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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
EPIGRAPHIA INDICA Narasiṁha occurs. The Tamil part of the inscription, if it was intact, might have thrown some light on this problem.[1] From this association with the Pallavas, we may take that the Tiruvorriyūr temple developed greatly in Pallava times and became a famous centre of Mahāvrata Śaivas. That the lives of one of the minor Śaiva Nāyanārs, Kaliya Nāyanār and of Sundaramūrti Nāyanār, one of the Śaiva saints of the Pallava period, are associated with this temple would also show that the shrine had become famous in the Pallava times. Our record says that Chaturānana arranged for a special service for the Śaiva at Tiruvorriyūr. The deity meant is evidently the primary one in the central shrine, referred to as Ādhipurīśvara which is but a translation of the Tamil name Orriyūr-Uḍaiyār. The Tamil name orri and its Sanskrit synonym ādhi mean ‘ mortgage’ ; what story in the local purāṇa gave this name to the deity is not known.[2] Nor is it known if it was the central deity that was renamed Nirañjanēśvarattu-Mahādēvar by Nirañjana-guru, for, the subshrines and deities at Tiruvorriyūr are numerous.[3]
[1] The names Narasiṁhamaṅgala and Siṁhavishṇuchaturvēdimaṅgalam clearly show the association of
the Pallavas with the shrine at Tiruvorriyūr and with its adjacent village, Maṇali. In the 12th canto of the
Tiruvorriyārp-Purāṇam, we find an account of a Toṇḍaimān of Kāñchī and what he did for the Tiruvorriyūr temple. The Toṇḍaimān who was engaged in rounding up the chieftains Kuruṁbas, Kurunilamannar, who were harassing the people, has to encounter two of their chieftains, Bāṇa and Ona, in the northern direction, from where
they were fighting with the help of Bhairava, the deity of their worship. Unable to stand against these,
the Toṇḍaimān sought the help of Vishṇu at Tirupati, which being of no avail against the Bhūta sent by
Bhairava, he sought the aid of Śiva at Tiruvorriyūr. With the help of the last mentioned, he could destroy the
Kurumbas and in gratitude, Toṇḍaimān erected a regular temple for the Śiva at Tiruvorriyūr with vimāna,
prākāra, etc. What follows is interesting : the Toṇḍaimān established 500 Śivaliṅgas and brought from the banks of
the Ganges five hundred Brāhmaṇa Mahāvratins. For guarding the temple, he set up an image of a Vīramahākāḷī
and in front of it a round stone (vaṭṭappārai in Tamil) having a mantrachakra ; and this Kāḷī is evidently the
one on the southern side of the central shrine now going by the name of Vaṭṭapaḷḷi-(a corruption of Vaṭṭṭapārai)
Nācchiyār. The Toṇḍaimān then consecrated here seven Kāḷīs and Bhairavas and a figure of Śiva in the form
of a teacher of the Mahāvratins. The last is evidently the image referred to as Gauḍēśvara or Gauḷīśvara found
behind the shrine or Tyāgarāja, to the west, in the southern prākāra. Therefore Gauḷīśvara or Gauḍēśvara,
like the Uttarāpathēśvara at Tiruchcheṅkāṭṭāṅguḍi, refers perhaps to the bringing of the worship and the
followers of Mahāvrata from the north. It may be pointed out in this connection that both this Gauḍēśvara
image and the image of Bhairava or Kshētrapāla in the northern prākāra appear old and may belong to later
Pallava times.
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[2] The available Tiruvorriyūr-Purāṇam not only does not contain any story to explain this name but says
also that Orri in the name refers to the fact that floods subsided at this place. Ādhi in the name is taken as Ādi
meaning ‘ primary ’. In canto two (Lingōtpatti-Sarga) the Purāṇa says that the chief deity at Tiruvorriyūr
is of the form of a painted plank (chitraphalaka), surrounded by Agni ; the deity is hence called Phalakākāranātha.
In a subsequent canto (eight) of the same Purāṇa, the story is told of how the serpent king Vāsuki became one
with the deity, and from that arose another name of the deity, Paḍaṁ-pakka-nātha, the Lord with the serpent’s
hood attached to His form. A stray verse of Kamban also points to the main deity being of the form of Valmīka
or anthill, for he refers to the Kāḷī there as the ‘Goddess by the side of man or earth (valmīka)’, Maṭpakkanāchchiyār. Such Valmīka forms of deity are known in other shrines too like Tiruvārūr and the painted plank
referred to in the Purāṇa means a plank placed in front of the Valmīka with some chakra. Instead of giving
any detailed articles for the bathing (abhishēka) of the deity, our inscription simply mentions Tirumeyppāchchu
or the oil essence of frankincense (sāmpirāṇittailam) which is the usual substance with which a periodical
sprinkling in lien of abhishēka is given for Valmīka-mūrtis. However, if Paḍaṁpakkanāyaka is the name of the
main deity in the form of a Valmīka, there is a real difficulty in explaining the inscription 232 of 1912 of the
Macras Epigraphical Collection found at the basement of the Gauḷīśvara shrine which refers to Paḍaṁpakkanāyaka as a stone-image (śila-mayattirumēni). Perhaps this latter refers to what is called Ādhiliṅgam which is
said to be on the north of the Valmīka-mūrti. In a late work (c.1800 A.D.), called Sarvadēvavilāsa, containing
descriptions of temples in Madras city and environs, this Gauḷīśvara is referred to as Tryaṁbakēśa ; and
the deity of the central shrine is called Valmīkanātha.
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