Approaching the Temple in Nayaka-Period Madurai: The Kūṭal Aḻakar Temple

Author(s): Crispin Branfoot

Source: Artibus Asiae , 2000, Vol. 60, No. 2 (2000), pp. 197-221
Published by: Artibus Asiae Publishers

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3249918

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

Artibus Asiae Publishers is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Artibus Asiae

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 CRISPIN BRANFOOT

APPROACHING THE TEMPLE IN NAYAKA-PERIOD MADURAI:

THE KUTAL ALAKAR TEMPLE

M any of the towns of Tamilnadu are dominated by the high stone walls and towering gateways
of Hindu temples built over the last thirteen hundred years. A striking feature of south Indian
temples is their layout in a large complex often with multiple enclosures dominated by tall pyrami-
dal gateways on each side and many shrines, halls and corridors inside. Early developments from the
seventh century led to the construction of a series of temples with huge towers over the main sanctum
built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries under Chola patronage, such as the Brhadisvara temple at
Tanjavur. The general conception of temple development after this date is that temples spread out-
ward with the main shrine (vimdna) diminishing in architectural importance in comparison with the
gateways (gopuras) which increase in height towards the outermost enclosures. The Minaksi-Sun-
daresvara temple complex in Madurai, together with the Rafiganatha temple complex in Srirangam
and the Arundcalesvara temple complex at Tiruvannamalai, are oft-cited examples of this development.
There is however much greater variety in the development of temple architecture in the period fol-
lowing the decline of the Chola empire. Among the many temples built in sixteenth- and seventeenth-
century Tamilnadu, the Kutal Alakar temple in Madurai illustrates many of the characteristic devel-
opments of post-thirteenth century temple architecture in its layout, and in the interaction of archi-
tectural form and ritual function.

Two themes inform this discussion of the K-tal Alakar temple in Madurai. The first focuses on

the formal composition of the shrines, halls and gateways of the Tamil Dravida tradition of temple
architecture. It seeks to demonstrate that Adam Hardy's approach to Indian temple architecture that
sees the whole temple form as being made up of many little temple forms of various kinds is a valid

approach to the Tamil Dravida tradition.' The second theme takes a functional approach to temples
that are primarily homes for gods and may be conceived as processional spaces for both the worship-
per moving inward and for the deity coming out on procession at festival times. The discussion will
move with the worshipper into the temple through the gopura to the main shrine, analyzing the for-
mal structure of each architectural element, and then will move out to the other parts of the temple
following the processional routes taken by the deity during festivals. The title implies both the
approach of the devotee to the temple's deity and that of the art-historian seeking to understand the
rich heritage of the Indian architectural tradition.

The research on which this article is based was funded by the British Academy and the School of Oriental and African Stud-

ies, University of London. All the illustrations are by the author. I am grateful to Elizabeth Lambourn and Adam Hardy
for their helpful suggestions.

Adam Hardy, Indian Temple Architecture: Form and Transformation (New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the

Arts, Abhinav Publications, I995).

197

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 MADURAI IN THE NAYAKA PERIOD

The Nayaka period from the mid-sixteenth century to the early-eighteenth century w
active periods of temple construction in Tamilnadu since the earliest stone temples
enth and eighth centuries, and many of the major temples in use today were substan
period. While in north India the mid-sixteenth and seventeenth century is the peri
empire's greatest power, in the South the later sixteenth century saw the fragmen
century-old Vijayanagara Empire into numerous smaller states. The rulers of these
are the Nayakas with major centers in Tamilnadu at Gingee, Tanjavur and Mad
dearth of architecture from the two centuries of Vijayanagara rule in Tamilnadu co
expansion of temple construction under Nayaka rule with new foundations and subs
to existing temples.
This pattern is clear in the southern Tamil city of Madurai. At the heart of the
Mina-ksi-Sundaresvara temple complex dedicated to a local goddess Mindksi and
daresvara, a local form of Siva. The present city plan was largely established in the si
but this ceremonial city as both a sacred center and the capital of the Pandyan king
Madurai was renowned as a cultural center from the earliest centuries A.D., the home
Carikam, or Tamil literary academy, and the setting for the earliest Tamil epic, the fi

patikdram. The Saiva and Vaisnava bhakti literature composed by the wandering Tami
seventh to tenth centuries conveys the continued sanctity of the city. This literature
the city's foundation refer to two further names for the city, Alavay and Ku-tal.2
As a political center Madurai was the capital of the Pandyan empire in the deep s
nadu, from the sixth century a rival to the Pallavas and later the Cholas further nor
now within the city itself directly attributable to the long period of Pandyan rule up
teenth century, but in the surrounding hills are numerous excavated cave temples da
and ninth centuries, such as at Tirupparankundram seven kilometers southwest. Ma
with many other Tamil towns, suffered during the Muslim invasions from I3o10 on a
ment in the I330s of the Madurai Sultanate in southern Tamilnadu. The city revived
center following the campaigns of the newly founded Vijayanagara empire's general

I370s and the overthrow of Muslim rule in the South. However, it was not until the s
under Nayaka patronage that the city again became the major center of political pow
been under Pandyan rule, when the city plan was laid out and many temples founde

2 On the history of Madurai see D. Devakunjari, Madurai Through the Ages: From the Earliest Tim
Society for Archaeological, Historical and Epigraphical Research, 1979); D. Dennis Hudson, "M
Goddess," in Howard Spodek and Doris Meth Srinivasan, eds., Urban Form and Meaning in South A
Citiesfrom Prehistoric to Precolonial Times (Hanover and London: University of New England Press, 1
J. Lewandowski, "Changing Form and Function in the Ceremonial and the Colonial Port City in
cal Analysis of Madurai and Madras," in Modern Asian Studies ii, no.2 (I977), 183-212; Holly Bake
rai: Koyil Nakar," in Bardwell L. Smith and Holly Baker Reynolds, eds., The City as a Sacred Center: E
Contexts (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1987), 12-44.

198

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The huge Min-ksi-Sundaresvara temple complex at the heart of the city is rightly emphasized as
one of the major monuments of the Nayaka period, but it is only one of many temples built in the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries in Madurai. Though there was undoubtedly an earlier temple on the
site, the Minaksi-Sundaresvara temple complex is fundamentally a Nayaka-period structure with lit-
tle architectural evidence surviving of the earlier eleventh to twelfth-century temple. Tirumala
Nayaka, who ruled from 1623 to I659, was a major patron of architecture in Madurai, but he was only
one of several of the Nayakas involved in this temple's reconstruction. The bulk of this temple as it
appears today was built, not in the mid-seventeenth century but the mid- to late-sixteenth century,
though construction spans a long period.3
The layout of the temple complex is based around the two main shrines to Minaksi and Sundar-
esvara. Each is set within two concentric enclosures that face east, the Sundareivara shrine lying to the
northeast of the Mindksi shrine. Gopuras lie on all four sides of the Sundareivara's secondprdkara, with
only a single one on the east side of the innermost or first enclosure. The Mindksi shrine's second

prdkdra has two gopuras on the east and west sides, but is only about the same size as the Sundaresvara's
firstprAkdra. Enclosing these two concentric enclosures and their shrines is the outer enclosure or third

prdkdra, the modern boundary of the temple complex, which is entered through four huge gopuras axi-
ally aligned with the four inner gopuras of the Sundareivara shrine's second enclosure and a smaller
gateway aligned with the Mindksi shrine. Three main periods of construction in the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries can be distinguished: the outer walls of the third prdkdra with their four great
gopuras were erected in the 1570s to I590os together with the four inner gopuras of the second prdkdra
around the Sundaresvara temple and the west gopura of the Mindksi shrine. This was followed in the

early seventeenth century by the infilling of the outer enclosure with the huge Iooo-column Mandapa
in the northeast corner and the wide corridors connecting the outer to the inner enclosure walls. A fur-
ther period of expansion coincides with the reign ofTirumala Nayaka in the mid-seventeenth century
under whose patronage the Putu Mandapa, a large new festival mana'apa, and the incomplete founda-
tions of the vast Raya Gopura were built on the eastern side of the temple complex. These structures
were the first stages in a planned expansion of the whole temple complex that would have put a fourth
enclosure wall around the whole temple complex and architecturally re-emphasized the primary axis
leading to Sundareivara's shrine rather than the goddess Mindksi's, who is today ritually pre-eminent.
Four other temples in Madurai dating to the Nayaka period include the Madanagopdla and
Immaiyil Nanmai Taruvar temples southwest of the Mindksi-Sundaresvara temple complex in West
Maci Street, both substantially renovated during the twentieth century. Further away are the
Marakatavalli Mukti~vara temple on the west side of the Minaksi-Sundareivara temple complex's fes-

tival tank, the Vantiyur Teppakkulam, and the Prasanna Verikateivara (or Tallakkulam Perum.l)
temple on the north side of the river Vaikai.

3 On the Minaksi-Sundaresvara temple complex see Devakunjari (I979), and A.V. Jeyechandrun, The Madurai Temple
Complex (Madurai: Madurai Kamaraj University, 1985).

199

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 THE KJTAL ALAKAR TEMPLE

The K-tal Alakar temple lies one kilometer to the southwest of the Minaksi-Sundaresvara temple com-
plex and is Madurai's main Visnu temple. K-tal is another name for Madurai and Alakar is a local

name ofVisnu, or Perum.l as the deity is usually called in Tamil. Two other Alakar temples in south-
ern Tamilnadu are at Alagarkoyil, twenty kilometers north of Madurai and another near Srivilliput-
tur, seventy-five kilometers southwest. The K-tal Alakar temple is one of the ?rivaisnava divyaksetras,
the Io8 sacred sites associated with the Alvdrs, the Tamil Vaisnava saints, and has its own site legend

or sthalapurdna, the Ku.talpurdna.

While there was undoubtedly an earlier temple on the site, perhaps dating from the tenth or
eleventh century, the present structure is almost solely of mid-sixteenth century construction with
some notable twentieth-century additions. Soundara Rajan misleadingly refers to this temple as being
an eighth- or ninth-century early Pandyan temple, though there is little at the site that predates the
sixteenth century.4 The only physical vestiges of the earlier temple are perhaps some reused slabs with

fragmentary inscriptions built into theprdkara wall. Both inscriptions and stylistic comparisons with
similar structures in the Minaksi-Sundareivara temple complex suggest a mid sixteenth-century date
for the K-tal Alakar temple. Three inscriptions have been recorded from the vimdna and its attached
ardhamandapa.5 One inscription refers to the donation of stone for the construction of the ardhamandapa
and garbhagrha, the other two mention gifts of land and money for offerings and festivals. There are

no clear dates given but the government epigraphist, writing in 1912, suggests 1551 for one of them.
Local rulers mentioned in the inscriptions similarly place the date of the temple's construction around
the middle of the sixteenth century.
The temple faces east and is entered through a single gopura which leads through an enclosed area

to the central courtyard containing the main shrine dedicated to K-tal Alakar (ill. I). A doorway to
the south leads to a separate enclosure for the deity's consort (amman or tdydr), Maturavalli; two sim-

ilar doorways on the north side lead to an enclosure for the female Tamil saint, Ant.l. This arrange-
ment withfor
arrangement Perum.l's consort
Vaisnava temples to the south
in Tamilnadu. and gopura
The single Ant.l used
to the
as annorth,
entranceon
on his leftside
the east and right, is a standard
and the absence of multiple prakdra or enclosure walls are typical of smaller Nayaka-period temples,
and thus distinguish this temple from the larger complexes of Tamilnadu with multiple gopuras on
more than one side that increase in height towards the outer series of concentric enclosures. The K-tal

Alakar temple is also striking for the size of its vimdna which is not smaller than the gopura and is vis-
ible from outside the temple, unlike many later vim.nas buried deep inside the temple complex, an
issue that will be discussed further below.

4 K.V. Soundara Rajan, "Early Pandya, Muttarayar and Irukkuvel Architecture," in Pramod Chandra, ed., Studies in
Indian Temple Architecture (New Delhi: American Institute of Indian Studies, 1975), 24o-300oo, cf. 260-61.
5 Madras Reports on Epigraphy nos. 557-59 of 19H, and V. Rangacharya, A Topographical List of the Inscriptions of the
Madras Presidency II (Madras: Government Press, 1919), 999. W. Norman Brown, A Pillared Hallfrom A Temple at
Madura, India (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1940), 28.

200

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 ARCHITECTURAL FORM AND THE INDIAN TEMPLE

A recurring theme in Indian temple architecture is the conception of the main shrine a
posed of multiple images of smaller shrine forms or aedicules arranged in rows and store
a towering superstructure. This was originally remarked upon by James Fergusson (1808-
historian of Indian architecture, who remarked that "everywhere... in India, architectu
is made up of small models of large buildings."' This idea has recently been examine
Adam Hardy in his discussion of the Karnata Dravida tradition of temple architecture i
He has demonstrated that Indian temple architecture, both Dravida and Ndgara, "de
visual structure, its expression and its meanings, on the combination and interrelation
shrines".7 The Tamil Dravida tradition of temple architecture is also based around such
as the K-tal Alakar temple in Madurai demonstrates. This architectural tradition is very
over its thirteen-hundred-year history with a recognizable continuity of forms and yet
ings are identical. In common with the wider Indian artistic tradition, the history of T

architecture consists not just of the repetition but also the reinterpretation by artists and
a range of architectural elements or building forms.
The architectural forms used in the Tamil Dravida tradition consist of three primary
aedicule or miniature shrine distinguished by their roof forms and relative size, and a nu
ondary aedicule forms that lie within or between the primary ones. Vimnas are usually

equal in size and composition on each side. The central primary aedicule is a Wdld-aedicu
lar with a barrel-vaulted roof. At the corners are k~ta-aedicules usually with square roo
half the width of the idld-aedicule; between these two may be smaller panjara-aedicules
horse-shoe arch exposed. These aedicules may consist of two storeys and are further arra
or storeys (tdlas) rising up to the capping dome or likhara on top. The elevation of the te

divided horizontally into several sections: a sub-base or upapz.tha, a base or adhisthdana, t

up to the curved eave-kapota and the superstructure above it. However, these are vertical
and conceived as one, the base, wall and superstructure all being parts of a series of embed
This is despite the frequent change in material from stone to brick and plaster between
kapota and the parapet above.
These then are the main elements of the vimdna's elevation: the superstructure, wall a
all articulated into multiple miniature shrines or aedicules embedded into the larger form
to which these parts are conceived as connected may be seen in the vertical alignments tha

the elevation joining the horizontal layers together and stressing the aedicular basis of th
for example, the pairs of engaged columns at the corners of each aedicule are aligned v

the vertical projections of the kantha, the recessed frieze in the base, and the ndsts (hor
of the kapotas (downward-curved moulding), both above in the eave and below in the ad

upapitha. These engaged columns support not just the eave-kapota but the upper-storey

(prastara) of each aedicule and its roof-forms - kz.tas, idlds and padjaras - which continue up in tiers
6 James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (London: John Murray, 1876), 285.
7 Hardy, 18.

201

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
to the capping fikhara and stupi. Illustration 2 is a diagram of a Tamil Dravida primary ku.ta-aedicule
with a full secondary aedicule within it, indicating the technical terms in Sanskrit or Tamil for the
constituent parts.
Though such a conception of the architectural structure will not explain every example from all
periods, the aedicular approach to temple architecture that appreciates the depth, breadth and eleva-
tion rather than just the horizontal parts of the elevation, such as the wall or the base, is the key to a
more accurate description of temple form. Descriptions of temples that mention a rhythmic series of
projections and recesses are too vague and can be applied to almost any temple. Miniature shrines or
aedicules have often been noted in the superstructure or parapet of temples, but their vertical align-
ment with the whole structure of the wall and base has not been sufficiently emphasized, a situation
that is increasingly clear from the tenth century in Tamilnadu. Reference to the even number of
engaged columns in the wall offers a greater degree of distinction between temples, but they are not

just even but in pairs. Using the Sanskrit terms bhadra, pratikarna and karna is more accurate, but just
means the central, intermediate and corner offsets and focuses attention on the wall alone. The bhadra
would then be the section of the vimana here described as the idla-aedicule. The use of the terms bhadra

and karna have not been used to any extent by scholars of south Indian architecture. In this discussion,

an aedicule is the elevation from the adhis.thdna right through the wall and superstructure to the idld,
kuta orpajdara, and not just the elevation of the parapet above the eave-kapota. Details of many Nayaka-
period temples, such as the Ku-tal Alakar, make it clear that the temple's form was conceived as being
composed of aedicules, multiple smaller shrine forms making up the architectural whole.

THE TEMPLE AS PROCESSIONAL SPACE

The basic purpose of a Hindu temple is to provide a shelter for a deity and a place wh
come to worship that god or goddess. The emphasis in worship, whether in a small vi
great temple complex, is on the individual's relationship with the deity: the worshipp
temple to take dariana, to see and be seen by the deity. From an architectural perspect
tle emphasis on space for congregational worship, as there is in a church or mosque. Te
appropriately conceived as paths or processional spaces. In south India the scale on wh
moves towards the deity is often very great as many temples become, in the sixteenth
centuries, huge complexes of structures, and so an understanding of the nature of th
temple complex can only be gained with reference to the ways in which a temple is and
The high walls, great gopuras, successive enclosures, multiple shrines, halls and corri
experience for the pilgrim entering one of these complexes complicated and at no poin
of the temple be appreciated in full. Aerial views and architectural plans may be helpfu
ing the great scale and layout of south Indian temples, but they do not accurately reflec
of the visitor. Architecturally the elements of the temple are only gradually revealed,

The movement of people visiting temples may be discussed in terms of motion both in
the circumambulation of the main shrine and the image. The interaction of form and

reflected, for example, in the provision of a circumambulatory path (pradakEsi'apatha) around the gar-
bhagrha in many temples and the clearly emphasized routes into the temple. Though circumambula-

ZOZ

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
tion is undoubtedly an important rite, in terms of everyday temple practice as often as not the main
motion is directly towards rather than gradually around: the architecture of the temple stresses the
movement of the pilgrim inward towards a direct experience of the deity.
An alternative approach to discussing the function of temples is to stress the primary purpose of
the temple as a "house of God" and take a deity-centered view of movement within the temple com-
plex. A problem from a Western perspective in understanding Hindu temple ritual is the very real
embodiment of divinity, the presence of God in tangible form.8 Deities in Hindu India are individ-
ual personalities, a fact expressed in ritual and myth. Hindu literature, both oral and written, pan-
Indian Purdnas as well as local site-related literature, describe in detail the mythical exploits of the
gods and their relations on Earth with men and women. But it is in temple ritual that their living pres-
ence is continually reaffirmed, both on a daily basis and in the periodic festivals associated with each
temple.
The main temple ritual performed before the deity ispu-ja, also performed in homes by both priests
and laity. Puja- takes place before images and in a series of offerings and services the deity is honored
and entertained. The important point to note here is that the deities are treated as a real physical pres-
ence: they are offered food, bathed, dressed with clothes and jewelery, entertained with lamps, music
and dancing. In the morning they are woken by priests and at night they sleep with their consorts.
However, it is in the periodic festival ritual of temples that the living presence of the deity is most
dramatically expressed with a direct impact on the architectural layout and design. Festivals are a part
of every temple's ritual calendar, both minor ones that occur each month and major annual ones last-
ing up to ten days or more. Festivals occur as part of the lunar calendar in common with other simi-
larly dedicated temples and as local events dramatizing the myths of a particular deity and temple site.
A central feature of all these festivals is the procession. Unlike their north Indian counterparts who
mostly remain within the confines of the temple, south Indian deities are frequently on the move.9 In
considering the function of a south Indian temple this fact must be considered. Movement in a tem-
ple is not just about worshippers going in and circumambulating around, but about the deity mov-
ing both out of its shrine and around the temple precincts or even beyond.
The occasions on which a deity moves out of his or her shrine vary from temple to temple. The
deity may be taken out and about on a daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly or annual basis. The num-
ber and length of festivals in a temple's ritual calendar are an indication of the temple's wealth and
status, and the deity's importance. Processions take place both within and outside the temple com-
plex, the more important and lengthy the festival tloto he greater the distances traveled. The deities are
carried around on palanquins (Tamil palakku) or animal vehicles (vahana) or dragged through the

8 On divine embodiment see Norman Cutler and Joanna Waghorne with Vasudha Narayanan, eds., Gods ofFlesh, Gods
of Stone: The Embodiment of Divinity in India (New York: Columbia University Press, I985); Richard H. Davis, Ritual
in an Oscillating Universe: Worshipping Siva in Medieval India (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 199I); and Diana
L. Eck, Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India, 3rd edition (New York and Chichester: Columbia University Press,
1998).
9 Festival processions do take place in the North, such as in Orissa and Nepal, but on nothing like the frequency or scale
as in southern India.

20zo3

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
streets outside on wheeled chariots, a kind of mobile temple (ratha, Tamil tir). Each festival proces-
sion follows a standard route specific to each event. These processions involve not only the circum-
ambulation of the temple precincts but also periodic pauses for a short time at important axes and for

greater lengths of time in particular manadapas. These processions both define sacred space, the deity
seeing around its territory, and emphasize the relationship between deities when they meet during
festivals; for the worshippers they provide an opportunity to take dariana in large groups.
The discussion of architectural function in the Kutal Alakar temple is informed with reference to
modern festival practice. A potential problem, however, is the degree to which it is appropriate to inter-
pret the use of a temple in the late sixteenth century using data from the late twentieth century. Tem-
ple festivals are mentioned as occurring in the devotional bhakti literature of the Tamil saints dating
to the seventh to tenth centuries. Specific festivals are mentioned in inscriptions, and the initiation
and support of temple festivals was a major dimension of patronage. From a general perspective it is
clear that festivals are not a recent phenomenon, though the details are less clear: the number, length
and routes of festivals may well have changed in the course of the centuries with the changing impor-
tance and available resources of temples to hold major festivals. However, Paul Younger has noted that

at both the Natardja temple at Chidambaram and the Rafigandtha temple at Srirangam although
changes are felt in the festival traditions, there is also a very deep conservatism to them; the major fes-
tivals celebrated at each temple are all mentioned in the earliest inscriptions and hymns.1o C.J. Fuller
similarly remarks that the form of the festivals of the Minaksi-Sundareivara temple at Madurai today
are essentially the same as those celebrated in the Nayaka period." Thus, while the details of specific
festivals held in temples today may not accurately correspond with those celebrated four centuries ago,
the general approach to architectural form and function stressing the importance of festival ritual, the
movement in procession of deities and their periodic halts in particular structures designed for their
enthronement and display is appropriate.

ENTERING THE KUTAL ALAKAR TEMPLE

The main entrance to the Ku-tal Alakar temple is through a single gopura on the east side (fig. I). Gop-
uras are a characteristic feature of the Tamil Drdvida tradition of architecture and serve as gateways
into the temple. Formally they are constructed like a vimana split in half to create an entrance beneath

the multi-storeyed superstructure and so the aedicular conception of architectural form is equally
applicable to gopuras. This example has a five-storey superstructure above a basement with an

adhis.thana and an upapz.tha like a vimana. Its formal construction is typical ofgopuras of this scale, each
side having a kz.ta-aedicule and padjara-aedicule beside the projecting stepped gateway with the
mukhadla, the projecting tiers of i/ds, above. Between the deep primary aedicules are pairs of columns

Io Paul Younger, "Ten Days of Wandering and Romance with Lord Rankanatan: The Pankuni Festival in Srirankam
Temple, South India," in Modern Asian Studies 16, no.4 (1982), 623-56, and The Home of Dancing Sivan: The Traditions
in the Hindu Temple at Citamparam (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), 47.
II C.J. Fuller "Royal Divinity and Human Kingship in the Festivals of a South Indian Temple," in South Asian Social
Scientist I, no.I (1985), 3-43; especially 27.

20zo4

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
supportingpanjaras instead ofidls as is more usual. Although much repaired, smoothing many details
out, the mid-sixteenth-century date is suggested by the deep eave over the gateway with a three-
dimensional monkey carved in relief, thepuspapotikds (flower bracket-capital) of the engaged columns
as well as those within the gateway, and the similarity in size and style to the mid to late sixteenth-
century inner gopuras of the nearby Mindksi-Sundareivara temple complex. A high-relief image of
Garuda, instead of the more usual dvdrapdlas, is sculpted to one side of the entrance.
The vimdna, ardhamandapa and wider mahdmandapa, locally named the kolumandapa, are aligned
exactly with the gopura so there is theoretically a direct line of sight as one enters from the entrance

right to the garbhagrha. This view is obscured, however, by the dhvajastambha (flagpole), balipitha
(sacrificial altar) and a Garuda shrine within the mahamandapa that all lie on this east-west axis. Within
the entrance to the temple there is a north-south aisle lined with very tall piers in front of the porch

leading to the mahdmandapa with steps to the north and south (fig. 2). Devotees must then turn south
and go around to enter the temple as there is no direct access route from the gopura. Piers are formally
like columns but with the addition of one or more smaller engaged columns on one, or at corners, sev-
eral sides of the core column, the whole raised on a base. Piers are a feature of later Tamil Dravida archi-
tecture allowing both greater distances to be spanned across corridors and higher ceilings within

madyndapas. These piers within the Kutal Alakar temple's entrance are typical with several capital ele-
ments, including the characteristically Nayaka-period seated sirnha (lion) and puspapotikad (flower
bracket-capital), supporting the central raised ceiling that is about ten meters high. The four central
piers have tall rearing ydlis (mythical lion-like animals) facing inward (west) and outward (east), a
common elaboration of the basic pier form in the sixteenth century and later.
At the north end of this comparatively dark aisle is a four-columned festival mandapa and beyond

it the pal4liyarai (deities' bed-chamber). A navagraha shrine to the nine planetary deities is situated
beside this. The priests could not explain the presence of the shrine in a Visnu temple, for it is normally
only found in Saiva temples. At the south end of this aisle four columns with attached sculptures of

near life-size kings in adjalimudra line the route to a steep staircase leading to a deep tank in the tayar
prakara called the Hemapuskarini. Rooms have been created in the northeast and southeast corners of
this prakdra for the temple offices and storerooms.
Moving west from the south end of this dark enclosed aisle, steps lead up into the porch of the
mahamandapa or on into the open space around the main shrine. This temple is unusual for having such
a large vimdna and one that is visible from a distance. Once inside this temple, the layout is compar-
atively easy to comprehend compared with the great complexity of many south Indian temples, such
as the Min ksi-Sundare"vara whose main shrines are enclosed inside many walls, gateways and corri-
dors preventing a clear appreciation of the temple's layout. All around the south, west and north sides

of the Kutal Alakar's main prakara is an aisle of piers on a raised basement, some of the piers having

attached yd.lis (fig. 3). But the dominant structure of this central prdkara is the huge vimina and its
attached columned halls, the narrower ardhamanydapa and the larger mahamanydapa (fig. 4).
The vimana of the Kutal Alakar temple is composed of the standard arrangement of aedicules for

all periods ofTamil Dravida architecture with corner kz.ta-aedicules, a central idld-aedicule and pa#-
jara-aedicules between, here rising up to the likhara at the summit in three storeys or tdlas (fig. 5).
The complexity of Nayaka-period design is illustrated by the density of additional elements that elab-

205

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
orate these basic features of the Tamil Dravida tradition. Embedded within each primary aedicule is
another aedicule of the same form as the primary one, duplicating the same basement and paired

engaged columns supporting a k.ta, pad~jara or idla (fig. 6). Secondary aedicules such as these feature
on most Tamil temples after the tenth century and may consist of paired engaged columns support-

ing a kfta, Wdla orpad~jara, or in earlier temples a makaratorana, and are placed within or between the
primary aedicules. Niches (kostha) for figural sculpture may appear within them but are not essential.
What distinguishes Nayaka-period secondary aedicules from earlier examples is the introduction

of a full secondary aedicule with its own base and sub-base that overlay the adhisthdna of the primary
aedicule from which it emerges, rather than having a pair of engaged columns rising directly from the
main base (see ill. 2). In the tenth and eleventh century, a number of early Chola-period temples, such
as the Brahmapurisvara at Pullamangai and the Siva temple at Dadapuram, have apanjara-aedicule
that similarly overlays the main base mouldings of the adhisthdna. But these are not placed within

another aedicule, as the Nayaka-period examples are, but between the primary ku.ta-aedicules and the
central dld-aedicule and spread vertically over the adhisthdna and may penetrate the eave-kapota. The
presence of such full secondary aedicules at the K-tal Alakar temple supports the aedicular concep-
tion of temple form. A related feature of the Kutal Alakar temple is the projecting step in the central

idld-aedicule that runs vertically right from the upap.tha to the superstructure, bringing the central
projection fractionally further forward (fig. 7).
Another secondary aedicule type introduced in the early eleventh-century at temples such as the
Brhadisvara temple at Tanjavur and common thereafter is the kumbhapa-jara, a pilaster or engaged
column rising from a pot (kumbha) with apanjara on top. At the K-tal Alakar temple these are placed
on the rear surfaces of the idld-aedicule. Pairs of engaged columns supporting a Wdld lie between the
pad~jara- and the dld-aedicule, and a split-column supporting a dld with a latticed window within

between the ku.ta- and padjara-aedicules increase the aedicular density of this temple. The full sec-
ondary dld-aedicules flanked by the halves of two adjoining split-columns contain deep niches that
may have been intended for figural sculpture, but are now empty. The latticed windows framed by
further split-columns at the corners are all different: some have geometric designs, others have inter-
twining foliage, small figures or vydlas (mythical lion-like animals). These latticed windows illumi-
nate the pradaksinapatha, the internal circumambulatory path that runs around the garbhagrha. The
complexity of the aedicular design is enhanced by the primary- and secondary-aedicules' superstruc-
tures being composed of multiple roof forms arranged into two storeys rather than the usual one and
projecting prominently (fig. 8).

The whole structure of the vimdna is composed of miniature shrines: small ones in tiers forming
the roof of a full secondary aedicule lying within a larger primary aedicule, five of which go together

to form one storey of the three-storeyed vimdna. The whole effect is to ensure that there are no large
plain surfaces. That the vimdna was designed to be seen as composed of multiple smaller shrine forms
is suggested by variations in the mouldings of the adhisthana and the variety of paired shaft types
between aedicules. In the base this is clearest in the way the kumuda changes in profile across the

aedicules: three-sided for the ku.ta-aedicules, round for thepadjara- and the front of the ild-aedicules,
eight-sided for the rear wall, deeply fluted with a central band for the rear of the idld-aedicule (fig. 9).
The idld-aedicule's importance is stressed with the replacement of the straight jagati with a deeply-

206

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
fluted lotus moulding. The pairs of engaged columns vary from eight-sided for the ku.ta-aedicules, six-
teen-sided for the pa jara- and round for the rear corners of the s'dld-aedicule. The same pattern is
repeated on the gopura of this temple. The great variety of base mouldings across a Nayaka-period
vimdna means that the method used to classify earlier temples by a single profile of their base that
remain largely consistent across is not meaningful." Though such variation in base mouldings and
engaged column forms between aedicules appears in some earlier temples, with perhaps two base
moulding or engaged column types, it is almost standard practice in Nayaka-period design with the
distinctive use of up to five variations. This tendency demonstrates the continued inventive use of the
Tamil Drdvida tradition in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The decorative potential of sculpture is extravagantly explored at this temple not in the niches
that are such a prominent feature of earlier temples, but in the very deep, bracketed eave-kapota and

its ndsis (horse-shoe arch) (fig. Io). There are twelve ndsis on the south, west and north sides of the
vimdna and each has a different high-relief sculpture framed by a large krrtimukha. Included are Visnu,

standing, seated with Laksmi and riding Garuda; in his avatdras as Trivikrama, Narasimtha seizing
Hiranyakalipu and in an adjacent ndst killing him, Rdma with a bow, Krsna playing the flute; danc-

ing men and women, one with a basket and a small child, as well as a number of ku.tas and vy las.
The mdla above this has a row of energetic lions behind the kirtimukhas rather than the vydlas that
are standard in Chola-period temples. These lively rampant lions are repeated in the wall zone, over-
laying the square bases of engaged columns. The Nayaka-period lion base may be distantly related to
the characteristically Pallava-period replacement of both engaged and detached column bases with
seated or rearing vydlas. It is a distinctive stylistic feature of Nayaka-period temples in Madurai and
in the wider region, appearing on the late sixteenth-century outer gopuras of the Mindksi-Sundaresvara
temple complex, on the Raya Gopura of the Anta-l-Vatapatraikyana temple complex at Srivilliputtur
to the south and the outermost gopura on the east side of the Arunacalesvara temple complex at Tiru-

vannamalai to the north. In the recessed panels of the Kutal Alakar temple's upapi.tha there are large
high-reliefpanels with similar subject-matter to that within the ndsts above. Each panel is sixteen cen-
timeters high and mostly between sixteen and forty centimeters wide, but the panels beneath the idld-
aedicules' niches are almost a meter wide allowing large scenes to be depicted. Many are of indeter-
minate standing figures, but included among the deities depicted are many of Krsna: crawling as a
child, dancing with a butterball, stealing the gopis' clothes, playing the flute, killing the crane Baka-
sura and the ogress P-tana, and dancing on the ndga Kaliya.
Further sculptures of animals, unrelated to any deities, have been added to the walls and eaves of
aedicules: for example, a monkey by the southern adla-aedicule's niche and parrots on the kumbha-

padjara next to it (fig. II), and a cat with a bird in its mouth by the south ardhamanydapa's niche and
two similar cats with birds in their mouths on the eave-kapota of the north-east latticed window. The
addition of high-relief animals, such as birds, monkeys or lizards, to the walls and especially curved

eaves of temples and their manZdapas is a common and distinctively Nayaka-period feature of Tamil
temple architecture, though a slightly earlier precedent is to be found at the earlier sixteenth-century
Velikataramana temple at Tadpatri in the Deccan.

12 See for example Douglas Barrett, Early Cola Architecture and Sculpture (London: Faber and Faber Ltd., 1974), 27-32,
I26-27.

207

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The vimana, ardhamandapa and mahamandapa were constructed as one unit with a continuous

upapZtha all round. The mahaman.dapa has a very basic exterior with a continuous adhisthdna unlike the
varied profile of the vimdna and ardhamandapa. It has only engaged columns across the north wall and
a projecting opening on the south with piers at the corners, now partially enclosed. The vimaina and
ardhamandapa, however, have a virtually identical aedicular layout (fig. 12). The ardhamandapa has
the same wide centrally-projecting Sadld-aedicule with kumbhapanjaras on the rear section and a full
secondary idd-aedicule with a niche on the front, and two narrower primary aedicules containing sec-
ondary ones to either side; between are ilds on paired columns. However, unlike the vimana, there is

no eave-kapota, mdla or indeed a parapet of roof forms, the ku.tas, idlds and panjaras that give the
aedicules their main distinguishing names. It is not the case, however, that the parapet is always absent

in Tamil temples from above the attached mandapas' walls, for both earlier examples such as the tenth-
century Brahmapurisvara temple at Pullamangai and the twelfth-century Airavatesvara temple
at Darasuram, and contemporary examples, such as the seventeenth-century Subramanya temple at

Tanjavur, do continue the rows of ku.tas, idlds and panjaras above the wall of the ardhamandapa. The
presence of full secondary aedicules do, however, suggest the validity of the aedicular interpretation
even when the parapet is absent from the ardhamandapa as at the Kutal Alakar temple. This ardha-

madndapa thus has ku.ta-, panjara-, Sdld-, padjara- and, curiously, another single tdla panjara-aedicule,

instead of a ku.ta-aedicule, across its length from the vimina to the door by the mahdmandapa.
Like the niches on the three sides of the vimdna, there is no stone image in the ardhamandapa's niche
on the south side but the original iconographic program of the temple is suggested by modern paint-
ings on the rear wall: Laksmi on the ardhamandapa's south wall, Narasiriha on the vimdna's south,
Visnu with Laksmi on the west and Brahma on the north. No lattice windows are placed between the
ardhamandapa's primary aedicules, but at the join between the ardhamandapa and the vimdna on the
south side a split-column topped by a two storeys of sdlds frames a large lattice window (fig. I3). This

join between the parts of the temple is further emphasized by a deeper recess from the adhis.thdna up,
without affecting the upapi.tha.
The north side of the ardhamandapa is unfinished with only the lowest parts of the adhis.thdna and
one primary aedicule by the door completed. The straight plain wall shows how the aedicular concept
was added to the basic structure, and that it is clearly conceptual and not based on structural form; the
aedicules may be conceived as being embedded but structurally they are added to a plain wall. In the
center of the north wall at the base of the planned Sdld-aedicule is a prandla (waterspout), called a
kimukam ("cow-face") in Tamil. These are normally placed on the north side of the vimdna, rather than

the ardhamanzdapa, to carry away the fluids used in the lustration or abhiseka of the main shrine's image.
At this temple, however, the main stone images of Alakar and his two eternal consorts, Bht and Sri,
in the garbhagrha are not now lustrated.' Instead the three padcaloka metal images placed in front of
the fixed images are brought out five times each month to the ardhamanydapa where abhiseka is per-
formed by the priests alone behind a curtain on a small platform specially designed for the purpose,

the prandyla draining away the five fluids (milk, turmeric-water, coconut milk, curd and water).
13 In Srivaisnavism, the form of Vaisnavism founded by Ra-manuja in the eleventh century, Visnu is always accompa-
nied by his two eternal consorts, Bht and Sri, but has an additional local consort specific to the temple in a separate
shrine.

208

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 N ~---.s ___

0 10 20m

2 3

a 1 1

"D "N , II1~

t] m
1 5 - * * *

ca 5 B ILl 1 " a CI
9 8

A M W3 1 go cIm l:
_ li I I I I I c a

I C

Ill. I Plan of the Kutal Alakar temple. Key to Illustratio

A Ant.5l prekdara.
B Ku-tal Alakarprdkdra.
C Maturavalli Tayar prdkEra.
I. Atyayana Mandapa.
2. Pa5lliyarai (deities' bedchamber).
3. Hemapuskarini (tank).
4. Cakkaratalvar shrine.

5. Corkkavcal.
Na Navagraha shrine.
Dh Dhvajastambha.
Ba Balipitha.
Ga Garuda shrine.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Stfipi

ikhara

Griva

Ved1i

Pada

Vyalamala
Eave kapota

Puspapotika- -Lc?

Phalaka --"

Ndkapantam

Kapota o
Kan~tha Adhisthana
Kumuda

Jagati
Vyalamdla V4 0g te %- t
Kapota n (NA n) o
Kantha Upapitha
Padma
Updna

Ill. 2 Elevation of a Tamil Dravida kuta-

aedicule.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. I K-tal Alakar temple from the east. Fig. 2 K-tal Alakar temple. Dhvajastambha and ydali piers within
the gopura.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 3 Kufital Alakar temple. Piers around the mainprdkdra.

Fig. 4 K-tal Alakar temple. Main vimana and

ardhamandapa from southeast.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. 5 Kutal Alakar temple. Southwest
corner of vimdna.
Fig. 6 Kutal Alakar temple. Kuta-
and panjara-aedicules with full secondary
aedicules within them.

Fig. 7 Kutal Alakar temple. Panjara-

aedicule alongside central adl-aedicule
with empty niche.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fig. 8 Kutal Alakar temple. Eave and roof-
forms over empty niche.

Fig. 9 K-tal Alakar temple. Detail of alad-

aedicule's upapitha and adhisthadna.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Fig. Io Kutal Alakar temple. High-relief
sculpture within the ndsis of the eave-kapota.

Fig. 11 Kutal Alakar temple. High-relief

monkey and parrots alongside the vimdna's
south ?dld-aedicule.

Fig. I2 Kfital Alakar temple. South side of

the ardhamandapa and mahdmayndapa.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Fig. 13 Kutal Alakar temple. Latticed
window at joins between the vimdna and the
ardhamandapa on the south side.

Fig. 14 Kutal Alakar temple. Outer

cruciform area of Maturavalli Ta-yar prdkara
with Cakkaratalvar shrine.

Fig. 15 K-tal Alakar temple. Antdl prakara

and corkkavacal.

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 The most striking aspect of this temple's vimdina is its size and visual impact. Discussions of Tamil
temple architecture have stressed the diminution of the vimdna in size after the four great Chola-period
vimdnas at Tanjavur, Gangaikondacolapuram, Darasuram and Tribhuvanam, noting that the archi-
tectural emphasis then shifts to the outer gopuras from the twelfth century. This was one of the late
nineteenth-century architectural historianJames Fergusson's chief criticisms of Dravida architecture,
which he described as a "false system of design" for the diminishing architectural impact of the gopu-

ras towards the central shrine.14 In most later Tamil temple complexes the main shrine is not visible
from outside the prdkdra walls or even from any distance within the complex. This temple is strik-
ingly different, however, for not only is the vimdna approximately the same size as the temple's soli-
tary gopura, but it is visible from outside and from a distance within the temple courtyard. Vaisnava
worshippers regularly circumambulate this temple, a practice not so clearly evident in many Siva tem-

ples, usually after visiting the main shrine and pausing at the corners of the prAdkra to look up at the
top of the vimdna. The vimdna is circa I25 feet/38 meters high, which compares with the better-known
Chola-period temples such as the mid- to late-twelfth century Airavatesvara temple's vimdna at Dara-
suram, which is circa 83 feet/25 meters high and the early thirteenth-century Kampahareivara's vimdna
at Tribhuvanam at circa I26 feet/38.4 meters.5s The difference in the number of tdlas between these
temples, three for the K-tal Alakar, five for the Airaivatesvara and six for the Kampaharesvara, empha-

sizes that there is no standard height for a tdla or storey.

One of the reasons for the vimdna's height is because it contains not one but three garbhagrhas
arranged vertically, one shrine for the deity in each storey. Tamil temples tend to be arranged on a sin-

gle level, and the interior of vimdnas are hollow above the enclosed garbhagrha. In the lowest garbhagrha
at the K-tal Alakar temple Visnu is depicted seated with Bhu and Sri alongside, in the central shrine
standing and at the top reclining. The vertical arrangement of shrines is unique to Vaisnava temples
and features in very few examples in Tamilnadu, such as the eighth-century Vaikuntha Peruma!l at
Kancipuram, the ninth-century Sundaravarada at Uttaramerur, the sixteenth-century Rajagopala tem-
ple at Mannargudi near Ambasamudram and the seventeenth-century Saumyanarayana at Tirukkosh-
tiyur.16

Around the lowest, main garbhagrha at the K-tal Alakar are two passageways for circumambula-
tion of the shrine, the outer passageway's interior illuminated by the latticed windows at the corners.

The upper garbhagrhas, reached via a staircase in the mahdmandapa and across the flat roof, also have
two narrow passageways around, illuminated by narrow slits at the center of each side of the vimdna.
These are fairly cramped, especially the uppermost ones, but circumambulation is possible. The inte-

14 Fergusson, (2nd edition, 1910o), 368, 372.

15 H. Sarkar, The Kampaharesvara Temple at Tribhuvanam (Madras: Tamilnadu State Department of Archaeology, 1974),
11-12. The temples at Tanjavur and Gangaikondacolapuram are on a much larger scale with vimanas 59.82 meters and

51.o04 meters high, and sixteen- and eight-tala respectively; cf Pierre Pichard, Tanjavur Brhadrivara: An Architectural
Study (New Delhi and Pondicherry: Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts and Ecole frangaise d'ExtrEme-Ori-
ent, 1995), 16.
16 Dennis Hudson has studied the Vaikuntha Perumal at Kancipuram and relates the iconographic program of that tem-
ple to the Paficar-tra doctrine ofVisnu's emanations (vybha). See Dennis Hudson, "Kanchipuram," in George Michell,
ed., Temple Towns of Tamil Nadu (Bombay: Marg Publications, 1993), 18-39.

217

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
riors of the garbhagrhas have walls with eighteenth- or nineteenth-century mural paintings of Vaisnava
themes in two registers on a red background and huge images: the central standing Visnu is approx-
imately three meters high. Today, few worshippers go to the upper shrines but these are functioning:

the priests offer worship in these two shrines at two of the seven daily pu-jds.
Access to the interior of the temple is provided by staircases on the north and south sides of the

porch attached to the eastern end of the mahdmandaapa and by another pair at its join with the ardha-
manadapa. Six piers support the deeply-curved eave, about one meter high, of the porch: the central two

piers have attached yd.lis facing each other across the east-west axis running through the gopura to the
garbhagrha, the piers at the corner have a core column and three attached columns, the one at the diag-

onal is completely in the round. The interior of the mahdmandapa is filled with further piers and
columns forming a cruciform aisle within which Alakar rests during festivals. Four modern shrines

respectively to Navanita Kannan (Krsna), Rama, Sita and Laksmana, Afijaneya (Hanuman), and
Garuda are placed between the columns, Garuda facing towards the sanctum. A staircase leads up to
the roof and the two other garbhagrhas. Dvdrapdlas stand at either side of the entrance into the ardha-

madngapa, the walls either side being articulated like the ardhamanadapa's exterior. The interior of the
ardhamandaapa is very plain as is usual in temple structures with only a single aisle of piers; the ceiling
is too low for elaborate seated simha orpuspapotikad capitals.

MOVING OUT

The separateprdkdra for K-tal Alakar's local consort, Maturavalli Tayar, is entered thr
to the south of the main shrine's porch. The majority of the structures in this prdkdra
century in date but substantially replicate the original sixteenth-century plan (fig. I4
ern end is a large cruciform aisle lined by piers raised on a high basement ofadhisthdna f
south aisle leads from the centralprdkdra to a platform against the south wall with imag
Alv-rs. The east-west aisle runs across the front of the temple kitchen in the southeast c

dard location for this structure in a temple, to the entrance to the tdydr shrine. The ba
of the piers and some of the adjacent columns along the south wall are sixteenth-centur
piers that line the cruciform aisle with attached painted figures ofVisnu's ten avatdras

in I984. In the northeast corner of thisprdkdra is the Hemapuskarini, a very deep str
surrounded by a low wall. It is only accessible by way of a steep staircase from the Al
the past the Hemapuskirini may have been used for ritual bathing by worshippers or
of deities at the end of festivals; now it is the drain for all rainfall run-off and is full o

west is a shrine dedicated to Cakkaratalvar, the personification ofVisnu's cakra (discus

1992, that replaced a festival manadapa used for the five-day Vasanta festival.
The mid-sixteenth century taydr shrine was demolished in 1908 and replaced with
vimina, attached ma1a'dapa and porch approached along a piered aisle within an enclosed

17 Ki?talalakar talavaralaru (site-history) (Madurai: Ku-tal Alakar temple, 1994), 26; Archaeological Surv
Annual Report 1910o-11, 4. The old parts of the shrine, including inscribed fragments, were remov
Madanagopala temple and not returned.

218

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
enclosed shrine probably duplicated the form of the earlier one and was completed by 1923. The style
is little different from Nayaka-period structures, though the stone used has been given the distinctive
black, highly polished almost plastic-like finish found in other Tamil shrines built during the twen-
tieth century. Alan Butterworth noted that this appearance was achieved by rubbing the stone, a local
fine, gray metamorphic Charnockite, with oil and iron filings.8 The destruction of this shrine in favor
of a wholly new structure emphasizes that it is the site that is sacred and not the architecture upon it.
The Muslim invasions of the fourteenth century are usually blamed if a temple has been damaged or
destroyed, but it is clear from this example, as indeed from others, that the wholesale replacement of
temple structures, even shrines, was sometimes carried out by Hindus without in anyway affecting
the sanctity of the site. The conception of south Indian temple development that stresses the outward
expansion of structures away from the sacred and inviolate core is clearly not entirely accurate. Earlier
structures could and indeed have been replaced, and in the example of the K-tal Alakar temple this
took place in both the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries when the main shrine and then the god-
dess shrine were rebuilt.

The much smaller northprdkdra is entered through two doorways and contains a small, plain shrine

to Atal (fig. I5). The vimdna is two-tdld but has very plain walls, as does the ardhamandapa and larger
mahdmandapa. It is not a masterpiece of twentieth-century Tamil architecture and probably replaces
an earlier shrine on the site. At the center of the north wall is the basement of a gopura though with-

out any superstructure. Although fairly plain, the deep eave and the puspapotikads suggest a later six-
teenth- or seventeenth-century date. This gateway remains closed for most of the year. This is called
in Tamil a corkkavdcal or paramapatavdcal, a "heaven's gate," an exit used only by deities during one
festival per year. Even in comparatively small temples like the K-tal Alakar the development of a fes-
tival calendar with associated processions had a significant impact on the architectural layout and
design.
Every year in the Tamil month of Markali (December-January) the K-tal Alakar temple celebrates
a twenty-day festival, in common with all Tamil Visnu temples, here named the Atyayana festival or

Rappotsavam. For the first ten days there are processions around the Alakarprdkdra in the mornings.
On the morning of the tenth-day, called Vaikuntha ekddaci, the corkkavdcal is opened and Alakar goes

out in procession
Mandapa that lies to thethrough
east of thethe Aint.lprdakdra
gopura. He stays here onand around thethrone
a four-columned northplatform
side ofinside
the temple to the Atyayana
for the following ten days until the end of the festival when he returns through the east gopura to his

shrine and the north gopura, the corkkavdcal, is closed again. This gateway and the Atyayana Mandapa
are both examples of structures built primarily for and used by the deities who live in the temple.'9

18 Alan Butterworth, The Southlands of Siva: Some Reminiscences of Life in Southern India (London: John Lane and Bodley

Head Ltd., 1923), I73. Butterworth was in the Indian Civil Service from 1885 to 1918. W. Norman Brown locates a
magndapa with figural pier sculpture now in the Philadelphia Museum as originally being in front of the tdydr's main
shrine and removed in the early twentieth century. This is possible though its form suggests that it was a detached

mandapa and there is not much space for one (Brown, A Pillared Hall From Madura, India), I7-30.
19 The Atyayana Mandapa is rented out as a storeroom during the year, its originally open sides having been filled in,
but is cleared out each year for the festival.

219

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 Though this temple has no large festival mandaapas within its walls like the nearby Mindksi-Sun-
daresvara temple, festivals are celebrated in each of the Tamil months involving all or only some of the
deities. Processions going clockwise both inside and outside the temple are a feature of all but a few,
such as the Navaratri festival in PurattFaci (September-October). The annual tir (ratha) procession
takes place on the final day of the ten-day brahmotsavam (main festival) in Vaikaci (May-June) when

Alakar, Bhu and Sri all go on procession around the streets of Madurai to the north of the temple. Pro-
cessions within the temple walls are far more frequent than outside and within Alakar's prdkdra go
around the aisle, raised about one meter high and lined with piers, that lies against the wall all around.
At the southwest and northwest corners are cabinets containing mirrors: processions pause in front of
these and lamps are held up before the deity and his reflection. Similar mirrors are placed in all four
corners of the enclosed area of the tdydr shrine, though Maturavalli never goes on procession outside
her prdkdra.

Although there is no designated kalydna mandaapa, as there is in many Tamil temple complexes, a
divine marriage festival is celebrated each year on one day in Pafikuni (March-April), when Alakar,

Sri, Bho,
chamber) next Maturavalli and A1nt.l
to the navagraha shrine is not usedgather in thebasis,porch
on an everyday ofother
unlike in theTamil
tdydrtem- shrine. The palliyarai (deities' bed-

ples, (May-June)
Vaikaci but Perum.l, Bhu
and for the ten and
days ofSri
the use it during
teppotsavam or floatthe ten-day
festival brahmotsavam,
in Maci (February-March). the biggest annual festival, in
A four-columned mangdapa platform at the north end of the area just inside the gopura is another place
where the deities are enthroned and displayed during festivals, whether the major annual ones or the
single-day events that take place five days per month.
In common with many of the larger Tamil temples, the K-tal Alakar has a large temple tank or
teppakkulam specifically built for celebrating a float festival when the deities are dragged on a float (tep-
pam) clockwise around the island at the center. The temple's teppakkulam lies about three hundred
meters to the north and directly west of the Minaksi-Sundaresvara temple complex alongside the mod-
ern Town Hall Road. Although the water supply from the river Vaikai has been cut-off for over forty
years and the tank is now overgrown with trees and surrounded by shops, a "float festival" still takes
place in Maci though Perumal, Bhu and Devi are taken around the surrounding roads in a palanquin
instead of floating on a teppam. The central island with a four-columned manadapa still survives, indi-
cating the tank's original festival function when the deities would have been taken to this small
mandaapa as part of the celebrations.

CONCLUSION

Madurai is well known as the site of the huge Minaksi-SundareSvara temple complex,

ple of later Tamil temple architecture, but as the Kutal Alakar temple demonstrates,
only architecturally significant temple built in Madurai in the sixteenth century and l

Alakar clearly illustrates both the conservatism and the innovation of the Tamil Drav
temple architecture. A detailed examination of the temple's form identifies the charact
of the Nayaka-period's style, such as the lion-based engaged columns, the high-relief an
on walls and eaves, and the complexity of design in engaged column types, base moul

220

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
whole composition of the temple from multiple images of smaller shrines. The wholesale reconstruc-
tion of parts of the temple on two occasions in the sixteenth and early twentieth centuries also demon-
strates that it is the site on which a temple is built that is sacred and not the architecture upon it. This
example also illustrates the importance of understanding the ritual functions of a temple to an appre-
ciation of architectural layout and form, and highlights the impact of festival processions on Tamil
temple architecture. Approaching the temple as an art-historian, one can appreciate the temple from
a formal view, seeing it within the context of one thousand years of architectural development.
Through the imaginary eyes of a sixteenth-century or modern devotee, one can appreciate the aesthetic
experience of ritual movement through the temple. But movement in the Hindu temple is as much
about the deity coming out on procession as the devotee going inward, with a notable impact on archi-
tectural form. Clearly, an understanding of ritual movement is crucial to an appreciation of the south
Indian temple as much as more traditional formal analysis.

221

This content downloaded from

157.50.48.179 on Sat, 26 Sep 2020 02:43:07 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms