The Head-Offering to the Goddess in Pallava Sculpture

Author(s): J. Ph. Vogel

Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London , 1931, Vol. 6,
No. 2, A Volume of Indian Studies Presented by His Friends and Pupils to Edward James
Rapson, Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Cambridge, on His Seventieth
Birthday, 12th May, 1931 (1931), pp. 539-543
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the School of Oriental and
African Studies

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/607685

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 The Head-offering to the Goddess in Pallava
Sculpture
By J. PH. VOGEL
(PLATES V-VIII)

THE remarkable group of five rock-cut temples at Mamallapur

or Mavalivaram, to the south of Madras, has often been
described. Popular imagination has associated these wonderful
shrines with the Pandavas; thus it has happened that the one which
is smallest in size has become known as the rath of Draupadi. Evidently
this temple was in reality dedicated to some form of the goddess
Durga, whose effigy, standing on the severed head of the Buffalo-
demon, is found carved upon the outer wall, whereas her vehicle in
the form of a well-conceived but unfinished lion-statue may be seen
at no great distance.
The back wall of the cella shows a relief, the centre of which is
occupied by a four-armed goddess holding a cakra and a sankha; her
second right hand is raised in the attitude of protection, whilst the
second left hand is placed on the hip (Plate I). The well-known French
archaeologist, M. Jouveau-Dubreuil, maintains that this figure
represents the terrible goddess Cdmun.da " qui est represent~e partout :
dans le sanctuaire et sur les fagades, notamment sur la fagade de l'Est
o0f KMl! se tient debout sur la tAte de buffle ".1
I do not, however, wish to discuss the identity of this divinity.
The object of the present paper is not the goddess worshipped in the
so-called rath of Draupadi, but one of her attendants. At her feet are
two kneeling figures, both apparently male personages. The one to
the proper right of the central figure is shown in a very striking attitude.
With his left hand he grasps his tuft of hair, which apparently he is
in the act of cutting with a sword held in his right hand. This, at least,
was the explanation which occurred to me as the most probable
after a happy visit to the " Seven Pagodas " about Christmas of the
year 1910. In my Iconographical Notes on the Seven Pagodas,2 I
proposed this interpretation, while referring to the well-known practice
of the hair-offering found among various nations.
Mr. A. H. Longhurst, of the Archaeological Survey, who in recent
years has published a very full and accurate description of Pallava

1 G. Jouveau-Dubreuil, Archdologie du Sud de l'Inde, vol. ii, p. 41.

2 ASIAR. 1910-11, p. 53, pl. xxviiic.

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540 J. PH. VOGEL--

Architecture, has adopted my su

on Durga's proper right," Mr. Lo
off his long tresses with his sw
custom still in vogue in Souther
and women. It is a rather striki
representing the same goddess i
The panel in the Varaha-Mand
Mamallapuram), to which Mr. L
figures, of which the four-armed
As in the case of the so-called Dra
Ganas, whereas in the two upper c
visible. Of the two male figures
the one on her right-hand side is
With his left hand he holds his lo
Here again the representation m
question is about to cut off his
the sword is held at a level consid
The lower cave of Trichinopol
same motif (Plate III), but here w
explanation first suggested. The
the feet of the four-armed godde
as in the two instances already q
in his right hand not to his hair
therefore, legitimately be asked
a hair-offering that the unknown
The question here formulated
affirmative if we adduce a fou
It occurs on a giva temple at
Padupati-koyil, which is situated a
of Tanjore.3 The back wall of th
very graceful figure of the eigh
buffalo-head with magnificent h
surmounted by an elaborately c
intervening between this niche an
the stone eaves show two groups o

1 A. H. Longhurst, Pallava Architectur

Memoirs of the Archceological Survey
2 ASJAR. 1910-11, p. 58. A. H. Long
Gopinatha Rao, Elements of Hindu Ico
3 R. Sewell, Lists of the antiquarian r
Madras, 1882, p. 277.

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 HEAD-OFFERING TO THE GODDESS IN PALLAVA SCULPTURE 541

for attendants of the dreaded goddess. First of all we notice the same
two animals, the lion and the deer, which occupy the upper corners
of the panel in the Varmha-Mandapa at Mamallapuram. The latter
animal, which has forked horns, is preceded by a gana. Under each of
the two animals there is a male person kneeling. The one to the right
of Durga is shown in the same position as the corresponding figures
discussed above, but in the present case there can be no doubt that he
is represented in the action of cutting off his own head as an offering
to the goddess. In the same way the kneeling person on the left hand
side of the goddess appears to be cutting a piece of flesh from his thigh.
The Siva temple of Pullamangai bears several Tamil inscriptions
recording various donations to the temple and dated in the reign of
Parakesarivarman and other rulers of the Cola dynasty.1 The sculptural
decoration lacks the dignified simplicity and strength of Pallava art,
but excels by a richness and gracefulness which is free from the
exaggerations of later Dravidian architecture. It is evident that the
group of the goddess Durga and her attendants is a later form of what
we have seen on the earlier monuments of the Pallavas. We may,
therefore, safely conclude that in each of the examples which we have
been able to quote the person kneeling to the right-hand side of the
goddess is shown in the act of offering his own head as an offering.
In all probability the devotee of the goddess represented in this manner
was one of the founders of the temple in question and thus gave
expression to his supreme devotion to the deity and to his readiness
to bring her even the greatest sacrifice-that of his own head.
We do not wish here to discuss the question whether it would be
physically possible to decapitate oneself in the fashion portrayed
in the sculptures. It would be an act at any rate requiring not only a
high degree of self-determination but also an unusual dexterity. This
much is certain, that in ancient India this mode of self-sacrifice was
considered to lie within the range of possibility. This we may infer
from the occurrence of the same motif in Sanskrit literature. I may
be allowed to quote a few instances from Somadeva's Kathdsaritsigara.2
First of all we have the well known story of the hero Viravara,
which is found in two slightly different versions in that great collection
of stories. In the second version it is the fourth tale of the Vetala.
It forms, therefore, also part of other redactions of that highly popular

1 Annual Report on Epigraphy for the year 1921-22, Madras, 1923, pp. 48 f.
2 Kathls, liii, 86-193, and lxxviii, 83-102 (= Vetdla iv). Cf. Penzer, Ocean of
Story, vol. iv, pp. 173-81, and vi, p. 196.

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 542 J. PH. VOGEL-

collection
is Vetlapai~cavinm.ati.
also included in the Hitopade'a.1 Moreover, the same pathetic story
The story, according to the second version of the Kathksaritsdgara
(Vetila, iv), may be summarized as follows. In order to prolong the
life of his master, king i-ldraka, the hero Viravara, who here is called
a Brahman, offers the head of his son Sattvavara to the goddess
Candi. His daughter thereupon dies from grief, and his wife resolves
to throw herself on the funeral pyre on which the bodies of her two
children have been laid. Then Viravara resolves to gratify Ambika by
sacrificing himself. After a hymn of praise addressed to the goddess
Kali Mahisasuramarini, he cuts off his own head with a stroke of the
sword. King ~fidraka, touched by so great devotion, is about to follow
the example of his faithful servant, but a voice from heaven prevents
him from doing so. Finally all are brought back to life.
The other version of the Kathisaritsigara presents certain points of
difference. Here, too, the hero of the story is a Brahman called
Viravara. But the king, his master, is Vikramatufnga residing at
Vikramapura. When Viravara, after uttering a hymn of praise to the
goddess Candiika-devi is ready to sever his head from his body, a
heavenly voice (bhdrati ... asarird) commands him not to act rashly,
and offers him a boon. Thereupon Viravara begs from her the life of
king Vikramatutiga as well as the lives of his wife and children.
The version of the Hitopade'a agrees with that of the Vetala story
of the Kathisaritsigara. That the prose version calls Viravara a
Rajaputra seems natural and more original. The king is Sildraka.
The weeping woman who warns the hero of the fate threatening the
king is not the Earth-goddess, but the Laksmi of king kildraka.
After offering the head of his son to the goddess, who here is called
Bhagavati Sarvamailgala, the Rdjpfit Viravara cuts off his own head
and his wife does the same. Then the king, who has witnessed the
scene, seizes his sword to cut off his own head, but the goddess appears
in person and holds him back. All are revived.
The sixth Vetala tale of the KathasaritsSgara affords another very
curious example of the head-offering to the goddess.2 The hero of
the story is a washerman, named Dhavala, who, after having taken
wife, has entered a famous shrine of Gauri at gobhavati, and in his
fervent desire to please the deity, cuts off his head, which first he has

' Hit. iii, kathd 8.

2 Kathas. lxxx (= Vetala vi). Cf. Penzer, vol. vi, pp. 204-7. We may also
compare op. cit., vi, 78-82. Penzer, vol. i, p. 66.

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BULL. S.O.S. PLATE V.

:j-:-::i:?:::::::i:::::::::i:jz:

. . . .. .. . ..

il:m, i

X~jj?i 'k

IMAGE OF DUR
PAGODAS ".

[To face p. 542.

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 '?*,- 7M.'i
"WO 00101"00,10,11.

..........

............

...........

......... .....

...........

mi mom
15 1 R-Nm

...........

PANEL OF PARVATI WITH LION AND DEER IN VARAHA CAVE, MAMALLAPURAM.

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 BULL. S.O.S. PLATE VII.

Z:.~-:::::

Z~::::"
a:;,-:::::::

-egg n::.::~l-:,:-'d-:-1::::::: :::::_

AN T " .::::::~::'::::
F.:::::::::::

agi*~::~_::
"ax~::~~

Rol::j:?_~::::::_:::j:
x:i' _~-:i ::::
::..............

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A/I ~ :~:,a:::: ::1:::::

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NAME :::_:::j--
AMA::_-j:i:

. . . . . .....i-:

iw:::i-:

aiBI'i
NOs~ii

W ON ,:~:::j-:-

................... ............

ROCK-CUT TEMPLES AT TRICHINOPOLY. IMAGE OF DURGi IN LOWER CAVE.

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BULL. S.O.S. PLATE VIII.

.........

...............................

.........
....... ..-: j

0--to::
? 00,

St .41::

AL E i ~ ~ I

. . . . . . .

SCULPTURE IN RELIE
SHRINE OF THE IVA

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 HEAD-OFFERING TO THE GODDESS IN PALLAVA SCULPTURE 543

fastened to the chain of the bell, evidently to make the procedure

somewhat easier. His brother-in-law who together with the newly
married bride is waiting outside, at last goes inside the temple, and
seeing what has happened, he follows the example of so noble a
sacrifice. When the bride becomes aware of the suicide of both her

spouse and her brother, she is seized by despair and wishes to hang
herself from an a'oka-tree. She is prevented from this self-chosen
death by a heavenly voice which offers her a boon. It goes without
saying that she asks the life of her husband and brother, but being
told to replace the two heads on the trunks of those two beloved
persons, in her confusion she interchanges the heads. The story ends
with the query: who of the two men is now to be her husband ?
The examples quoted will suffice to show that the sacrifice of one's
own head was a well-known motif. The deity to whom this supreme
sacrifice is made is always a goddess. This is a point of great interest,
because the same is the case with the sculptural representations
which we have been able to adduce above. That the offering of one's
own head is known to have been actually practised in India appears
from an interesting paper by Mr. Hira Lal, who speaks of certain
sects " who used to cut off their heads and tongues in a mandapa
especially erected for the purpose with a religious fervour worthy of
a better cause."'

1 Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, " The Golaki Matha," JBORS., vol. xiii (1927), p. 144.

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