SUBRAHMANYA, Tirupparankunram Malai (Cave of)
9.877800,78.072200
Description
A number of five or eight (note 1) man-made rock-cut chambers, excavated from granite and used for religious purposes (cave temples), are situated on the northern slope of Sikkandar Malai (note 2), a 319 m high hill rising about 150 m above the small town of Tirupparangunram / Tirupparankunram (note 3), which lies at a travelling distance of about 8 or 10 km south-west of Madurai (Madura, N09°56': E78°07') on the National Highay NH7 to Tirunelveli (circa 145 km). CULTURAL HISTORY: WARD (1991, 1993: 80) suggests a Nayak age, assumes the temple compound to stay on a site of much earlier shrines devoted to fertility gods (note 4), and reports: »images of Durga [note 5] flanked by Ganesha and Subrahmanya , …dated to 773 A.D. …The entrance portico has 48 stained and blackened pillars with notable carvings, gradually picked out as you approach along the wide main street towards the mountain side.« CAVE LEGEND (RAJARAJU 1991): The rock temple is the site of Murugan's marriage to Devayanai (Devasena), daughter of Indra. JAIN, Sandhya (2004: 198): Valli, the Tamil Korravai tribal girl (daughter of the king of Velliyur), was the wife of Murugan (note 6). But after his identification with Skanda, Murugan acquired another wife, Devayani or Devasena, wife of the vedic Skanda. This created a peculiar anomaly, which serves to establish the composite nature of the deity. Despite having a wife or two, Skanda is popularly adored as Kumara, a bachelor, 'chaste adolescent' in north India (note 7). In contrast, in south India, it is Ganesh who is held to be a brahmachari, while in the North he has two female consorts —Buddhi and Siddhi or Riddhi (note 8).
NOTE 1: KALIDOS (1991) provides description, interpretation and plan (not to sale) of five garbha-grihas (literally wombs, uteri: innermost sanctuaries) but RAJARAJU (1991) of eight [indicated by Manfred Moser 1998]. NOTE 2: Sikkandar Malai N09°52'30”: E078°04'18” (Everest 1830, Survey of India sheet 58-G/13, 1971 edition): 319 m asl (Survey of India sheet 58-K/01, 1969 edition). NOTE 3: »Tirupparangunram« (also: Tirupparankunram] is indicated near N09°52'33”: E078°03'57” (Everest 1830): 147 m asl (Survey of India sheet 58-K/01, 1969 edition) and positioned at N09°52': E078°04' (nima.mil/geonames accessed 16.11.2003). NOTE 4: One suspect is the unmarried mother goddess Valli which later became identified with Devayani or Devasena, wife of the vedic Skanda, who himself was identified with Murugan. NOTE 5: Durga, literally 'inaccessible', is »a form of Shiva's wife, Devi, a beautiful, fierce women riding a tiger; a major goddess of the Shakti sect« (LONELY PLANET, India 2005 glossary: 1107). Durga is the terrible, frightening aspect of the mother goddess Kali (DEVI MAHATMYA, circa 550, chapter 11; KINSLEY 1986 edited 1987: 99, 107; SOMADEVA circa 1100; VAKPATIRAJA, ca. 700: Gaudavaho, Verses 285-337), the untamed and unmarried version of Devi, (The) Goddess, the supreme goddess manifested (VINDHYA MAHATMYA, s.a., circa 1810?; HUMES 1990, 1993, 1995, 1996 edited 1998). NOTE 6: Subrahmanya, also transcribed Subramanya, Subramanyar, etc., is an epithet (the bachelor) of Murugan (Muruhan), the "Lord of the Hills" and son of Korrovai / Kottavai (literally: naked goddess): Her very name reveals her unambigously tribal roots. Only by the 7th century C.E. emerged Murugan as the paramount Tamil god (JAIN 2004: 198-199, 204). NOTE 7: Danielou, Alain (1964): Hindu Polytheism.- (London: Rotledge & Kegan Paul), page 298. NOTE 8: Somayaji, K N (1983): Concept of Ganesha.- (Bangalore), page 56.
Documents
Bibliography 22/06/2016- Kalidos, Raju 1991; Rajaraju, R K K 1991; Ward, Philip 1991, 1993.
Cavités proche
| Distance (km) | Nom | Longueur (m) | Profondeur (m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.4 | TIRUNPARANKUNRAM CAVERN | ||
| 1.4 | TIRUNPARANKUNRAM ROCK-CUT CAVE | ||
| 6.0 | SAMANAR CAVE, Nagamalai 1 | ||
| 6.5 | KONGAR PULIYANGULAM PALLI | ||
| 8.4 | SAMANAR CAVE, Nagamalai, 2nd | ||
| 8.4 | MAHAVIRA CAVE, Samana Malai | ||
| 14.0 | PANNIAN MALAI CAVE | ||
| 14.2 | KANAVAI KATHA BOOTHAM CAVE 1 | ||
| 14.2 | KANAVAI KATHA BOOTHAM CAVE 2 |