Pallava Lions of Manimangalam

Pulakeshin II was the most illustrious Emperor of the Chalukya Dynasty. Considered the most powerful ruler during his times, he had defeated even two other powerful emperors, Harshavardhana and Mahendravarma Pallava. However, there was an end to his uninterrupted victories. Narasimhavarma Pallava I, a rare Indian ruler who had never experienced a defeat, routed him repeatedly. The Copper Plates of Kuram record the triumph of Narasimha over the Chalukyan army in three places. Manimangalam, a suburb of the current Chennai city, is one of those sites.

This historic battlefield, a quiet village until a few decades ago and a busy developing locality nowadays, is dotted with many temples. However, those temples were built by the Cholas and none of the Pallava-era shrines still exist. This article is to record the only remaining Pallava symbol in Manimangalam. 

(Note: I have curated a heritage trip to this site and wrote about this in my blog, several years ago. Also, Times of India published a short article about this based on inputs given by me.)

Next to the 1000 years old Vaikuntha Perumal temple, which is in ruins now, a small Bhajanai temple is located. What makes this typical Bhajan shrine unique is two granite Pallava-era Simha Vyala pillars. 

Named as Sri Ramakrishna Bhakta Jana Sabha, when this shrine was built in 1935 CE, it did not have these Pallava-era pillars. They were added only in the 1980s. I understand that many such Vyala pillars were lying down in the village. I am not sure what happened to those remaining pillars. 

Careful observation of these two pillars would reveal the difference in the features between both the Vyalas. Those who added these pillars to the main shrine probably did not find two identical pillars.

Based on the style of these pillars, can they be assigned before Rajasimha Pallava's period (8th century CE)? If yes, did Narasimha Pallava I build temples to commemorate his victory in the battle? We can only keep guessing.

Happy travelling.