Somangalam Somanatheeswarar Temple
Somangalam - it is such a picturesque village, surrounded by a beautiful lake and fertile lands. It's hard to believe that it is a Southern suburb of the highly congested Chennai. The village has two Chola period temples. This article is about the Somanatheeswarar Temple, one of those two shrines.
Should I highlight the exceptionally stunning sculptures? Should I talk about classic Chola architecture? Else, should I write about the historical significance of the site? I wonder, where do I start and where do I end, and what to cover and what not to?
(Note: I have been visiting the temple since 2014. Right from day one, I became its ardent fan. I have curated a heritage trip to this site. I wrote about this temple in my blog many years ago. Even in my "Temples of Chennai Part 1" book, I have covered this site. However, I did not feel accomplished. I thought I should write an extremely long article that covers all aspects entirely. Hence, I spent about a month collecting details and wrote this article.
Even those who live in Chennai or Tambaram would have hardly visited this stone marvel. Whenever I visit this temple with barely any visitor, I feel dejected. I cannot digest the fact that a temple with so many splendid sculptures is being ignored. I believe this article would be helpful to kindle the interest of people to regularly visit the place and astonish at its beauty.)
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| Gajaprshtha Vimana |
Introduction
Somangalam is situated at a distance of 9 km west of Tambaram, the southern suburb of Chennai city. Google Map location (coordinates) is provided at the end of the article.
A medium-sized apsidal temple of Lord Shiva, called Somanatheeswarar, is located at the center of the village. The ancient shrine, built during the Chola period, has inscriptions from the Cholas, Pandyas and Vijayanagaras. The temple is considered a Navagraha Sthalam of Chennai. Some of the sculptures of the temple are rare and are older than the current temple. A rare form of Nataraja of this temple is mesmerizing.
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| Front-side of main shrine |
Legend
The well-known legend of Chandra (the Moon) withering out due to a curse by his father-in-law Daksha Prajapati is associated with this site. Chandra traveled to this village and took a dip in the holy tank to get rid of his curse. Hence, the tank is named Chandra Teertha. The presiding deity is called Somanatheeswarar (which means the Lord of Soma/Chandra), and the village is called Somangalam (Soma+mangalam).
Another legend states that there was an invasion when the Chola army was busy in temple building activity. As per the request from the Chola King, Lord Shiva ordered his vahana (mount) Nandi to face the enemies. Nandi turned towards the temple entrance and blew down everyone on the opposite side. Hence, the image of Nandi remains permanently facing the gate and not Shiva in this temple.
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| Chandra |
Highlights
The nine temples, each dedicated to one of the nine planetary deities (Navagrahas), located in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, are called Navagraha Sthalams. Like those original Navagraha temples, nine sites are identified in and around Chennai and are considered Navagraha Sthalams of Chennai or the Tondai region. Somanatheeswarar temple is dedicated to Chandra (Moon planet) and is one of nine temples. A big and beautiful sculpture of Chandra in a separate shrine is found.
Nataraja in this temple is not in his usual Ananda tandava or Urdhava tandava pose, but in Chatura tandava posture. Although this form is found in a few other temples and museums, it is rare and unusual. A detailed description of this image can be seen in the subsequent portion of this article.
Along with the Koshta murtis (deities on the niches), the carvings of their respective vahanas (mounts) are also seen. This is unusual.
Brahma is generally found only as the Koshta image. However, here there is a sculpture of Brahma in the Mukha Mandapa. Notably, he is in the sitting posture, which is unusual.
Subramanya in the form of Brahma Shasta is not rare. But, there are three images of Brahma Shasta found in this temple. I am not sure if there is any other temple that has so many Brahma Shastas.
This temple is one of Devara Vaippu Sthalams mentioned in a hymn sung by Appar.
As stated in an earlier section, Nandi is not facing Shiva but in the opposite direction. Only a few temples have Nandi's unusual direction like this.
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| Nandi facing the entrance instead of Shiva |
History
The earliest reference to the temple is from Appar's Devaram. It is a Devaram Vaippu Sthalam.
For the benefit of beginners, let me brief on Appar and Devaram in the following two paragraphs.
Appar, also known as Tirunavukkarasar, was a Shaivite saint and poet from the 7th century CE. It is said that he had composed around 4,900 hymns praising Lord Shiva. Out of them, only 313 hymns survived. Along with the songs written by Sambandhar and Sundarar, those songs of Appar were compiled as Devaram by Nambiyandar Nambi in the 12th century CE.
There are 275 temples of Shiva revered in the verses of Devaram. They are called Paadal Petra Sthalams. Besides, many other important Shiva temples are casually mentioned in the hymns. They are called Vaippu Sthalams. Somanatheeswarar Temple of Somamangalam is one such Vaippu Sthalam. Appar has mentioned this site. More details about this particular hymn can be seen in a separate section subsequently in this article.
As Appar had mentioned this holy site in his hymn, the original temple should date the 7th century or earlier. Also, it is a Gaja prshtha (apsidal shaped) temple. Most, if not all, Gajaprshtha temples were built by the Pallavas, and they were rebuilt as stone temples by the Cholas later. Accordingly, although there is no inscriptional evidence, I assume that the original temple (not the current structure) was built during the Pallava's period.
Keeping aside my opinion about the origin of the temple, let me move to the inscriptional evidence.
The oldest inscription found in this temple is from Rajadhiraja Chola II, dated 1174 CE. The latest inscription belongs to the 15th century CE from the Vijayanagaras. The nearby Vishnu temple has a much older inscription (Kulotunga Chola I, dated 1073 CE).
Based on the inscriptions that are available to us, we cannot conclude who built this temple. But we can safely assume that the current structure of the temple was built sometime between the 11th century CE and 12th century CE. Either Kulotunga Chola I or Rajadhiraja Chola II might have made this temple. We cannot deny the possibility of assigning the temple to the other Chola Kings during the 11th/12th century.
The current structure is undeniably a Chola temple. The shrine of Goddess was probably built by the Pandyas.
Even in the olden days, the village was called Somangalam. However, it was also known in different names during different periods, such as Rajashikhamani Chaturvedimangalam and Panchanadivana Chaturvedimangalam. It indicates the fact that the village was gifted to the scholars who were well versed in four Vedas.
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| Ganesha |
The details about all the inscriptions can be seen below.
Inscription # 1
Inscription # 2
Inscription # 3
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| Brahma Shasta |
Inscription # 4
Inscription # 5
Inscription # 6
Reference - M.C.C Serial No. 1974/05Location - West Outer Wall of the Main ShrinePeriod - 1260/61 CEKing - Jatavarma Sundara Pandya ILanguage - Tamil
It records the land in Vellarai village that was bought for this temple. It is interesting to note that Vellarai as a settlement still exists in Kelambakkam-Vandalur High Road. The inscription further provides details about the arrangement for monthly worship at the temple on the day of Revati Nakshatra every month. It was the birth star of a local chieftain named Panchanadivaanan Arunagiri Perumal Nilakangarayan. He was the donor.
Chatura tandava murti
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| Chatura tandava murti |
Inscription # 7
Reference - M.C.C Serial No. 1974/06Location - North Outer Wall of the Main ShrinePeriod - 1262/63 CEKing - Jatavarma Sundara Pandya ILanguage - Tamil
The incomplete inscription talks about the donation by a chieftain named Panchanadivaanan Nallanayan.
Inscription # 8
Reference - M.C.C Serial No. 1974/07Location - Basement, North Outer Wall of the Main ShrinePeriod - 15th century CEKing - Mallikarjuna, Vijayanagara KingLanguage - Tamil
The inscription talks about the King's order that the tax called Idangai vari be given as an endowment to the temple.
Brahma in the sitting posture
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| Brahma in the sitting posture |
Layout
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| Brahma Shasta and Vishnu |
Somanatheeswara
The east-facing sanctum (Garbha griha) enshrines a broad and about 3 feet high Shiva Linga called Somanatheeswara. He is the presiding deity of the temple.
The door guardians (Dwarapalas) that are usually seen in other Shiva temples are missing here. They are present neither at the entrance of Garbha griha nor at the entrance of Ardha mandapa. Instead, a small icon of Ganesha is found at the Ardha mandapa entrance.
The south wall of the narrow ardha mandapa has the bas-relief images of Adhikara Nandi and his wife, Suyasa.
Chatura Tandava Murti
Brahma Shasta in bronze
It is not uncommon to find Subramanya (Murugan) in the form of Brahma Shasta in stone. However, I am not sure how many temples have bronze icons of Brahma Shasta. This temple has one.
Adjacent to Chatura Tandava Murti, Brahma Shasta's bronze icon is found in the same sub-shrine. He holds aksha mala and kamandaulu (sacred pot), similar to Brahma.
Other Utsava Images
Besides Chatura Tandava Murti and Brahma Shasta, few other utsava (processional) icons are also found in the sub-shrine. They include Uma and Mahesvara, Somaskanda form (Uma, Shiva and the infant Skanda), Sivakami (consort of Nataraja), Chandikeshwara, Kamakshi, Karumari, Tirugnana Sambandhar and others.
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| Dakshinamurti |
Mukha Mandapa
Maha mandapa does not have an entry point in the east. Instead, it connects in the south with the east-facing Mukha mandapa.
In mukha mandapa there are two sub-shrines enshrining Ganesha and Kandaswami. Kandaswami is the name of Skanda/Subramanya. This Chola-era stone image depicts him in the form of a Brahma Shasta.
Besides, there are three beautiful Pallava-era stone images found near the entrance of the mandapa. They are Brahma, Vishnu and Brahma Shasta. As highlighted already, Brahma is found in the sitting posture, which is not common. We usually find him in the niche (Koshta) in the standing posture. This temple alone has three Brahma Shasta images, which is unusual.
I believe the images of Vishnu, Brahma and Brahma Shasta do not belong to the temple originally.
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| Nandi at the feet of Dakshinamurti |
Nandi
Nandi mandapa is found in front of the main shrine, however Nandi faces the other side towards the entrance. The reason as per the tradition is already seen above.
A bali pitha (offering pedestal) is located in front of Nandi mandapa. There is flagstaff (dwajasthamba) found. (Usually, Nandi mandapa, bali pitha and dwajasthambha are found in a straight line in all Shiva temples.)
Gajaprshtha
The architecture style of Vimana is Gajaprshtha or Thoonganai (apsidal), which resembles the backside of an elephant. The base as well as the superstructure are apsidal shaped and look lovely. The base wall remains intact, whereas the superstructure appears to have been rebuilt or repaired. Similarly, the main shrine's interior is also renovated with modern-day tiles and concrete walls to a great extent.
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| Chandikeshwara |
Koshta Devas
The walls of the main shrine are studded with inscriptions. The details of those inscriptions are already seen in an earlier section.
The Chola-era beautiful icons of Ganesha, Dakshinamurti, Vishnu, Brahma and Vishnu Durga are found as the Koshta Devas (niche deities). It is noteworthy that all these deities are found along with their respective mounts. It is not a usual depiction.
Chandikeshwara, a Chola-era exquisite creation in stone, is located in a sub-shrine near Brahma and Durga.
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| Brahma with his vahana |
Kamakshi
The presiding Goddess is Kamakshi. The four-armed Goddess in a standing posture is found in a south-facing shrine. The shrine consists of Garbha griha, Ardha mandapa and Maha Mandapa. The images of Ganesha and Kartikeya are located at the entrance of Ardha mandapa.
The shrine might belong to the Pandya period. But the image of Kamakshi appears to be of a later period.
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| Durga |
Chandra and Surya
Chandra or Soma is special in this site, as the presiding deity and the village are named after him. Also, it is considered as Chandra Kshetra of the Tondai region, one of Navagraha temples. Hence, the sub-shrine has an exquisitely carved big icon of Chandra. It faces the main shrine and is located on the northeast corner of the entrance.
The south-east corner has another sub-shrine for Surya. Surya's image is much smaller. Both are Chola period images but may not belong to the same period. The icon of Surya appears to be of a later period compared to that of Chandra.
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| Vishnu with Garuda |
Other Deities
The Chola-era Bhairava is found in the south-east corner.
Navagrahas are located near the shrine of the Goddess.
The entrance of the mukha mandapa of the main shrine has a sub-shrine of Ganesha.
In the prakara, there is a separate sub-shrine for Subramanya-Valli-Devasena.
There is a stone icon of Shiva Linga under the holy tree in the prakara.
Five out of seven sculptures of Sapta Matrikas and two sculptures of Jyestha Devi are found in the prakara. They do not belong to the original temple. They are found during excavations in and around the temple complex. One Jyestha Devi's sculpture appears to be of later period compared to other sculptures. Sapta Matrikas and the other Jyestha Devi appear to be of the early Chola period or late Pallava period.
The Holy Tank
Devaram
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This is excellent detail. Thanks for taking time to make this post. Great clicks too!
ReplyDeleteExcellent write up!
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