Bronze idols of the Aṣṭa-Dikpālakas

-


Base piece of the flag mast
While on a flying visit to Palakkad, South India last week, I met Ratna Sabhapathy and his sons at their modest shop in the heritage village of Kalpathy. He is a Sthapathy (one specialized in the design and construction of Hindu temples and the related ornamental works) par excellence with a great tradition of serving various temples in Kerala. The metal works of idols, kotimarams, (flag masts) roofing and the ornamental designs of the sanctum are done by them with exquisite mastery in the most traditional way.

I could find at the shop the base piece of a flag mast from the renowned Thiruvalathur temple of Palakkad, famous for its grand architectural beauty and for its sculptural designs. This metal piece was given to the Sthapathy for cleaning and polishing works by the temple authorities.
What attracted me to this piece were the presence of the beautiful ancient bronze idols of Aṣṭa-Dikpālakas, the eight guardians who rule the eight cardinal directions to protect the universe according to the Hindu mythology.

These gods are also the guards of the presiding deity of a temple and are seen as balikkallu (sacrificial stones) around the sanctum of the temple. Following are the Aṣṭa-Dikpālakas and the directions attributed to them.
Indra, with Vajrayudha in hand - East
Īśāna , with Trident in hand - Northeast
Soma or Vaisravana with Club in hand - North
Vayu with Ankush and Rope in hands - Northwest
Varuṇa with Rope in hands - West
Nirṛti with Sword in hand -Southwest
Yama with Sword and Shield in hands - South
Agni with Ladle in hand -Southeast

Indra , with Vajrayudha in hand














Īśāna , with Trident in hand Vaisravana with Club in hand














Vayu with Ankush and Rope in hands Varuṇa with Rope in hands














Nirṛti with Sword in hand Yama with Sword and Shield in hands


Agni with Ladle in hand
Photos of these exquisite antique idols taken by me are shown for the enjoyment of the readers. Here, all the deities are in standing postures unlike in the sitting postures I have seen at other temples.

Dubai, 8th October 2008

Comments

Unknown said…
A very informative piece indeed.
12:10 pm
Unknown said…
Murali, I assume that when the base plate is reinstated after cleaning, the Ashta Dikpalakas would be aligned to the directions attributed to them. Right?
12:16 pm
Murali RamaVarma said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
11:37 pm
Maddy said…
when you start studying vasthu and all that you realize, as murali explained - it is a result of observation & common sense mostly.
8:03 am
Murali RamaVarma said…
Yes, Maddy, you are on target. For example, the flag masts, with metal coverings( copper is a great conductor of electricity) of a temple in a vilage did the job of a lightening arrester. Villagers of course, believed that the presiding deity protected the village from lightening, should it happened.
9:57 am
Murali RamaVarma said…
This is a corrected version of my response to AT- the second comment about this post-

Thank you, AT Sir for the compliments.

Yes, of course! The alignment of the idols will be properly done based on the direction attributed to each Ashta Dikpalaka.

The concept has much grandeur about it because essentially the Ashta Dikpalakas are believed to be the protectors of the universe from different directions. In the Kerala context, it may be noted that the South-east is the Agni kone and hence the kitchens of old tharavads-where the agni will burn for most of the time- compulsorily used to be in the north-east part of the household.Also,north east seems more appropriate for protection from Agni because the south west monsoons with winds from that direction can not play tantrum in the kitchen which is placed in the north-east.

Leave alone the religious beliefs, there could be some scientific basis for all these concepts.
12:23 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Princely Coorg and Chikka Veera Rajendra, it’s last Rajah

-
Image
Scenic beauty of Coorg 1990 O ften I have felt that we Indians in general and Keralites in particular know little, literally and figuratively, about our own neighbours. Coorg, Kodagu (or Kodaimala nadu ) often referred to as the Scotland of India was one of our neighbouring independent princely states during the British Raj. Madikeri is the capital of the present day district of Coorg in Karnataka. The history of the Coorg Rajahs is delineated in the Rajendraname, a work compiled by order of Dodda Vira Rajendra Wodeyar, the hero of Coorg history, and the Coorg beau ideal of a warrior king. It comprises a period of 175 years, from 1633 to 1807. The life and times of Chikka Veerarajendra, the last Raja of Coorg makes very interesting reading and many of the incidences could beat the hell out of the stories of some Hollywood thrillers. I recall my visit to Madikeri twenty years back when I and my wife stayed there for a week for rest and recuperation enjoying the climate, the food and w
Read more

Sankaranatha Jyotsar

-
Image
S ankaranatha Jyotsar ,also known as Sankaranathan Unithiri or Shankar Nath Joshi) was a proud son of Kerala who was the chief astrologer and spiritual advisor to Maharajah Ranjit Singh, the lion of Punjab who single handedly built the great Sikh empire and whose right arm adorned the fabled Koh-i-Nur diamond. There are scant references in our history or other books about this remarkable man who was a courtier in one of the most dazzling royal courts in history. The only credible and authoritative source about Sankaranatha Jyotsar, I could find from sources outside Kerala, was from the link http://www.esikhs.com/articles/a_retrospect.htm under the chapter “The Sikhs - Images of a Heritage” written by T.S.Randhawa. “The other dramatis personae in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh were the Fakir Aziz-ud-din, his Foreign Affairs Minister---- Shankar Nath Joshi, the chief astrologer to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who was from Travancore and returned there when the bloodbaths started at Lahor
Read more

A wonderful evening with the Tharakans of Thekkanattu Parayil.

-
Image
Jacob, Abraham and Anto Tharakans are on the left I was pleasantly surprised when Mr. Abraham Tharakan sent a mail presuming that I was in Kerala and then inviting us over to the Tharakan home in Olavipe. From my ancestral home in Chenganda in Cherthala, the tiny beautiful hamlet of Olavipe is not far away. I presume that before the land reforms came, the entire Olavipe might have belonged to the Tharakan family. The title “Tharakan” seems to have been given to this ancient and aristocratic family of Syrian Christians by Maharaja Marthanda Varma (AD 1706-58), the founder of modern Travancore.The Maharajah was ably assisted in conferring such titles by his selfless Diwan (Prime Minister) Ramayyan Dalawa. My wife Sindhu and son Mithun accompanied me to the Tharakan estate some 15 kilometers away through the country roads. The landscapes had not changed much over the last few decades and I could show the NSS College at Pallippuram to my wife where I had spent 5 years of my college life
Read more