A friend alerts me about a brick temple for Vishnu in Sripuranthan, in Ariyalur district. Although I have been told that it is a crumbling treasure, nothing prepares me for what I see. There is no compound wall around the temple, and houses have come up in what must once have been the yard of the temple. A lone lion, which must have been the pedestal of a pillar, stares at visitors, its majesty in no way diminished by its forlorn presence outside the temple. The sanctum houses an eight ft-high Vishnu, in seated position, flanked by His Consorts. The smell of bat droppings is overpowering and a multitude of bats flies around in the sanctum, their wings brushing my face. I gingerly climb brick steps on the outside, which lead to the first storey. Here I find the shrine of a reclining Vishnu. The temple cries for attention.
Our driver tells us of another brick temple for Vishnu, close to Patteeswaram. With huge walls enclosing the temple, the Gopinatha temple looks imposing, even in its run-down state. Can these temples be restored, I wonder. But before that question is answered, one must take a guided tour of the past, to understand how brick temples were built. Many scholars give me an insight into the ancient techniques of building brick structures.
“The Sanskrit word ishtaka meaning brick, has two roots — yaja meaning to sacrifice and iccha meaning wish or desire. So a brick was considered both sacred and capable of granting one’s desires. That is why in the Paushkara Samhita, we come across a prayer for success addressed to the first brick that is laid for a temple. The first brick is called prathameshtaka and the brick at the top is called murdheshtaka,” says Dr. Prabhakar Apte, a Sanskrit scholar and expert on Vaishnava Agamas.
Names for bricks
Veezhinathan Acharya, who is from a family of traditional sthapatis, and who is currently director of TVS Silpa Vidya Gurukulam, Kumbakonam, founded by industrialist Venu Srinivasan, says that in the Viswakarma tradition, bricks are honoured like daughters of the family, and 350 goddesses’ names are given to bricks.
“Bricks were first used for making Vedic sacrificial altars. While making bricks, nine kinds of mud are collected, and are mixed with soil from the banks of rivers. Even the water has to come from rivers. The Adavu mantra in Yajur Veda is chanted as bricks are laid. There are mantras for each direction. Five Viswakarma rishis are invoked through mantras. When the agni dwara is prepared, Suparnasa rishi is invoked.
“The point I want to stress is that the technique followed for making bricks for temples is the same as that followed for making bricks for altars. Bricks in the olden times used to be longer and broader than present day ones, but were not thick. Colloquially, until recently, the bricks were known as Ramaswamy kal , a term similar to Varahan used for weighing gold,” says Veezhinathan. “Every kind of brick had a different presiding deity. While laying the foundation, Sama Veda is chanted, in such a way, that the chants synchronise with the process of foundation laying. By the time the required chant is over, the foundation is in place.”
Regarding the binding material, Veezhinathan says, “We call it ‘betel binding,’ because the amount of binding material used is less than the thickness of a betel leaf.”
“Bricks were also used for making figures. After preparing the mud, the sculptor would draw the required outline, shape the patty and would then fire the brick. After firing, more finishing would be done for fineness,” adds Veezhinathan.
“In Sangam literature, we find the word ittikai used for bricks. The Sangam work Aganaanooru talks of a wall constructed using ittikai . Karuvur Thevar (11th century) also uses the word ittikai in his verse on the deity of Tiruvidaimarudur. The Tiruppugalur inscription of Rajaraja II (1146-73 CE) says the temple at Thottakkudi should be repaired using ittikai ,” says archaeologist Kudavayil Balasubramanian.
Tamil scholar Dr. Sarala Rajagopalan says that the Sangam work Perumpanatrupadai (405), uses the word ‘suduman’ for bricks, while talking of houses built on the boundaries of a city.
“The city is referred to as moodoor . Commentators have inferred that the word actually refers to Kanchi,” says Dr. Sarala. “Silappadikaram also uses the word suduman for bricks, when it says no one in Madurai had ever received a punishment prevalent in those days — carrying loads of bricks around a town.”
Dr. Apte says the Agama texts give the methods for preparation of bricks: “The Kashyapa Samhita says soil from a rice field or from the bank of a river should be collected. For one portion of clay, two parts sand and two parts gravel should be taken. The mixture should be cleaned, and then pounded. It is then allowed to rest for a long time. The bricks are shaped on elevated ground, so that water from the surrounding land does not flow in. The ground should be free of worms, insects and flies. Length to breadth to thickness should be in the ratio 4:2:1.
The quality check
After firing, they are piled near the temple site. The Padma Samhita and Sri Prasna Samhita insist that one should test the fired bricks for quality. When struck, they should give a pleasant sound. The colour should be red like a ripe bimba fruit (Momordica Monadelpha). Vishnu Samhita says insufficiently fired bricks, and ones that do not possess a deep red colour should be rejected.”
While the elaborate techniques of brick making and building have kept brick temples alive for so long, can brick temples on the verge of collapse be restored? ‘Yes,’ says engineer S. Rajendran, consultant in restoration work and restoration techniques. He lists the advantages of small bricks. They were used because they transferred load better and could be easily lifted and cut. “Since small bricks have been used, we have to use the same kind, while restoring a structure. Let’s take a modern example to understand why. Concrete, for instance, is a man-made monolith. Now the gravel is a co-segregate and it is approximately 18 millimetres in size. If you go for larger gravel stones, they’ll get separated. Similarly, if you use large bricks, together with the existing small bricks, then they will get separated.”
How long can brick temples last? “Easily 1,000 years. For the basement granite was used, and so there was no seepage of water. But see how native wisdom scores,” explains Rajendran.
Dr. Apte says Kautilya’s advice to engineers was that if they wanted to build underground storeys for a building, they should check the water level in wells in the area. In modern times, civil engineers check the water table in the area before building a basement, but Indian engineers knew they had to do this, 300 hundred years before Christ!
Rajendran avers that brick temples can be restored. “We can make similar bricks and use lime mortar. We have machines now to prepare the materials. What we lack is patience. If the government decides that it wants to preserve heritage and insists that traditional methods be used, then such efforts will gain a boost.”
