Nagaswamy - 2 Chidambaram and Bengal

Chidambaram gopuram - inside view

An inscription dated 1262 AD in Chidambaram Nataraja temple mentions uttaraa padattu dakshina raadhattu gangoli tiru ciRRambala uDaiyaar aana uDaiyaar Ishvara shivar. “உத்தராபதத்து தக்ஷிண ராடத்து கங்கொலி  திருச்சிற்றம்பல உடையார் ஆன  உடையார் ஈசுவர சிவர்”

Nagaswamy connects this reference to a Udayiyaar Isvar Shiva mentioned in an inscription in Tribhuvanam temple, built by Kulottunga the 3rd in 1210 AD. He was the royal priest to the king and was also royal priest to Kulottunga’s successor RajaRaja III. He also commissioned a temple in Acyutamangalam.

There are several references to priests from Bengal serving as Rajaguru for the Chola kings. Vikrama Chola in 1125 had SrikanTa Siva of Gauda desa, which is today’s Bengal, Kulottunga II in 1150 had Dhyaana Siva also of Bengal as Royal priest, who wrote commentaries on 28 aagamaas. A Gangoli Umapathi Devar is mentioned in Kanchipuram in 1172.

Vikrama Chola made large donations to Chidambaram, covering balipitha, towers, enclosures and building surrounding the shrine with gold. He built  a great chariot for the processional festival of Nataraja, studded with gems and pearls and instituted a festival on puraTTaadhi and uttiraTTaadhi.

Naraloka Vira, a commander in Vikrama’s army, consecrated images of Jnana Sambandar and Bhattacharya, and arranged for verses of Sambandar to be sung in the temple. He also consecrated images of Gnana Sambanda and a Bhattacharya, which suggests an eastern Saivite aacharya.

भट्टाचार्य इति श्रुतां भुवि शिवां मूर्ति शिवां यो वहन्

संवादं किल वेद बाह्य समयङघातस्य चक्रे पुरा ॥

BhaTTaacarya defeated non-Vedic scholars in debate to establish Saivism. These references to Gangoli and Bhattaacharya are the earliest references in inscription, anywhere in India.

Other earlier references to Bengal include Appar mentioning a temple called Mahasthaana, which is in modern Bangladesh. Gnana Sambandar sings of Vedic Brahmins from the Gangetic delta, who settled in Sirkali.

Gnana Sambandar - Chidambaram gopuram

An eight armed Ardhanari Surya, unique to Tamil Nadu, is found in the Darasuram temple – this is Maartaanda Bhairava, introduced by these Acharyas from eastern regions. The four gopurams of the Chidambaram Nataraja temple also have eight armed three faced Surya images.

Marthanda Bhairava  - Darasuram

This blogpost is the summary of one of several papers authored by Dr Nagaswamy, which I presented as a lecture at THT Pechu Kacheri 2014. The series is Nagaswamy - Beyond borders   

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