will be set apart for evaluating the text of the Stalapurāņā and also

for explaining the manner in which the text enters into cultural negotiations

with local social groups and still further for laying bare the ways in which

these negotiations led to the establishment of the Brahmanical social order,

and still further the establishment of the domination of the Vaişņavites.

It has been pointed out in an earlier chapter that the Purāņā-s emerged

at different periods with the explicit purpose of articulating devotion. Their

effectiveness in dealing with the anti- vedic, semi-vedic, and non- vedic

religious sects ever since the post-vedic period has been underscored earlier. It

is being reiterated that they have been vigorously contesting those sects which

were hostile to the two essential constituents of the Vedic-Brahmanical

religion, viz., recognition of the authority of the Vēdā-s and the supremacy of

the Brahmans. The role of the Purāņā s in this context is considered to be of

crucial importance as the Brahmanical response to counter the challenges

posed by the above sects must have become strong. Thapar’s view of the

Purāņic texts is that they were translated from oral Prakrit to literal Sanskrit

and that they attempted to provide an integrated worldview of the past and the

present, linking various events to the emergence of a deity or a sect.101

Obviously this textual tradition made the life-world of a corporate or a

community reducible to purāņic perceptions. This narrative structure and the

textual tradition continued for long in India.102 The assimilative character of

the purāņic culture as shown above is argued to be antithetical to the pattern

101 Romila Thapar., Interpreting Early India, p. 152. 102 For a view on the assimilative capacity of the Purāņic texts see Ibid, p. 160.

226

of cultural expansion seen in Western Europe. As against the assimilative

attribute of the Purāņic culture, the latter flourished by pursuing a strategy of

‘exclusion’—homogenising and erasing little traditions.103

The genre called stalapurāņā-s or kşētŗa Māhātmyam-s which

mushroomed in South India in the post-twelfth century period conforms to the

same old textual tradition of the Purāņā-s and the strategy employed is that of

accommodation or assimilation. Friedhelm Hardy views stalapurāņā-s as a

genre that explained an individual temple complex and justified the same by

reference to (mythical) history from the point of view of a devotee.104 To him

this meant ‘the creation of a meaningful whole out of a set of elements which

appear to be accidental, arbitrary and disconnected by utilising the genre of

the pan-Indian Purāņā into a coherent and therefore meaningful structure of a

narrative about past events’.105 In the process it connects the local temple with

universal Vaişņavism and normative Hinduism.106 But this is not all. There is

a preoccupation with the caste oriented, Brahmin-dominated social structure in

the Stalapurāņā-s which the genre is keen to foreground. We find striking

parallels between Kunal Chakrabarti’s portrayal of the context of the Bengal

Purāņā s and the context of the stalapurāņā-s in South India. In the backdrop

of what Chakravarthi calls the “Purāņic Process”.107

103 See M Muralidharan., “Community Formation, Colonial Habitus and the Brahmanical Life

World”, Haritham, Kottayam, (1996), p. 30. Also see Kunal Chakrabarthi., Religious Process: The Purāņas and the Making of a Regional Tradition, p.53.

104 Fiedhelm Hardy, Op. Cit, p. 121. 105 Ibid. 106 Ibid, pp.148-149. 107 Kunal Chakrabarti, Op. cit, p. 32. It is argued that the Puarnas were composed with a view to

revitalise the brahmanical social order which was seriously undermined during the early centuries of the Christian era. The brahmanas attempted to meet this challenge by drawing people from the non-brahmanical fold into their sphere of influence. It is also maintained that this interaction between the brahmanical tradition and many local traditions was initiated, which resulted in the creation of a composite, syncretic socio-religious system delineated in the Purāņā s. But the level of assimilation achieved in these Purāņā s must have proved inadequate to suit the needs of a particular region, for when, from the post-Gupta period, large-scale brahmana migration started

227

When it comes to the specific Stalapurāņā invoked here, yet another

process could be observed. We will demonstrate that there were strategies

which can be named as non-exclusivist. This strategy might have been more

performative within the broader condition of the existence of negotiational

possibilities for Vaişņvites to relate with other little traditions, Saivism,

Buddhism and Jainism.

For the present, the stalapurāņā or kşetŗa māhātmya as a document is

viewed in three ways, (1) as an articulation of bhakti or devotion, (2) as a

constitutive factor of human consciousness and an instrument of the social

production of meaning and (3) as material reality and a product of culture

reflective of specific historical events. In the process we highlight the new

strategies that are at work in the articulation and re-articulation of the features

attributes and functions of a given temple and the ‘temple-region’ through the

deployment of historical/quasi-historical materials as given in the

Stalapurāņā. Given the premise that ‘centralifugality’ is an effect of power as

well as a condition for its exercise, we feel that by tracing the trajectory of

centralisation and cenrtrifugalisation, we will be tracing the course of the

power relations as well.

Rather than providing a recorded memory of the inception of the

temple and the rituals therein, the claim of the Stalapurāņā is more towards a

constructed memory of the same. With mixes of fact and fiction, the kāvyā at

once incorporates the period of the Ceras with the material conforming to the

post-Cera period. This grand play of anachronism would go a long way in

explaining how the genre caters to the contemporary need for legitimising the

reaching areas peripheral to their influence, such as Bengal, a new category of regionally identifiable Purāņā s was composed, which offered a balance between Purāņic brahmanical tradition and the exclusively local traditions of a region.

228

autonomy of the sankētam or the temple-settlement, for which the temple is

the centre.

The Sŗī Vallabha Kşētŗa Māhātmyam provides a myth concerning

Vişņu and the shrine in which he resides, philosophical dialogues, ritual

prescriptions to propitiate the deity and so on. As has already been indicated,

the kāvya may be regarded as belonging to the category of normative texts

with claims on historical tradition, but is not to be construed as a pack of

materials providing empirical information on events. What is taken here as the

premise is that any given age is dominated by a privileged form and genre

which was the best suited for expressing and conceiving the truths of that

particular period. The explanatory devices in the present case are viewed as

proceeding by sacralising the geography and bringing the region within the

gamut of the purāņic scheme of things, linking it up with themes and

personalities that are conducive to the said scheme.

Not less than five copies of the text have been obtained from the private

collections of different families in Tiruvallavāļ /Tiruvalla. The central theme

in this kāvya is the founding of the temple and the rituals instituted therein. It

is found that there is consistency in the main stem of the kāvya. But certain

variations have been noticed by scholars in places where individual elite

families are made to appear. It is presumed that most of the elite families in

Tiruvallavāļ had a copy of this kāvya, obviously with variations as mentioned

above. The situation is quite similar to our experience with the Brahmanic

Chronicle Keraļōlpatti which is a Brahmin version of the history of Kerala,

where individual Keraļōlpatti-s differ about the status of individual Brahmin

settlements.

229

There is no mention whatsoever, of the author of the book or to the

period of its composition.108 The book is narrated in the form of questions and

answers between two imaginary characters Sutan and Souńakań and is divided

into four chapters of 62, 58, 89 and 35 slōkās each.109 The opening

benedictory stanza or vandana sļōka of the kāvya is in the Sragdharā meter

and the remaining 243 slōkās are in the anuşţupp meter.110 This laudatory

verse is phrased as a solemn assurance of protection to all by the god who

dwells in the temple of Tiruvallavāl.111

The first chapter of the kāvya starts with graphic descriptions of the

much-celebrated river Niļā (Ponnayi river/Bharatapuzha) which is located

several hundred kilometres away from Tiruvallavāļ and the places around,

such as Tirunāvāy and Tiruvillāmala located on the north and south of it.112

These were key locations of Brahman settlements. There is a sudden change

of location from the Nila valley to Tiruvallavāi (Tiruvalla) obviously marking

the former as the point of reference for the latter. In addition to introducing the

place of the founding of the temple, the first chapter relates the reader to the

devotion and goodwill of the Sankaramangalatamma, the childless Nambutiri

widow, who had been regularly observing fast on all dwādaśi days (eleventh

day of the moon)113 and gratifying the Brahmins by offering them one half of

the food set apart for Vişņu the next morning.

The second chapter portrays the compelling circumstances that made

Vişņu appear in the house of Sankaramangalatamma. The story goes that

108 P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha p- - -, p. 433. 109 Ibid. 110 T K Joseph in K S P, pp.87-90, also P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha - - --, p. 434. 111 For an abstract of the same see T K Joseph in K S P,pp.87-90 and P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī

Vallabha Ksera Mahatmyam, pp. 432-440. 112 K S P, p. 87. 113 Explained as the 11th day of the moon. See K S P, p. 87.

230

Brahmin inhabitants of the place had been fleeing Tiruvallavāļ in the fear of

the Asura of Toliya and that finally to the dismay of the lady, no one turned up

one day to receive the offerings. But god Vişņu himself appeared as a guest in

the guise of a Brahmin boy. He gave out his name as Vāsudevan. Despite the

strong warnings from his hostess, young Vāsudevan went to take a bath before

the meal in the River Vişaghna.114 On the way he encountered Tukalāsura.

The latter dived down into the river only to be followed by the former’s

invincible weapon, the Sudaŗsana cakŗa. Having slain the Asura, the Brahmin

boy made Brahma offer puşpāňjali (worship with flowers) to the Siva linga,

which had been set up by the Asura of Toliya and worshipped by him

regularly.

On his return to the house of Sankaramangalatamma, the lady served

the food before young Vasudeva which was offered to Vişņu that morning.

Immediately Rişi Duŗvāsa and four of his disciples appeared before the guest

who in turn divided up the food offered to him, without tasting it himself.

Soon Lakshmi also appeared before the five guests and she served amļam to

Vişņu.115 Overcome by the astounded scenes mentioned above, the hostess

made enquiries regarding the whereabouts of the young Brahmin boy.

Vāsudevan’s reply was “neither father, nor mother have I … nor do I belong

to any particular place. Everything is possible for me. What can I do for you?”

The revelation of the boy’s identity followed by the question evoked the

humble but persuasive plea from the Brahmin widow—“Be my son”. Young

Vāsudevan agreed to the plea, upon which the Brahmin widow fell on the

114 The reference is to the Manimala River. 115 Amlam is explained as the sour dish called Trippuli. It has been pointed out that Trippuli is part of

the regular dishes served in association with the Midday puja at the Sŗī Vallabha temple and is believed to have certain medicinal properties. See P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabhamaha ksetra Caritram, p.270.

231

ground saying, Vāsudevatvamēvadya gatih.116 This implies the final settling

down of Vasudeva as the guardian deity of Tiruvallavāļ, which marks a new

era.

The third chapter goes back to narrate how Vişņu engaged his weapon,

the discus, to cut off the head of the Asura and got the weapon back in his

hands after the intended task. Duŗvāsa, another hero of the purāņic poetry,

requests Vasudevan to stay back in Tiruvallavāl itself, which was consented

to, as the latter felt that he was bound to stay there as he had already become

Sankaramangalam lady’s son. He added that there was already an image of

him—exactly as himself—made by Visvakaŗma for Satyāki and kept in the

depths of a river which had been well guarded by Garuddha, yet another

common character of Purāņās. Vasudevan instructed that the image be brought

by the Tuļu Brahmins and consecrated there for the sake of his devotees. The

young Brahmin boy then consecrated the Sudaŗśana cakŗa to face the Matham

of Sankaramangalam and disappeared. The poem then describes an allegory

which the consort of ‘King Kulasekhara’ had, in which she was asked to have

her husband consecrate the image of at ‘Cakŗapura’ after raising it from the

depths of the river. Accordingly Sŗī Vallabha was consecrated in the presence

of the fictional, omnipresent and immortal character Duŗvāsā and the mortal

human being ‘King Kulasekhara’.117 The Brahmin from Tuļu nāţu who carried

the image took the form of the eagle/Garudda and set itself upon the dhwajā

or mast. Vişņu occupies the place in the north-western portion of the

116 See T K Joseph,. K S P, p.88. To Joseph the expression is regarded as a double entendre. One

meaning is, Oh Vasudeva, Primeval Being, thou art my refuge. The other meaning is I now become Vasudeva himself.

117 This popular belief on the mediation of Durvasa seems to have crystallized. The canonization of this belief may be evidenced in a reference to the institution of the pujas by Durvasa in a temple Granthavari. Quoted by P Unnikrishnan Nair, Sŗī Vallabah Maha Ksetra Catithra, p.315.

232

nālambalam or the vāyu kōņ. The positions accorded to the angadēvās are

given in the Kāvya as follows:118

1. Lakshmi Devi embodying prosperity resides in the temple called

“Vişatīram”119

2. Dakşhiņāmūŗti is consecrated at the South of the srī kōvil

3. Vişņu as Vaţakkumtēvaŗ is consecrated at the vāyu kōņ (north west)

4. Viswakşēna is consecrated at the Īsāna corner (north east).

5. Śāsta and Vighnēswara are consecrated outside the nālambalam on the

southern side

6. Bhūmi on the niryātikōņ (southwest).

7. Lakshmi on the Vāyu kōņ (northwest)

8. Varāhamūŗti inside the outer sanctum (in the second prākāram)

Having made all the permanent arrangements for the daily pūjās and the

yearly festivals, ‘King Kulasekhara’ and his consort are said to have left for

his capital city.

The fourth chapter lists the various offerings to be made for pleasing

the god and so too the ritual prescriptions associated with the temple. These

include prayers, construction of the temple walls and gōpurām-s, gifts of

plantains, garlands, decorative items and attire for the god such as red silk,

saffron clothing etc. The kāvyā considers the prayers, offerings and even the

very cry of submission and dedication as capable of ensuring the deliverance

of even the most evil of the mortals.

Having gone through the contents of the kāvyā, we may now attempt an

evaluation of the various ways in which the temple gained centrifugality. We

118 For an idea of the positions of the various deities see Diagrams 1 and 2. 119 None of the editors have been able to identify the location mentioned in the Kavya as Vişatīra.

See KSP, p.89. Also see P Unnikrishanan Nair, Sŗī Vallabha Kşetra Māhātmyam, p.438.

233

may also pursue the ways in which the prerogation of the Vaişņavite Brahmins

takes place in the process of narrating the Kāvyā.

In the earlier section it was shown that in the Āļvār poetry,

“Tiruvallavāl” combines the temple and the spatial continuum within the

range of power relationships of the former and denotes simultaneously, the

proper name of the temple and a given geographical space. This is carried out

further with still greater strength in the Kāvyā. However one finds that in

addition to the techniques in the sacralisation of geography, new streams of

techniques join in.

The kāvyā draws the picture of Tiruvallavāl and the region; the

portrayal of the region is not merely as a region reigned over by Vişņu and as

the place where he resides, but as the specific place where Vişņu came to

incarnate as Vāsudeva. In other words the temple in question is much more

than the abode of Vişņu as viewed in a general sense, but as a unique site

where Vişņu chose to incarnate at a specific moment. The universal form of

Vişņu thus takes a local and unique form which is not manifest in any other

place. The mutual relationship between this local manifestation of the

universal god and his devotees is therefore more intimate and not made

available easily to people from other localities.

The Sŗī Vallabha Kşētŗa Māhātmya enables or even necessitates the

devotees to proceed from the standard notion of an avatāra to move on to

arcāvatāra.120 We may turn to Friedhelm Hardy’s arguments on the

120 The theological/philosophical Vaişņavite of arcāvatāra is essentially the worship of Vishnu and

his various incarnations or avatārās. It is construed in the Veda as the god of far-extending motion and pervasiveness. Visnu is also understood as the god of the pillar of the universe and is identified with the sacrifice meant for conquest. The performer of a sacrifice is here regarded as imitating the three strides in his attempt to seek identity with the god and thus trying to conquer the universe. Satapatha Brāhmaņa views the ‘sacrifice’ as the attempt of any individual to accomplish three things—“the goal, the safe foundation and the highest light”. The extensive

234

Stalapurāņā s to examine how the Kāvyā had been used as a stronger and

more contemporary technique in the process of the sacralisation of geography

and the centralisation of the temple. It is argued by Hardy that it is in the same

explanatory mould of the Paňcarātŗā circles, that the concept of aŗcāvatāra

had been developed to explain Vishnu’s presence in the temples.121 This new

concept perceives Vişņu’s incarnation in the temple image or aŗcā. Thus each

temple image could be a full avatāra.122 The avatāra are distinguished from

the aŗcāvatāra in the sense that the former were distributed over different

periods in the past while the latter are spatially distributed at the same time

period.123 A further distinction made between the two is that many of the

incarnations in the former class are human beings, possessing a human body

and are capable of action which took place in the past while the aŗcāvatāra

cannot move or act physically and are dependent on the officiating priest.124

Despite the lack of “reality”, the life and actions of the arcāvatāra rested

entirely on poetic conceit and conventions.125 In the wake of the waning poetic

support, a new structure of meaning attempted to explain the significance of

the temple in mythical terms, overcoming thereby the difference in the two

types of avatārā-s.126 Further more, there had been a host of other questions

that sprouted in the minds of the devotees regarding the respective temples

which the earlier doctrines and religious attitudes failed to satisfy. Hardy finds

the Stalapurāņā-s as the newly emergent genre that comprehensively dealt

mythology that is attached to Vishnu is largely that of his avatārās and is incidentally fundamental to Vaişņavism whereby each incarnation of Vishnu in an earthly form serves to restore good order. The concept of the avatāra thus answered the theological and philosophical question of how the same being of Vişņu could be transcendent and at the same time present in his mythical manifestations. The idea is seen explained in Friedhelm Hardy, Op.cit, p. 126.

121 See Friedhelm Hardy, Op .cit, p. 126. 122 Ibid. 123 See Ibid. 124 Ibid. pp.142. 125 Ibid. 126 Ibid .p.143.

235

with all the questions.127 Accordingly the Stalapurāņā-s conceive of Vişņu as

manifesting himself in the locality at some point in the past, displaying his

divine attributes, fulfilling the wishes of a particular devotee of the region and

deciding to reside permanently as the aŗca.128 The Sŗī Vallabha Kşētŗa

Māhātmyam is being taken here in the same format which finds “the

perpetuation of the real, acting Vishnu”129 in the temple of Tiruvallavāl. The

entire region thus gets recognised as the field of presence of god and as his

protectorate. For this sacred space, the temple is its core and the vantage point

from which statements about the locality could be made.

The Kāvyā describes the temple as having been consecrated at the

instance of King Kulasekhara’ and Rişi Duŗvāsā. While the initiative of the

‘King Kulasakhara’ in the entire affair is ample certification of the political

patronage extended to the temple, Duŗvāsā’s role authenticates its ritual

authority. It is contented that the name ‘King Kulasakhara’ evoked in the

kāvyā is not the proper name of the Cera ruler and that this could be the title

used by the rulers of Perumpadappu—the descendents of the Cera line of

rulers by matrilineal succession130. Yet another picturisation of Tiruvallavāl,

as found in the Kāvyā, is as a place where ‘the altruistic, prosperous, tolerant

Brahmin benefactors’ dwell.

The purāņic elements form a major category of inputs working for the

sanctification of the temple and the sacralisation of the geography. In addition

to Lord Vishnu, his mount or vehicle (the garuddha) and his consort Lakshmi

(the goddess of prosperity), a host of deities as angadēvatā-s are specified to

be venerated such as the Varāhamūŗti, Dakşiņāmūŗti, Viswaksēna, Śāstā and

127 Ibid. 128 Ibid. 129 See Ibid. 130 See K S p, p. 89. F.N 3.

236

Gaņapati. Still further the Rişi Duŗvāsā and Satyāki make their place

conspicuous in the Stalapurāņā. The Rişi appears along with his disciples the

moment young Vasudevan reveals his identity. Once the old priest finds that

the dangerous Asurā had been done away with, he pleads with Vasudevan to

stay in Tiruvallavāļ itself and also asks “king Kulasekhara’s” wife to arrange

for the image of Vişņu to be set up in Cakŗapuram.131 Finally it is none other

than Duŗvāsā who supervises the entire range of arrangements for the

organisation of the temple-rituals.132

In addition to the centralisation of the Temple, we also find strategies at

work in the Stalapurāņā on three crucial themes, which call forth elaboration.

First, the Kāvyā proceeds by assigning a place of primacy to the family of

Sankaramangalam, downplaying if not erasing, all earlier memories about the

antecedents of the temple. Secondly, there is an outright prerogation of the

Tuļu Brahmins over various other types of Brahmins. Thirdly, there is seen the

accommodation of non-Vaişņava elements into the Purāņic scheme.

Giving primacy to the family of Sankaramangalam could be seen as a

game of recovery of its imagined past starting with its founding. Primacy is

given to it by referring to the devotion of the lady of Sankaramangalam, the

hospitality extended to lord Vişņu and the latter’s acceptance of the request to

stay in Tiruvallavāļ permanently and the enormous fortunes that had been

bequeathed to the temple in connection with its founding. It is at the instance

of the devout lady of Sankaramangalam that Vişņu had to appear as a Brahmin

boy, kill the Asura and make the place a haven for the Brahmins and their

rituals. Further, pantīraţi pūjā, which is incidentally the second pūjā in the

131 See K S P, p. 88. 132 Ibid.

237

temple and performed on a daily basis, is called Sankaramangalam pūjā133.

This pūjā offered to sudaŗśanacakŗa, is considered the most important one.

According to the Kāvyā, Vasudevan, the incarnation of Vişņu—consecrated

his invincible weapon sudaŗśanacakŗa, facing the maţham of

Sankaramangalm before disappearing. Again, according to the Kāvyā,

Vasudevan consents to be the son of the rich, widowed Brahman lady of

Sankaramngalm. Thus by extension he is the sole rightful claimant to the

proverbial wealth of the former. The Kāvya builds a binding between the

family of Sankaramangalam and the temple of Sŗī Vallabha, making it

impossible for the two to be dealt with in mutual exclusion. The oft-quoted

local code of conduct called Sankaramangalam Kaccam134 and the numerous

references to the huge properties mentioned in the revenue records even of the

post-Marthanda Varma period vouch for the power wielded by the expression

‘Sankaramangalam’.135 According to tradition the lady of Sankaramangalam is

said to have entrusted the property bestowed to the temple in the hands of

three Brahmin families which are assumed to be the principal illams of

Mecheri, Ilaman and Vilakkili. Of these, the Vilakkilies were the most

prominent. It is significant that there are oral traditions which try to link

Vilakkili mangalam with the family of Sankaramangalam.

As important as the primacy of the family of Sankaramangalam in the

Stalapurāņā, is a dual and complex process of affirming brahmanical

superiority and more specifically, the prerogation of the Tuļu Brahmins and so

too the accommodation of non-Vaişņava elements into the Purāņic scheme in 133 See K S P., p.74. 134 This is the Kaccam that regulated the affairs of the temple and the management of its property in

the post –Cera period. 135 A cadjan leaf manuscript recovered from Kulikkattillam, Tiruvallavāļ and kept in the Oriental

Research Institute and Manuscript Library, Kerala University, Trivandrum No. 17822 furnishes details of the properties of the various temples and families in Tiruvallavāļ. The document refers to the property that had been handed over by the family of Sankaramangalam.

238

the locality. The above functions carried out through the Stalapurāņā in the

case of Tiruvallavāl is comparable with what Chakravarthi calls the “Purāņic

process”, which he explains in relation to the region of Bengal. The Purāņā-s

marked the beginning of a new literary tradition with newer Purāņā-s

following in succession. The number of traditional Purāņās is put at eighteen

with the lesser and multiple Purāņā-s borrowing the format of the earlier

major Purāņā-s.136 These purāņic compositions were viewed as having

surfaced in areas where the Brahmins as a newly emigrant and favoured group

received the political patronage amidst a predominantly non–Brahmin

community. The distinction between the dominant and the subordinate

cultures continued, but had left some room for proximity and a certain degree

of absorption.137 It is further maintained that the rhetoric of the Great Tradition

and the systematisation of the substratum cultures are well reflected in the

Purāņā-s. But they made the literature acceptable to the audience for

mobilising social political action.138

We may now return to examine how Sŗī Vallabha Kşētŗa Māhātmayā

serves the function of a normative text performing the complex function of

affirming brahmanical superiority, prerogating the Tuļu Brahmins and

accommodating non-Vaişņava elements into the Purāņic scheme in the

locality. It is from the vantage point of the Tuļu Brahmins that the story of the

founding of the new temple is narrated. It is an affirmation of brahmanical

superiority through constituting difference enabling the making of value

judgements about the “Other” from the vantage point of the “Self”. The

authentication of the superiority of the “Self” is also made up in the act of

reiterating the qualities of the Brahmins. These are qualities that needed no 136 See Romila Thapar, Interpreting Early India, p.151. Also see Kunal Chakrabarti, Op. cit, p. 44. 137 Romila Thapar, Interpreting Early India, p.160. 138 Ibid.

239

certification regarding their desirability and superiority. Accordingly the

Brahmins are described as affluent, well versed in sŗuti and smŗiti, proficient

in śastŗā-s (in the arts of war) and śāstŗā-s (in various sciences), saintly,

liberal, even-tempered and generous. In the opening slōka-s, the Kāvyā

attributes these qualities to the Brahmins on the banks of the Niļā, but are soon

extended to the Brahmins of Tiruvallavāl by strategically classing them

together.139 It is the same function that is performed as the Kāvyā explicitly

gives out the caste identity of Vasudevan who is on the mission to do away

with Tukalasuran. He is not just any slayer or even a kşatŗiya prince or a

warrior hero but a Brahmin pupil observing the tenets befitting a distinguished

Brahmin lad.

A privileging of the Brahmins is discernible in several other instances

also. Say for instance, the Kāvyā abounds in phrases such as “Brahmaņa

Pŗīya” put into the mouth of lord Vishnu and ‘offer of half the portion of food

to the Brahmanas’ reserved for Vishnu by the lady of Sankaramangalam. The

consensus sought from the Brahmans on the issue of adopting Vasudevan as

the son of the lady of Sankaramangalam is a more conspicuous case of

clinching the supremacy of the Brahmins. Yet another image in this ensemble

is the gift of dhana, dhānya, vastŗa and bhūmi by the king “Kulasekhara” to

the Brahmins before leaving for home.

A closely related and significant function of the Kāvyā is the

idealisation of the brahmanical social order. This is being done by drawing a

clear distinction between the Brahmins and the rest, making them perceivable

as mutually exclusive entities in descriptions. The former is assigned ontic

priority in a variety of ways. Throughout the Kāvyā, the Brahmins as a class

139 These are the attributes of the Brahmanas as laid down in the first chapter of the Kavya.

240

are conceived as unique and deservedly assured of safety and security in the

‘zone’ freed from the hands of Tukalasuran, by none other than Lord Vişņu

present in the temple as the Brahmin boy, Vasudevan. Still further it is the

brahmanical life world that the narrative ingenuity of the Kāvyā upholds. It

makes up the idea of Vasudevan as perpetually available in the locality, as per

the request of Rişi Duŗvāsā for the protection and perpetuation of the Brahmin

order.

Enunciative strategies apart, an important aspect, concomitant with the

composition of the Stalapurāņā, is the incorporation of the little narrative of

the region into the brahmanical mega-narrative. Apart from Vishnu, the Kāvyā

brings in a chain of Purāņic characters as major players in the Stalapurāņā,

such as Satyāki—the friend of Lord Krishna, Viswakarma—the maker of

images, Rişi Duŗvāsā—the revered priest etc. This would mean that the

Purāņic characters were widening the circle of their operation and in the

process incorporating new elements in it. This enfolding course has a

tremendous creative power function inherent in it.140 The above condition of

getting positioned in the mega narratives is never construed as an activity

presided over by human will but as the natural outcome of pre determined

sequences in human and godly ‘becoming’.141 It is hence possible to sum up

its multi-pronged functions as an instrument for the propagation of

brahmanical ideas, social reconstruction and sectarian interests and as a

medium for the absorption of local cults and associated practices and as a

140 This has been construed as and a standard phenomenon in the narratives in the pre modern period

in India. The way in which it operated in the narratives had been elaborated in Raju S, We and You in Devising India and South India, Lateral Studies.1, 2001, School of Social Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, pp. 18-22.

141 See Ibid, p. 21.

241

vehicle for popular instruction on norms governing everyday existence.142 The

Stalapurāņā links up the scripture and the social codes of the smŗitīs and

proceeds by incorporating as many local elements as possible without

compromising on their principal objective of establishing the Brahmanical

social order.143

But even as the idealisation of the brahmanical-ritualistic social order is

effected, the Kāvya resorts to a further privileging of the Tuļu Brahmins. This

is done by bestowing on them the status of a ‘providential delegation’ to

search for the image of Sŗī Vallabha in the Netravati River, lifting it up after

and carrying it all the way to Tiruvallavāļ to be consecrated here. This also is

made to account for their right to traditional priesthood in the temple of

Tiruvallavāļ. Above all, the image of the garudda set up on the top of the flag

mast or dhwaja is made to represent the Tuļu Brahmins. As per the paňca

prākāra scheme of temple-building followed broadly in Kerala, the dhwaja is

located in the bāhya hāra or puŗattē balivaţţam with the chief deity facing

it.144 The dhwaja symbolises kuņdalini sakti and the vāhana at the top

represents the sahasŗāra cakŗa.145 The underlying idea is that the deity is

seated above the vāhanā and this is a reason, great enough, for it to be revered.

This brings us to yet another function of the Stalapurāņā, namely the

accommodation of non- Vaişņava elements into the Purāņic scheme.

The Kāvya is keen to draw dreadful pictures of the ‘Asura’ called

Toliya (Tukala) as a slayer of the Brahmins. The Tukalasuran mentioned

142 It is possible to equate the situation in the locality with how the Purāņā s functioned in Bengal.

See Kunal Chakrabarti, Op. cit, p. 53. 143 The range of developments as discerned in the case of Bengal as what has been called the

Purāņic Process apply to Kerala as well. Ibid, p.52. 144 For details on the scheme of temple construction and the place of the dhwaja K Jayasankar,

Temples of Kerala, Directorate of Temple Operations, Trivandrum, II, 1997. 145 Ibid, p. 98.

242

above seems to be a powerful Saivite chief who held sway over the adjacent

hill called Toliyamali. It is also likely that he controlled the traffic through a

major branch of the Manimala River flowing through the foot of the

Toliyamalai. The presence of a huge stock of megalithic monuments and

burial articles in the place indicate that it had been one of the earliest human

habitats, the beginnings of which can be traced to the pre-Brahmin era. This

will probably explain why there has been some stigma attached to this Siva

temple, about which references has already been made in the previous chapter.

This habitat seems to have been abandoned later and it remains a mystery that

Toliyamalai remained a dense jungle before it came to be called the

Cheranallur hamlet or the Bhaţţatiri grāma. The hamlet has been called so for

reason that all the three prominent tantŗi families of Tiruvallavāļ are put up

there. It is presumed that the tantŗi families came to occupy the region only

after the thirteenth century. While we are in receipt of information about the

paddy growing waterlogged regions in the TCP, information is scanty about

Toliyamalai and the resources there from. It is also significant that we have a

palm-leaf document of the 740 Kollam Era corresponding to 1565 AD giving

details of the income due from various residents of the Toliyamalai region to

the Tarayil Kulikkatuu Illam.146 The latter is one of the tantŗi families of the

Sŗī Vallabha Temple. This would suggest that not only the hilly slopes of

Toliyamali, but the plains below the hills came to be cultivated like the

waterlogged regions at least by the sixteenth century.

While hostility to the ‘Asura’ is made manifest in the Kāvyā, it is quick

to mark the difference when it comes to the approach to Siva. In other words

claims on the slaying of the Tukalasuran, the consecration of a new deity, the

146 See document no. 17982 kept in the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscript Library, Kerala

University, Tiruvananthapuram.

243

institution of new rituals and the listing of a new range of sub deities do not

portend the complete obliteration of the earlier ones. Rather what we find is

the absorption of the non- Brahmanic elements into the Brahmanic pantheon

and their consequent relegation as lower notations of the pan-Brahmanic

order.147 That is, there is an exaltation of Vişņu among the pantheon. As per

the oral traditions, Tukalasuran, the ‘asura ruler’ of Toliyamalai148 was a

devotee of Siva but the slaying of Tukalasuran is not given to signal the

wiping out of the vestiges of Sivite influence, for the Stalapurāņā speaks of

Vasudevan consecrating the Siva linga worshipped by Tukalasuran. What is

found is the accommodation of Saivism within the Vaişņavite and

Brahmanical control. The listing of the angadēvatā-s would even carry us

further to contend that even non-purāņic deities have been taken in, to

constitute the new pantheon. This argument may be seen highlighted by

Padmanabha Menon when he says that the deities prior to the present ones in

the various temples were not the purāņic trio (tŗimūŗtī-s) or their

incarnations.149 The worship of deities such as Duŗgā and Śāstā are being

construed as part of the ‘Aryan’ strategy to influence Dravidians by positing

‘purāņic attributes’ on these cult forms, deities and observances of the earlier

period.’150

147 For a discussion on the assimilative character of the Brahmanic order see M Muralidharan.,

“Community Formation, Colonial Habitus and the Brahmanial Life World”, Haritam. 1996, Kottayam, pp.30-31.

148 The name Toliyamalai is found to have been used even in the palm leaf documents of c. 800 M E (1625 AD). See for instance document no. 17982 kept in the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscript Library, University of Kerala, Tiruvanathapuram. Toliyamalai located on the banks of the river Vishghna (Manimal) was for a long time called the Bhattatiri grama. This had the region where the Tantri families of Kulikkattu and Parampur and the Agnihotri family of Mulavana were put up.

149 K P Padmanabha Menon, KociRajya Caritram, 1996, Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Ltd., Kozhikode, 97-98.

150 See K P Padmanabha Menon, Koci Rajya Caritram, 1914, Mathrubhumi, Calicut, p. 98.

244

The narrative scheme has a preoccupation with king Kulasekhara right

from the point where it speaks of the search for the Vishnu image kept

protected in the depths of the Perumpula River. It is likely that the

Kulasekhara mentioned in the Kāvyā must be Sŗī Vira Raghava Chakravarti of

the Kottayam Plate. Historians have assigned different dates to the document,

ranging from the second century to the thirteenth century AD.151 Elamkulam’s

inferences based on a comparative study of the documents of the twelfth and

thirteenth centuries, that the document had been issued by the mūppu of

Perumpadappu—Vira Raghava Chakravarti—appears to be reasonable. It is

possible that the chief mentioned above could have been associated with some

major development in the trajectory of the Brahmin migration seeking new

settlements and the temple.

The crucial points of the main stem of the story linked to the proverbial

political authority of ‘king Kulasekhara’ may be listed as follows: (1) As a

sequel to the story of Vişņu’s killing of Tukalasuran, Garuddha gives

instructions through allegory to the ‘Vallabha’—the ‘queen’ of the Cera

ruler—to get her consort set up the image of Vişņu in Cakrapuram. (2) The

same night, the Tuļu Brahmins are given the instruction to take out the image

from the river Perumpula and take it to King Kulasekhara. (3) The moment the

image had been recovered, ‘the Kulasekhara’ arranged for the image to be

carried to Tiruvallavāl to be consecrated there. (4) The consecration of the

image was overseen by the ‘King Kualsekhara’ himself. (5) He made gifts to

the Tuļu Brahmins (6) He made provisions for the daily, monthly and yearly

pūjā-s of the god. (7) He made the rulers of his line, protectors of the temple. 151 For detailed discussion on the Vira Raghava Plates See K N Daniel., “Vira Kerala Chakravarti”,

in K S P, p.95. Also see Elamkulam P N Kunjan Pillai., Vira Raghavapattayam, (Mal.) in Elamkulam Kunjan Pillayute Tiranjetutta Kritikal, pp.747- 763. Also refer story of Garuda informing Vira Kerala in a dream of the Vishnu image being kept safe in the depths of Bhadrakkayam in the Perumpula river in the Tuļu country in K S P., p.71. fn.71.

245

(8) The place came to be called Vallabha Grama after the name of the king’s

wife, Vallabha.

It has rightly been pointed out by T K Joseph that Kulasekhara is not

the proper name of a king152 and that only a couple of the Cera rulers are

known to have used ‘Kulasekhara’ for their coronation name or as a second

name, such as Sthanu Ravi and Rama Kulasekhara.153 But the rulers of Venad

are seen to have used the name later.154 The kind of relationship between the

Cera rulers and the temples/ religious institutions had been worked out with

the aid of the traditional chronicle, Kēraļōlppatti even though the statements

in the text are not being accepted at face value. It has been argued that the

Cera rulers have been different from their counterparts elsewhere in South

India in the sense that the kings had been subservient to the brahmanas and

that the nāţū-s enjoyed a considerable amount of autonomy.155 In several parts

of Kerala there were religious institutions obtaining the necessary sanction as

well as assistance for the construction of their respective places of worship

from the rulers. A case in point is the Pallippāţţu explaining the antecedents of

the founding of the church of Kallooppara.156 The above church is claimed to

152 T K Joseph, K S P, p. 88, note, 3. 153 M G S Narayanan, Perumals of Kerala, p.80. 154 See Ibid. 155 M G S Narayanan, “The State in the Era of the Ceraman Perumals of Kerala” in R

Champakalakshmi, Kesavan Veluthatt, et. al, State and Society in South India, (2002), Cosmobooks, Trissur, p.114 . Also see his Perumals of - - -, pp. 18-20. It has also been pointed out that the existence or prosperity of the traditional Brahmin settlements remained independent of the fortunes of the ruler in the capital city. This stands affirmed in the light of the fact that the Brahmin settlements continued to be strong and prosperous for several centuries after the decline of the Cera line of rulers. Hence the Perumāļ in the political context of the Cera period is being regarded as only a ritual sovereign to ensure legitimacy and unity among the various natus. It is further argued by M G S Narayanan that what prevailed was a bold and visible oligarchy thinly disguised as a monarchy.155 But within the purview of this ‘ritual sovereignty’ fell the veneration of the various temples, ensuring the protection of their assets and providing for their maintenance. This explains why the explanatory scheme of the Stalapurāņā had carved out space for the ruler.

156 For the text of the Pallippattu, see Alex Mathew (ed), Joseph Panickarute Kallooppara palli Caritram, (2004), C S S, Tiruvalla, p.56.

246

have been founded while the territory was under the control of Elangalloor

Swarūpam. The latter incidentally, claimed the status of ‘Ceramar’.157

We may read these in the background of certain rights and

responsibilities of the raja of Kochi in connection with the affairs of the

western deity in the temple of Tiruvallavāļ until 941 (M E).158 Then it may be

possible to place the major event of dedication or the rededication of the

present image of the main deity or the rebuilding of the temple or the erection

of a particular monument within the temple complex, to the thirteenth century.

The story of the Vişņu image that concurs with Kulasekhara and the

Tuļu elements in the Stalapurāņā is that there was an image of Vişņu in the

temple and that the Pōŗŗī-s of the place had already made an image of Vişņu

for their new temple.159 But when the Satyaki’s new Vişņu image came, the

original one was sent to Malayinkil, and set up in a temple there.160 Details of

the above story have already been discussed in the previous chapter.

Ethnographic information as well as references in granthavari-s also point to

the consecration of a new image. Yet another view is that, earlier both the

chief deity and the shrine were small and that changes came about since the

consecration of a new image. It also seems likely that there had been some

kind of an exodus of the local Brahmins from Tiruvallavāļ and an influx of

Brahmins form the Tuļu region soon after. Probably the Brahmin community

migrating from Terovolas to Malayinkil might have taken the original image

along with them to be consecrated in the new shrine there. Yet another version

157 Ibid, pp. l-5. Also see Ibid, Introductory chapter, p.13 This is in keeping with the Keralolpathi

tradition which acknowledges the benefactor as the immediate head. Legitimacy for the benefactor is pitched in his claim of succession from the legendary ‘Cheraman Perumal’.

158 For details see K P Padmanabha Menon., Kocci Rajya Caritram, p.101. 159 See the version of Villivattaom Raghavan Nambiar on the tradition relating to setting up of the

new image in K S P., p.71. 160 K S P., p.71.

247

is that the image taken away to Malayinkil was not that of Sŗī Vallabha, but

that of Tiruvambadi (Krishna)—one of the incarnations of Vişņu. The basis of

the latter identification is the distinct feature of the image holding in his four

hands, the Sankhu (conch), Cakŗa (Discus), gada (club) and Padmam (lotus

flower). It is significant that the image of Tiruvayambadi (Krishna), to which

mention is made in the TCP161 doesn’t figure in the list of deities in the

Stalapurāņā and is not present among the other deities in the temple at

present.

We consider the Stalapurāņā as an interface between myth and history

wherein it may be seen as an intermeshing of events and personages of the

historical past to generate picturesqueness and force to the narrative.

Protagonists and actions as dealt with in the narrative prompt the reader to

make complex semiotic identifications with hallowed persons and events.

These identifications made through the text mark a crucial phase wherein the

Tuļu elements assumed great importance in matters associated with the

management of the temple. The narrative normalises an integrated worldview

which consists in making Tiruvallavāl a transcendental reality that straddles

empty time in which this reality is given possession of a past, present and

future.

On the basis of the above elaboration of information from the TCP and

the narrative, we can state that the centrifugality of the temple processes was

dynamic and endemic, all along its trajectory, involving constant articulation

and re-articulation of its features, attributes and functions. Centrifugality is not

seen to poses an eternal and unchanging essence and had to be reworked to

cohere the shifting contexts and situations.

161 See TCP., l.412.