The monumental Kāilaśanātha Temple at Kanchipuram, built by Pallava king Narasiṃhavarman II Rājasiṃha, is important because it was the first major structural stone temple in southern India. The numerous sculptures formed an iconographical program exalting both the god Śiva and the king who built it.
Kāilaśa is the Himalayan mountain home of the god Śiva to whom Narasiṃhavarman II Rājasiṃha’
King Narasiṃhavarman II’
The temple complex, built in sandstone and facing east, was a joint venture that included Narasiṃhavarman, his son Mahendravarman III
The vimāna, with its inner sanctum (garbha gṛha), houses the two main icons, a large fluted, faceted sixteen-sided basalt liṇgam (the aniconic symbol of Śiva) in the center of the cella and, carved on the back wall, the seated group called Sōmāskanda, consisting of Śiva, his wife Pārvatī, and their son Skanda seated on a throne; they are flanked by standing images of Brahma and Viṣṇu (Vishnu). The vimāna, a four-storied structure essentially square in plan, rose in a series of tiers (talas) to form a great tower (ś;ikhara) that was crowned by an enormous octagonal stone. Each tier was distinguished by a row of carved miniature shrines.
Artists covered the walls of the vimāna with many Hindu deities, mythological scenes, and fantastic rearing creatures called vyālas. Originally, all the walls of the compound were covered with plaster and paintings. Rare fragments of the early, perhaps original, paintings can be seen in some of the smaller shrines along the south and west enclosure walls. There are more than 120 major icons as well as a host of subordinate images, all of which provide a tangible and permanent record of important religious movements of the early eighth century in southern India. The temple’s many images of Śiva were indicative of the king’s devotion as well as Śiva’s immense popularity in the Tamil region. The vast collection of Shaivite
The vimāna walls also bear several fascinating icons of Śiva that appear for the first time in Indian art. The various dance poses of Śiva, the nṛtyamūrtis, created by Pallava artists for this temple are an important achievement. The energetic representations of the dancing lord convey his mighty cosmogonic function as provider of the power that causes the universe’s evolution, maintenance, and dissolution. His dance, wild but full of grace, is meant to affect all nature and its creatures. According to the Āgamas (texts sacred to Śiva), the mighty god has 108 dance forms; only nine, however, are portrayed in the sculptural program of the Kāilaśanātha. One of the most interesting is the icon called Urdhva Taṇḍava that, according to a southern Indian legend, represents a famous dance competition between Śiva and the goddess Kālī. Whatever dance pose Śiva assumed, Kālī repeated it with ease. When Śiva, however, lifted one leg straight up the side of his head, Kālī was forced to concede, because, as a woman, she was not willing to assume a posture so indiscreet that her genitalia would be exposed. A few other stunning iconic representations of Śiva debuted at the Kāilaśanātha Temple, including Śiva as Tripurāntaka, or the Destroyer of Three Cities; Lingodbhavamūrti, or Śiva emerging from a flaming liṇgam; and Śiva as Gajāsura Saṃharamūrti, which shows the forceful god destroying a terrible elephant demon.
The walls of the temple bear many of Narasiṃhavarman II’s inscriptions; they provide the king’s mythological and real genealogies, his many alternate names, his accomplishments, and numerous accolades. According to one inscription, the temple was built for the sake of a queen named Raṇgapatākā, either the king’s consort or mother, who was famous for her beauty and chastity.
Raṇgapatākā seems to have played an active role in the construction of the temple. Some experts believe that what appear to be portraits of Śiva and Pārvatī carved on the back wall of the shrine actually may be portraits of the king and queen. Another of the inscriptions praises Narasiṃhavarman as an āgamaprīya, or one who is versed in the Āgamas. The king clearly adopted some of the conventions stated in the Āgamas for his temple. For example, the layout of the complex with its smaller shrines along the cloister walls is based on a scheme mentioned in the Amṣumadbhedāgama (eighth century). The temple also reflects the development of ritual worship and evolving Hindu iconography.
There is another important dimension to understanding the temple and its royal builder recently recognized among scholars. The temple complex seems to have been a religious center for a cult of a divine king. There are hints that previous Pallava rulers may have regarded themselves as god-kings and that the tradition of a rudimentary form of divine kingship was indigenous in ancient Tamil society. It is apparent from Narasiṃhavarman II’s inscriptions on the Kāilaśanātha Temple that he regarded himself as divine, a role that no doubt facilitated his control over his vast empire. Narasiṃhavarman’s personal inscriptions were particularly informative and instructive on the subject; for example, in one, he called his temple “The Holy Rājasiṃha-Pallesvara.” In a subtle play on words, he named the temple after himself, not as its builder, but as the divine resident.
One of the temple’s names, Rājasiṃheśvara, can be translated two ways: (śiva) the lord of (king) Rājasiṃha; the lord (god/king) Rājasiṃha. The double entendre is intentional. Similarly, Pallava specialists have recognized that the temple’s many icon panels of Sōmāskanda, Śiva, and his family members also were intended to represent the Pallava royal family. Thus, icons of Śiva also represented the king; Pārvatī, the queen; and Skanda, a Pallava prince. Both poetic inscriptions and imagery corroborate the idea of a god being incarnate in human form and specifically the god taking a royal incarnation. The religious doctrine of the time supported the idea of the merging of Śiva and the king, as the god’s supreme devotee, into a single entity. According to Śaiva Siddhānta, the popular religious movement of the seventh and eighth centuries in southern India, the goal of the devotee was to unite with Śiva in a state of absolute oneness. The king, most worthy and accomplished of mortals, naturally assumed the state of divine oneness with Śiva. Thus, while asserting assiduously again and again that he was the devotee of Śiva, Narasiṃhavarman simultaneously embraced and merged with the divine.
The Kāilaśanātha Temple is one of the most important sacred buildings in south India. Its construction was revolutionary in the region, and the temple was monumental and elegantly decorated. Narasiṃhavarman II encouraged experimentation and inventiveness in the temple’s iconography. His visionary approach ensured that the Kāilaśanātha would become a model for later Shaivite temples: the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram, the Virūpākśa Temple at Pattadakal, and the very famous Kāilaśanātha Temple at Ellora all were directly inspired by Kanchipuram’s famous temple. Narasiṃhavarman laid down such a standard of excellence that later kings vied to surpass his spectacular achievement. In addition, his legacy has provided tangible proof that he was regarded as a divine king and that the Kāilaśanātha Temple was a monument dedicated not only to Śiva but also to Narasiṃhavarman II as an earthly manifestation of that powerful deity.
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Lockwood, Michael. Mamallapuram and the Pallavas. Madras, India: Christian Literature Society, 1982. An excellent work that includes a series of articles on Pallava art and material on Narasiṃhavarman II and his monument at Kanchipuram. Bibliography. -
Lockwood, Michael, Gift Siromoney, and P. Dayanandan. Mahabalipuram Studies. Madras, India: Christian Literature Society, 1974. An important work on Pallava art in general, with some interesting materials on the Kāilaśanātha at Kanchipuram. Bibliography. -
Longhurst, A. H. Pallava Architecture. New Delhi: Cosmo Press, 1982. A pioneering and detailed study on important Pallava monuments. Bibliography.