Brihadeeswarar Temple – Sculptures
The temple has many niche sculptures of the forms of
Shiva. The figure of Lingodbhava is in a niche in the western side of the
Srivimana. The knee-length form of Shiva is seen within a pillar like structure
which represents the great column of fiery light. Vishnu in the form of a wild
boar dives low to find the base of this column and Brahma in the form of a Swan
glides up into the heavens to discover the topmost limit of this column which
is indeed Shiva himself. Both Vishnu and Brahma are unable to measure the
dimensions of this column of light.
The northern part of the Srivimana has the exquisite
niche-figure of Ardhanarisvara, with his right arm resting on Nandi’s head. The
Nandi is sculpted behind the figure of Ardhanarisvara. This part of the
Srivimana also has the niche figure of Alingana Murti or Gouri Prasada Murti.
Shiva is shown here with his left arm around Uma maheshvari’s shoulders. Both
figures exude a languid and reposeful grace.
First Entrance
The first entrance has two small shrines dedicated to
Lord Ganesha and Lord Subramanya on either side. There is no tower present in
this entrance. Instead, there is a arch with Maratha period stucco images of
Shiva-Shakti, Ganesha, Surya, Kartikeya and another unidentified deity.
Keralantaka Thiruvasal
The Keralantaka Thiruvasal entrance has a
two-tiered tower which is carved with a lot of beautiful sculptures. Some of
the sculptures in this tower include:
·
The dancing Kali with
eight arms
·
Lakshmi
·
Vishnu
·
Veerabhadra along with the
goat headed Daksha
·
Ganesha with his consort
Siddhi
·
Uma and Maheswara
·
Shiva with five faces (or
Brahma?)
·
Chandrasekhara and Uma
· The dancing Shiva with ten
arms with his left leg turned upwards - Urdhava tandava
·
Gangadhara
·
Rishabha vahana
·
Two wrestlers
·
Shiva marrying Parvati;
Vishnu nearby - Kalyanasundaram pose
·
Brahma and Saraswati
·
Dvarapalas - multiple in
each layer and in both sides of gopuram
·
Shiva sitting on Rishabha
(on the other side of gopuram - another one)
·
Sadasiva (another one, on
the other side of gopuram)
·
Gopikas vastrabaranam by
Krishna
·
Shiva and Parvati
·
Shiva with two seers on
his either sides
·
Two different poses of
Narasimha attacking Hiranya
·
Vishnu in the sitting
posture
·
Varaha carrying Bhoo Devi
·
Kartikeya with two consorts
·
Bhikshatana
Rajarajan Thiruvasal
The innermost entrance is called as Rajarajan
Thiruvasal. It also has a tower richly carved with sculptures. Another unique
feature of this entrance is the bas-relief panels depicting many Puranic
legends.
Two gigantic idols of Dvarapalas and the sculptures on
the tower are very attractive. People generally miss out the relief panels in
this entrance. They are supposed to be the unique feature of this entrance.
All these panels depict different Puranic stories such
as.
· Kama aiming his arrow to
Shiva, Shiva burning Kama and subsequently Rati's prayer to Shiva; ultimately
Kama (after he is back alive) and Rati worshiping Shiva
·
Arjuna's penance - Arjuna
and Shiva in the form of hunter fighting - Arjuna getting Paasupataastram from
Shiva
·
Valli getting afraid of
elephant and marrying Kartikeya
·
Markandeya hugging Shiva
Linga out of fear - Shiva attacking Yama
·
Daksha's yagna - Shiva
cutting his head
· Tripurantaka story - three
Asuras fighting with Shiva - depiction of Buddha (the Asuras are depicted as
followers of Buddha) - very interesting panel depicting Buddha, work of the
Cholas
·
Kannappa Nayanar story
·
Big Gaja Samhara Murti -
partly damaged
·
Big Kankalanathar - partly
damaged
Definitely, the two big Dvarapalas at this entrance are
the main attractions. If you carefully notice the Dvarapala to your left side
when you enter into the entrance, there is a lion, snake eating elephant and a
lizard below the right foot of the guardian. At the inner side of the entrance,
the shrines of Indra and Nagaraja are found.
Some of the notable icons that are found on the tower;
· Ten armed Ganesha with his
consort seated on his lap - a beautifully decorated arch (torana) on top
· Subramanya with twelve
arms seated on an elephant - a beautifully decorated torana on top
·
Ardhanareeswara seated on Rishabha
·
Ganesha
·
Soldier, king or a deity
seated on a horse
·
Kartikeya seated on
peacock
·
Indra seated on elephant
·
Agni
·
Varaha with four arms in
the sitting posture
·
Saraswati (or probably
Kaumari) with four arms seated on peacock
· Urdhava tandava and the
dancing Kali with Nandi and Brahma carrying musical instruments
·
Dancing girls
·
Rishis (seers)
·
Multiple pairs of dvarapalas
in different sizes and postures
·
Three icons of
Dakshinamurti one above the other
· Brahma with two consorts -
two icons one above the other - the lowermost icon has just Brahma without any
consort
·
Krishna killing Bhutana
·
Vishnu with serpent on his
top and is seated
Niche Sculptures on Main Shrine
The wall around the main shrine has inscriptions in the
lower portion. The middle and upper portion has a lot of beautiful niche
sculptures. Some of the notable sculptures are:
·
Ganesha
·
Vishnu with Sri Devi and
Bhoo Devi
·
Lakshmi
·
Vishnu Anugraha Murti
·
Veerabhadra
·
Kalantaka
·
Bhikshatana
·
Natesa
·
Dakshinamurti
·
Harihara
·
Ardhanareeswara
·
Annamalaiyaar
·
Chandrasekhara
·
Gangadhara
·
Narasimha
·
Saraswati
·
Varaha
Apart from the east facing main shrine, all the
entrances in the other three directions too have big Dvarapala idols. Also, the
decorated stone windows are found in between the niche images. The side walls
of the steps have relief images depicting some legends. In one of the reliefs,
we can find Buddha.
