Devotion to a power higher than oneself is as old as humanity; that it can blossom anywhere is one of the many reasons why religious faiths of all hues have flourished even as society evolves and adapts to the impermanence of our lives.
Former Tamil journalist M Subbulakshmi, who has been researching the works of the 6th century poet-saint Karaikkal Ammaiyar since 2013, devotion has got a historical perspective as well.
Inspired by reports of Hindu temples in South East Asian countries like Cambodia and Thailand prominently depicting Karaikkal Ammaiyar in their iconography, Subbulakshmi has been delving deep into the shared heritage of the region to come up with some interesting conclusions.
She maintains a blog called Glorious Tamils, to show how history has been a collaborative rather than mono-cultural process down the years.
“Life is like a relay race ... we have to pass on what we have learned to the next generation. This cannot be done if we aren’t equipped with the knowledge of our own past,” says Subbulakshmi, who was in Tiruchi recently to speak on her findings at the Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College.
Filial love
Karaikkal Ammaiyar was one of the three women poets among the 63 Nayanmars (ardent devotees who sang in praise of Lord Siva in Tamil from the 6th to 12th centuries).
Her works reflect a strong filial love for the Lord, and form an important part of the literary canon of the Tamil Bhakti (devotion) movement that helped in the early growth of the Saivite strain of Hinduism.
“We have literary proof about her poems in compilations by Sundarar and Nambi Andar Nambi, who put together the devotional literary works of Nayanmars, sprawling over 5 centuries then, under the order of King Rajaraja Cholan,” says Subbulakshmi.
She was given the status of Nayanmar by Sekkizhar/Chekkizhar, the chief minister of King Kulothuga Cholan II, in his hagiography of the saints titled Thiruthondar Puranam (The Story of the Servants of God), also known as Periya Puranam .
“But there’s a gap of 300 years in this,” says Subbulakshmi. “Karaikkal Ammaiyar was already being depicted as part of temple iconography well before she was written about.”
Demoniac devotee
Born as Punithavathi and married to a trader in the coastal town of Karaikkal, the transformation of the poetess from an ordinary homemaker to an ascetic, and almost ghoulish, devotee of Lord Siva has been recorded in Periya Puranam.
The ‘Ammaiyar’ (Revered Mother) is not the only sobriquet attached to the poet-saint. She refers to herself as ‘Pey’ (ghost), who yearns for freedom from the bondage of earthly living ( samsara ), and watches with happiness, the ecstasy that her Lord displays as he dances among the dead on the cremation ground.
- The hymns of the Nayanmars are recorded in 12 Tirumurai considered to be the scripture of Saivism. Karaikkal Ammaiyar’s three long hymns feature in the 11th Tirumurai .
- These are Mutta-tirup-patikankal , 22 verses in classical melodies; Tiru-irattaimanimaalai , 20 verses of two alternating styles; and Arputat-tiru-vantaathi , 101 verses in the antaathi genre, in which the last word of each verse is echoed in the next.
“Sekkizhar wrote about her sitting at the feet of Siva in 12th century, but Chembian Mahadevi had already used the image in the 10th century,” says Subbulakshmi, referring to the mother of King Madurantaka Uttama Chola Deva, known for her temple construction and arts partonage spread over 60 years.
Karaikkalammaiyar: An iconographical and textual study By Peter J J de Bruijn, specifies the places in Tamil Nadu and other countries where Ammaiyar can be seen in demon form sitting below the beautifully carved ‘Adalvallan – Nataraja’ or the Dancing Siva.
Time travel
It is this very image that has travelled across the seas to South East Asian temples and fascinated researchers for several decades, says Subbulakshmi. “I first came to know about it from Dr R Kalaikovan of the Tiruchi-based Dr M. Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research, and felt amazed that such a minute aspect of our culture should have migrated so far in those days.”
Subbulakshmi, who lives in Abu Dhabi, UAE, has been making her way through the subject with the help of scholarly articles available online.
She visited temples and museums in Cambodia and Thailand to verify the existence of the icons and further studied the socio-political developments of the day that would have made such cultural sharing possible.
The estimated time span of the construction of Dancing Shiva with Karaikkal Ammaiyar in Khmer temples can be laid between 967 ACE (Rajendravarman I) until 1150 ACE (Suryavarman II), a span of almost two centuries, she says.
Historic relationship
“Among the five shrines where Karaikkal Ammaiyar is sculpted in Cambodia, Phnom Chissor, Vat Ek and Vat Baset are all built by King Suryavarman I (1010 ACE-1050 ACE).
The same Rajendra Cholan I (1014 ACE-1044 ACE), with whom Suryavarman sought friendly relations, built Adalvallan-Nataraja with Karaikkal Ammaiyar in his Gangai Konda Cholapuram Kovil (temple).
Before Rajendra Cholan, his father Rajaraja Cholan immortalised Ammaiyar in sculpture and painting in his Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple,” says Subbulakshmi.
“This indicates a deep-seated historic relationship between the maritime Tamil rulers and South East Asian kingdoms,” says Subbulakshmi.
“Suryavarman’s awe for the Dance of the Lord doesn’t stop here. His Takeo inscription is specific about the sculpture of Dancing Shiva — Natakeswara Dasabhuja , a 10-handed posture that is more common in South East Asian temples.”
The eastern courtyard pediment of the Banteay Srei (Citadel of the Women), a Cambodian Saivite temple in Siem Reap Province built in the 10th century, has intricately carved imagery of Karaikkal Ammaiyar as well.
Subbulakshmi suggests that the Tamil Vanigar trading community (to which Karaikkal Ammaiyar belonged), may have played a role in the establishing of these Khmer temples with a mélange of foreign influences.
“The crux of the matter is that the history of Tamil Nadu cannot be written without that of South East Asian countries and vice versa. There was a lot of sharing and tolerance in those days.”
More information on www.glorioustamils.com
