SATRUMALLAN MANDAPA

The Satrumallesvara cave temple is situated in an archaic landscape of large granite boulders jumbled above each other as if by the hands of playful giants. On top of it, overhanging rocks have formed natural caves which were used by Jain monks as shelter and refuge long before Mahendra selected this picturesque place for his excavation beneath. The cave temple seems to be gradually taken back by the wilderness of rocks from which it was shaped. A rusty fence with pieces missing surrounds it and the groaning of its gate swinging in the wind is the only sound in the pervading silence. Its walls are disfig-ured by enigmatic numbers and sundry other scribblings and its interior is populated by bats. Through pillars and pilasters runs a crack along a natural fault line in the rock which is visible at the back wall of the cave. Pillars and pilasters are held together now by iron bands. And yet, in spite of the defects and neglection, the temple’s charm and originality are immediately obvious.
The temple has three inscriptions. The earliest one in Sanskrit is carved into the outer face of the western pilaster. It states that the temple has been built by King Satrumalla (“the queller of his foes”): “Narendra Satrumalla who has humbled (inimical) kings by his army caused to be made on this hill the (temple) Satrumallesvar alqya.” Satrumallesvar alaya means the Isvara temple of Satrumalla. The name Narendra (the Indra of men) can certainly be read as a variant of Mahendra (the great Indra). The second inscription in Tamil reads: “Prosperity! The king who wore a beautiful garland of tondai, Narendra Pottarayan (i.e. the Pallava king) whose cruel bow brisded with arrows, made with great joy in the south of Venbettu (this temple) called Satrumallesvaralaya to be the residence of Hara (Siva). Brahmagalanan Sellan Sivadasan of this village composed this.”1 Tondai is the name of the creeper out of which the garland of the Pallava kings was made; tondaimandalam is the name of the land over which they ruled. The third inscription is a Pallava inscription in Tamil of the time of Nandivarman (9th century) dated in his 15th regnal year, which registers an agreement between a temple servant residing at Venbettu and a certain Modan who made an endowment of one kalanju of gold.

The temple is excavated well above ground level and entered by four rock steps. This elevation emphasizes not only the outer effect of the temple but allows a beautiful view from inside over the vast and fertile landscape in front of it. The facade has a curved cornice with kudu arches framing gandharva faces. The two dvarapalas at either end of the facade, though of a friendly appearance, are executed in a crude, almost primitive way. The two facade pillars in the typical Mahendra style are decorated with lotus medallions on all four faces of top and bottom sadurams. The pilasters are plain and the corbels of pillars and pilasters have no roll ornamenta-tion. The two central pillars are spanned by a fine makara torana which appears here for the first time in Pallava rock architecture representing a stambha torana entrance. From the mouths of two big makaras, with elaborately shaped tails, issue two volutes which end in the mouths of two opposite smaller makaras in the centre between the pillars, thus forming a double arch. Gay little ganas ride on the two outer makaras while another one sits atop the bracket stone, shaped in the form of a lotus. This entrance leads to an oblong mandapa containing the shrine chamber with a porch in front. The shrine is excavated from the western wall of the temple and faces east and not the facade. The porch has two heavy pillars in front with cross corbels on top and two pilasters on either side of the shrine. On top of the pillars and pilasters runs a beam which, in wooden structures would carry the weight of the roof. The shrine entrance is flanked by two dvarapalas similar to each other, each having his inner hand raised in a gesture of adoration while the outer rests on the hip. They wear tall and beautifully carved crowns, rich ornaments and heavy ear rings. With their heads slightly tilted towards the entrance as if inviting the devotee to come closer, they are of a graceful and gentle appearance. The shrine chamber contains a cylindrical linga with a yonipedestal in black stone, both separate pieces and added at a later time. The interior of the cave temple has four floor levels: a level-difference along the porch separates it into an ardha and mukha mandapa; the floor level of the porch is raised above that of the mandapa and entered by two steps, the chandra sila stone being the lowermost; and another two rock steps lead from the porch into the shrine chamber.

The cave temple, with a rounded cornice at its facade decorated with kudu arches, a makara torana forming its entrance, with lotus medallions being carved into its pillars, and with a well-proportioned porch in the interior and various floor levels, shows a considerable architectural elaboration. Together with the cave temples of Tiruchirapalli and Siyamangalam, it forms the connecting link to the evolved rock architecture of Mamallapuram and further, to the period of the structural Pallava temple. While leaving this secluded place and looking back at the rock temple it becomes clear that here Siva was still worshipped as Rudra, the god who roams through the wilderness, loudly shouting, whose arrows were feared and who is thus propitiated by men: “Salutation to the tawny one, to the architect, to the sustainer of trees, obeisance to the wise councilor, homage to the promoter of verdant growth, to the cause of wealth, supplication to the lord of herbs, salutation to him who loudly shouts, causing the enemy to wail...”