Somantheshwarar Temple, Melpadi – The Temple
The
temple has south facing entrance. The outer entrance does not have tower. The
inner entrance has a three-tiered tower, which is a later addition. The entire
temple complex is surrounded by wide fortress walls. This is a Chola
period temple built by Parantaka Chola I between 907 and 953 A.D. and later
developed by Rajaraja Cholan (985-1014 A.D.). Presiding Diety is called as Somnatheshwarar.
The sanctum faces the east direction and it enshrines a big sized Shiva Linga,
Presiding Deity.
The
vimana is made of stone completely, which is a notable feature. Sanctum Vimanam
is of stone dome type and the kalasam is also made of stone. The dome and the
kalasam are dark black/ green colour stones. Two huge figures of Dwarapalas at
the entrance of the sanctum are very attractive. The flagstaff, bali peetha and
Nandi are found facing towards the direction of the sanctum, but they are
separate by the wall from the sanctum.
The
Mukha Mandapam has the beautiful vratta sthamba (round pillars). Ganesha, Dhakshinamoorthi,
Vishnu, Brahma and Vishnu Durga are found as the niche images. They all look
very attractive and do not belong to the original Chola period. They appear to
be later additions. Mother is called as Tapaskruta Devi. The
Goddess Tapaskruta Devi is found in a separate south facing shrine
located in the outer prakara. The shrine has an attractive vimana and a mukha
mandapam. This is a later addition probably done by the Vijayanagara Kings.
The Chola
period Kalyana Mandapam as well as few other mandapams that are found in the
temple have beautiful sculptures depicted on the pillars. There are few small
sized attractive and interesting bas relief images on the outer wall of the
temple. The south eastern mandapam has many sculptures that include Ganesha,
Sapta Matrikas, Veerabhadra, Naga Yagnopavita Vinayaka, Kankalanathar,
Gangadhara, Rishbhantika Murti, Bhairava, Surya, Chandra, Nagas and Ayyanar.
Some of them belong to the Chola period and the others to the later period.
The
southern outer wall in the second prakara has a small shrine of Ganesha. Outside
the temple complex, there is a soldier's sculpture found. He holds spear and
shield in his arms. There is a big stone bowl and a Shiva Lingam (Avudayar
in broken condition). As per the inscription found in this temple which belongs
to the period of Rajaraja Chola I, the presiding deity was called
as Cholendra Simhesvara in those days. There are lot of inscriptions around
sanctum wall.
