Nāyaka Chefs-d’œuvre Structure and Iconography of the Śrīvilliputtūr Tēr 1
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5617/ao.5354Abstract
Śrīvilliputtūr is an important base of Visnuism in the deep south of peninsular India. The area round is full of archaeological monuments relating to Śiva and the folk divinities of the Little Tradition, the ‘Ciṟukuṭiyōr’. With the advent of Āḻvārs in the 7th-9th centuries CE (e.g. Nammāḻvār, Periyāḻvār, Āṇṭāḷ and Maturakavi), the landscape was thoroughly reset with temples of Viṣṇu; Tiruttaṅkal to the Tāmiraparaṇi basin (Navatiruppatis) being the nodal zone. The present article traces the Vaiṣṇava phase of Śrīvilliputtūr based on literary and epigraphical sources. The major concentration is on the massive wooden vehicle of Āṇṭāḷ and Vaṭapatraśāyī, called tēr. The structure and iconography of the tēr is the main theme for investigation occasionally throwing light on the changing phase of religious culture from the 7th to the 17th century. The chefs-d’œuvre from the tēr are examined in detail as they seem to include rare elements hitherto unreported. The article is appended with a plan of the city to understand the importance that the temple and the ter command within the organization of the Himmelreich. The photographic illustrations present an illuminating peep into the structure and iconography of the temple-car. The present temple-car is a remodeling of an old one that was demolished 100 years ago.Downloads
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