Continuing on the last post in detail on the 2 temples that took me by awe!!! The first one that totally took me by awe was the Shiva Temple in Ponsai. I was introduced to Ponsai by Pradeep Chakravarthy and that’s esp why I didn’t want to miss the place and it was totally worth it!
This was built by Parantaka Chola in 10th C. Hymns are by Appar, Sundarar and Sambandhar. It’s believed that Sambandhar sang hymn on this temple when he was toddler sitting on the shoulder of his dad! The prayer by him was to convert the land that was arid (paalai), to be fertile with lush greenery (marudham)!!! The Lord Shiva here is Natrunaiyappar and His consort is Parvathaputhri!
The sculptural marvel here is astonishing! It was totally unexpected! Like Gopurapatti, there are miniature Ramayana panels all around the temple. Very unusally in one of the Goshtam (side shrines) is Saint Agasthyar! Just beside him is a gorgeous Vinayar as well. The foundation inscriptions are so clear and pristine!
The Dakshinamurthy is also stunning! The Makara Thorana above the goshtam were also gorgeous complete with layers of humans, yaali, elephants, bulls and swans. In one of it, at the centre was a miniature Ardhanarishwarar (Half Shiva & Half Parvathi)! The Brahma in the goshtam is also a thing of beauty! His face is so beautiful!
The dwarapala (door keeper) were just majestic, fiery, and fear inducing, reminding me of Thirumeyyam dwarapalas!
The miniature dancing girls along the upper sections of the pilasters were also gorgeous, reminding me much of Srinivasanallur Kuranganathar temple! A little quaint temple with nothing fancy in architecture, very basic – but filled with such tiny little miniature panels - ditto Parantaka Chola style!!!
Moving over to Valampura Nathar Koil. It took me by surprise! The Lord Shiva here is Valampura Nathar and His consort is Vaduvakirkanni. This was built by Vikrama Chola (early 12th C CE) and it has inscriptions from the era as well.
The special celebration here is to denote the King welcoming Pattinathtar. The legend goes that the King who went for hunting, just for fun, sent someone to inform his family that he died. Hearing this, the Queen actually dies! All the subjects were now accusing the king and he didn’t know what to do! A wiseman told him to provide free food to 1000 people everyday and on the day when a noble man eats here, his would be freed of his sin. One fine day, Pattinathar, on my nomadic trip, came here. He was so hungry that he didn’t even wait for the food to be served and drank the porridge which was a cooking waste and the bell rang! The king, came with open arms to welcome Pattinaththar!
This temple too has those miniature dancing girls on pilasters, similar to Ponsei. The entire inner circumambulation passage wall is filled with inscriptions. The roof of this passage has a very Islamic influence in architecture! Here too, the Makara Torana was gorgeous and in the centre of one of it, was this tiny little Yoga Narasimha!
To get there and contact numbers of temple priests: Refer my earlier post