The origin, development and importance of Memorial-stones in India (4)

The origin, development and importance of Memorial-stones in India (4)

Sind / Sindh had been part of India / Bhart for centuries, till Arabs invaded and tried to Islamize……

The warriors of Sindh were resisting them with their valour……

However, they could not match with the cunningness of their enemies, when they were following the code of conduct of war etc…..

In 712, the invasion started, within 300 – 400 years, Sindh was Islamized……

and slowly, all the monuments, temples, sculptures etc., started disappearing, as the iconoclasts were destroying them regularly……

now the condition of Hro-stones are like this…….

Hero-stones in Sind: Lower Sindh in southern Pakistan is dotted with many ancient cemeteries boasting the tombs of fallen heroes, and stones erected in memory of their heroism and chivalry (Hero stones). Most of the tombstones bear weaponry depictions symbolizing death in the line of action or at least participation in battle. They are found at Oongar in the district of Thatta, province of Sindh and , a Jats burial site, is located fifty kilometres from the city of Hyderabad, close to the Buddhist stupa of Sudheran in the district of Tando Muhammad Khan, also in Sindh[1]. One finds inscriptional slabs lying all over the site at the cemetery of the Jats but it is difficult to find any inscriptions at all at the Oongar necropolis since all of the chaukhandis have disintegrated and not a single tombstone is in its original condition[2]. In other words, they were destroyed and only parts are available there now. Hero-stones and sati stones found in the Sind province of present Pakistan has been pointed out by many and also noted that they are disappearing[3]. Central Asian and Bactrian areas exhibit broken sculptures of many panels and they are identified and interpreted differently. As the Indian kings / people were massacred there, it is mentioned as Hindu-kush = Hindus blood i.e,  the Hindus were  completely routed and eliminated there, and hence, memorial stones must have been erected. Till “Hindu-kush” occurred incidence at that area, they were there struggling with invading groups. Thus, only left out monuments have been recorded by Auriel Stein during his exploration. After Talibanization, even sculptures in the museums were destroyed and therefore, the fate of the sculptures and paintings found at the sites cannot be imagined.

Memorial stones in Cambodia / Siam / Thailand: In the Siamese culture, schools pointed out about the bloody sacrifice to the Earth Goddess offered at the Door of the Underworld, an ancient tree, a termite mound, a cave, a ring of stones[4]. At the time of the Buddhist ordination ceremony and its site, the Uposatha hall was surrounded by a ring of stones. Michael Wright noted that, “There is no evidence that these stones were developed from anything in India or Lanka, whereas scholars have proposed an affinity with prehistoric circles of rough-hewn stones found in the Northeast.” However, as the South Indian merchant guilds were having close contacts with these areas, there were possibilities that some sailors, merchants and other crew members might have died there and they might have erected memorial stones for them. Stone circles are considered as memorial stones, as noted above. Here, in the Siamese tradition, as there had been mixture of several peoples, the changes noted would be appreciable. Whether such circle stones were used for good or bad purposes – is also difficult to ascertain now. In any case, they were associated with sacrifice / death only.

Interpreting death, last rites and memorial stones in the context of race, language etc., by the colonial and other ideologists: Indians must have had their territory touching the other dominant civilizations like Sumerian, Egyptian, Persian, Greek and Chinese. Thus, their influence on the other cultures has been appreciable. That is why most of the people of the ancient civilizations wanted to come to India.  Indologists were pointing out such similarities and facts during last 150-300 years, but, suddenly changed their attitude. Thus, they changed their theory of the origin of race from the Ganges valley to other places[5]. The historiography was also changed accordingly. The glorification of Indian civilization turned to criticizing even disparaging. This attitude could be noted from the works of William Jones also. With the history writing of Vincent Smith, the Indian history was reduced to 2000 years starting with the Alexander’s invasion / Asokan script. About philosophy, initially, the world scholars accepted that India was the origin of philosophy, thus, every book of philosophy started with Indian philosophy. Thus, the fight started between India and Greece and Indian history has been made to start after Alexander’s invasion, the “sheet anchor of” Indian history. Then, “Aryan-Dravidian” race theory was introduced to dive, but the underlying concepts (rites conducted from birth to death) match with each other. However, the comprehensive and holistic study of Hero-stones gives a different picture. Again, one could note the commonality, in spite of the fact that such practices were carried on far and wide and even chronologically varied from Bronze Age to Modern Age.

Conclusion: Only few examples have been given for each area and state for illustrative purposes. An exhaustive study can also be made incorporating all details after conducting field study and reading local literature. Thus, with limited study and the above discussion, the following points are noted as conclusion:

• The belief in soul, transmigration of soul, karma, life after death, rebirth, cycle of birth and death, etc., have been the basis for the creation of the memorial stone.
• Even during the Bronze Age period, Indian Hero-stones were found in the Central Asia, but, portions were destroyed.
• There is difficult in connecting protohistory with historic narratives in the Indian context, as historians have such thumb rule.
• Logically, scientifically and technologically, such restriction appears to be artificial, inconsistent and redundant considering many other archaeological, material and scientific evidences.
• After the Mahabharat War around 3102 BCE, the participant armies with warriors dispersed and started moving to their destination[6]. However, as some could not reach, they settled down on the way and they became new dynasties and people groups. However, many commonalities could be noted among these people groups[7].  Jains – essences, gymnosophists (people wearing no dress or white dress); Rajaputs – Scythians, etc[8].
• The Hero-stones were found in the areas of Central Asia, Gandhara, Sind and other provinces on the west and Burma, Siam, Kedah etc., on the East.
• That Indic / Hindu / Vedic / Sanatana believing people were living in many parts of the world, at a particular time can also be understood and known from the prevalent of memorial stones and related philosophy.
• Thus, the memorial stone erection had been an Indian practice found from the Bronze Age to 18^th century.
• The dichotomy of dividing Indians based on race, language etc., is also cleared considering the prevalence of memorial stones in different places as pointed out, as “karma” continues!

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

09-05-2024

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[1] Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali. “Memorial Stones of Sindh, Pakistan: Typology and Iconography.” Puralokbarta 1 (2015): 285-298.

[2] . According to the notables of Oongar, village people have purportedly removed many of the decorative slabs either to sell in the lucrative markets in such items or simply in order to decorate their drawing rooms with these valuable pieces of art. Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali. “Vanishing Visual Heritage: Sati and Hero-stones in Nagarparkar, Sindh.” P.54

[3] Kalhoro, Zulfiqar Ali. “Vanishing Visual Heritage: Sati and Hero-stones in Nagarparkar, Sindh.” Journal of Indian Society of Oriental Art 27 (2010): 232-238.

[4] Wright, Michael. “Sacrifice and the underworld: death and fertility in Siamese myth and ritual.” Journal of the Siam Society 78.part 1 (1990).

[5] Léon Poliakov. The Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalist Ideas in Europe. New York, 1974.

As the European Indologists were using the expression “Aryan,” perhaps, even the Sanskrit scholar like B.G. Tilak was misled and tried to locate the Aryan origin to “Arctic region.”

[6]  Even the Greeks were mentioned as “degraded khastriyas,” by old Indologists, but, such details were suppressed later in 20^th century itself.

[7] Pococke, Edward. India in Greece; Or, Truth in Mythology... Griffin, 1856.

[8]  These are discussed by Richrd Garbe, Col. Tod and others linking Christianity with India, lost tribes etc.

The origin, development and importance of Memorial-stones in India (1)

The origin, development and importance of Memorial-stones in India (1)

K. V. Ramakrishna Rao, IRS (Retd.,)

Guest Faculty and Research scholar,

Department of Ancient History and Archaeology,

University of Madras,  Chepauk, Chennai – 600 005.

Cell: 98402 92065; e- mail: kopallerao@yahoo.co.uk

Stone memorial, rock memorial for the dead: The stones erected whether they were with or without inscriptions and sculptures to commemorate the death or dead persons particularly that of warriors, fighters or soldiers are considered as Hero stones.

• The origin of the commemorative stones are mentioned with different names and expressions – Nadukal, Virakal, Hero-stone, Satikal, Govardhan pillars, Chaya-stambhas, stele, Jaya-stamba, Kirti-stambha etc., in India.
• They are also traced back to megalithic burial practices[1], where the dead were buried or cremated with their favourite goods. Where, the heroes are found to fighting with tiger, horses, elephants, camels etc. Battle field scenes on the land and sea[2] have also been depicted.  
• Considering the vast area of India of the ancient period, the location of such sites spread from Central Asia from the west to Cambodia in the east and down south to Sri Lanka.
• During the last 5500 YBP period, many changes have been taken place and therefore, the available material evidence at present and the accounts recorded in the secondary sources have to be relied upon.
• A big or identifiable stone of weight is placed at the place, where the last rites were conducted, so that the spot could be identified, remembered and yearly rites conducted.
• Irrespective of place, culture and belief system, such tradition, and liturgical practices appeared to have been taking place in the world[3].

Hero-stone, memorial stone or stele in the context: For a comparative study, the western practices are also should be taken into consideration. In the Western context, a stele or occasionally stela, is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than its width, erected in the ancient world as a monument. The surfaces of the stele often have text, ornamentation, or both and they are inscribed, carved in relief, or painted. A traditional Western gravestone (headstone, tombstone, gravestone, or marker) may technically be considered the modern equivalent of ancient stelae. Equally, stele-like forms in non-Western cultures may be called by other terms, and the words “stele” and “stelae” are most consistently applied in archaeological contexts to objects from Europe, the ancient Near East and Egypt, China, and sometimes Pre-Columbian America. Incidentally, India is not mentioned here. A comprehensive and integrated study of the memorial stones is made, the connection among them could be noted. As this is depended upon the religious beliefs like soul, transmigration of soul, life after death, rebirth, karma and other related issues, generally, such belief system points to the East. It is well known that Hindu, Buddhist and Jains believed in them. As Buddhism was dominant during the first centuries and spread far and wide throughout the world, such ideas were also spread along with them[4]. The Pythagorean, Aesop’s fables[5] and other connections have already been accepted by the scholars[6]. Through Pythagoras, the concept soul, transmigration of soul etc., were transmitted to the west[7]. Thus, the commonality can be noted in the global perspective, in the memorial stone erection culture also.

Stone usage continues from Paleolithic to 21st century culture: Stone, forms of stone, stone structures, stone implements etc., have been a common feature of Indians used even today in 21st century. The grinding, crushing, pounding and milling processes are carried on by stones only, but with various forms and fitted with mechanical, electro-mechanical systems for mechanization. Domestic electrical appliances like – Mixies and grinders have been changing their names, sizes, shapes, colours and technology (mechanical, electrical, electronic), but stone cannot be replaced with any other thing[8]. Grinding characteristics of raw and parboiled rice were evaluated in various wet grinding systems, namely, mixer grinder, stone grinder and colloid mill[9]. The rotation of the stone is made vertical or horizontal with one or two or more rotating stones, but, stones continue to form part and parcel of such Domestic electrical appliances. Now, miniaturized kitchen stone tools are also made and sold in the market. Thus, the usage of stone has been part and parcel of man since the Paleolithic age.

Lithic form and size may vary, but purpose did not change: Coming to burial, the other forms are studied. A menhir, standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone also comes under this category. Here, menhir = man + hir = man + tall = tall man or man of repute, thus, a person did something marvellous and thus to be remembered. In the European context, they are called as cromlech (ring of standing stones), dolmen[10] (type of single chamber megalith tomb), henge (type of Neolithic earth work), stone circle etc., conveying and denoting the same depending upon the language and area. As the Paleolithic man and society also believed that man had rebirth and he would be reborn etc., they arranged such stone structures aligning with the cardinal points. Or the sacrificial days had to be remembered once or twice in a year and thus, the near and dear used to come there and pay homage to their fathers, forefathers etc.  In Buddhist rituals, stone circles were used that is pointed out below. As these structures continued to exist for many millions or thousands of years, they would have been subjected to disturbances. Particularly, the grave goods would have been taken away by the categories of tomb raiders and grave looters. Whatever left was discovered by the local village people and archaeologists and studied by the researchers.

For whom the stones were erected?: Researchers on Hero-stones have studied about the cause of erecting memorial stones for the people as follows[11]:

• people who died to protect their livestock from theft; while retrieving it after the attack
• people involved themselves were killed in cattle raiding
• people who died while defending their community and ruler from external attack; people died on the onslaught of a stronghold
• people who died to defend women and children
• people devoured by wild animals, most commonly tigers;
• people who freed the village from the threat of wild animals and died thereafter,
• people who died after a snake bite
• people who committed religious suicide
• women who died in pregnancy or childbirth / suicide victims.
• The warriors / soldiers who sacrificed their lives for saving their villages, towns, state, or territories.

For all these categories, hero-stones / memorial stones were erected and venerated to glorify their sacrifice.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

09-05-2024

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[1] The Megalithic burials have pits or stone chambers or rock-cut chambers or urns or sarcophagi, etc., externally marked by either one or a combination of more than one of the features like cairn-heap, cairn-circle, stone-circle, kodakkal, topikkal, menhir, etc., and some of the burial types like dolmen are partly buried and partly above the ground and pit burials and urn burials, in some cases, do not have any surface markers. At several sites monuments such as menhirs, kodakkals  and dolmens are without any artefactual remains and appear to be symbolic.

[2] The hero stones kept at the Archaeological Museum, Old Goa, Goa (12^th century CE) and Eksar (11^th century CE) in Mumbai have the depiction of naval warfare. The Old Goa hero stones belong to the Goa Kadambas who ruled Goa from 950-1300 CE. The Eksar hero stones were depicted during the reign of king Bhoja of Malwa in 1020 CE.

Tripati, Sila. Ships on hero stones from the west coast of India,  International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 35.1 (2006): 88-96.

[3] Construction of tomb, tomb worship etc., of the day have not changed much with all modern day embellishments, as the stone parts of the tomb are manufactured in the factories with sophisticated machinery.

[4] Pococke, Edward. India in Greece; Or, Truth in Mythology... Griffin, 1856.

[5] Aesop’s Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE and they were imitated from the Panchatantra stories of India.

[6] Richrd von Garbe,  The Philosophy of Ancient India (2nd ed.; Chicago: The Open Court Publishing Company, 1899).

…………………………, India and Christianity: An Investigation of Religious and Historical Connections, Tübingen, Germany: Verlag von J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1914.

[7] Arthur B. Keith, The Religion and Philosophy of the Vedas and Upanishads, ed. C. R. Lanman nHarvard Oriental Series,” Vol. XXXII; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925).

[8]  The manufacturers of mixies and grinders of different categories have R & D sections, where research has been going on about the usage of stones, their sizes and shapes, weight etc. The  body might have been changed with metal sheet, plastic, fibre-glass and other materials for cost-effective, the stones cannot be replaced.

[9] Sharma, P., Chakkaravarthi, A., Singh, V., &  Subramanian, R. (2008). Grinding characteristics and batter quality of rice in different wet grinding systems. Journal of food engineering, 88(4), 499-506.

[10] A dolmen  or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or “table”. Most date from the Late Neolithic period (4000–3000 BCE) and were sometimes covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus (burial mound). Small pad-stones may be wedged between the cap and supporting stones to achieve a level appearance.In many instances, the covering has eroded away, leaving only the stone “skeleton”.

[11] Trinco, Letizia. Heroes Beyond the Texts: Sacrifice, Death, and After life, in the Iconography of Southern Maharashtra’s Hero-Stones.” Indologica Taurinensia 40 (2014): 341-363.

The origin, development and importance of Hero-stones in India – special lecture by Dr Poongundran organized by the Indological Research Institute (IRI) (1)

The origin, development and importance of Hero-stones in India – special lecture by Dr Poongundran organized by the Indological Research Institute (IRI) (1)

04-05-2024 Saturday – Dr Poongundran lecture: The Indological Research Institute (hereinafter mentioned as IRI) is part of the RSN Memorial Library vice versa and sponsored by the Visva Hindu Yuva Kendra to promote Indological research. The Secretary of the IRI, K. V. Ramakrishna Rao invited the audience and introduced the speaker. He briefly explained how the RSN Memorial Library and Indological Research Institute was inaugurated 28-10-2023 by Dr Subramania Swami and then Special lectures started with Dr T. Sathyamurthy on 28-01-2024 on the important topic of “Temple repair, maintenance and renovation”. Now, on 04-05-2024, the special lecture was arranged with Dr R. Poongundran.

Dr R. Poongundran has been an expert in the Hero-stones and epigraphy for with the extensive research on them for the last 40 years.

• He retired as Assistant Director from the TN State Archaeology Department.
• presented more than 200 papers and published many books.
• authored and edited more than 14 manuscripts.
• excavated more than 1000 ancient artefacts. 

Thus, he has been a specialist in his field.

“The origin, development and importance of Hero-stones in India”: With the photographs of the Hero-stones, inscriptions and their decipherment, Dr Poongundran explained.  He briefly explained about “The origin, development and importance of Hero-stones in India,” then, proceeded to delve upon the details of Hero-stones, specifically in Tamilnadu. As he has been proficient in the reading of the inscriptions, he read, rendered in ordinary Tamil and explained, so that even an ordinary person could understand. Taking every Hero-stone with inscription, virtually, he deciphered letter by letter what appearing in the inscription and then to ordinary Tamil and then explained the meaning, historical background and other details in the historical background of the dynasties of South India. How the Tamil alphabets were slowly changing during the course of time with  “nettuzhuttu”[1] to “vattezhuttu.”

How Tamil script evolved and changed?: The most reliable of these are short Brahmi inscriptions dated to the 4^th century BCE and published by Coningham et al., but scattered press reports have claimed both dates as early as the 6^th century BCE and that the characters are identifiably Tamil Brahmi though these latter claims do not appear to have been published academically. Vatteluttu (வட்டெழுத்து,Vaṭṭeḻuttŭ) was an alphasyllabic writing system of south India (Tamil Nadu and Kerala) and Sri Lanka used for writing the Tamil and Malayalam languages. In fact, the scripts of Telugu and Kannada also of the same form. Vatteluttu belonged to the group of Tamil-Malayalam scripts among the Southern Brahmi derivatives. The script was used for centuries in inscriptions and manuscripts of South India. As this script was written with more cursive lines, it was known as Vattezhuthu and Vattam. These names are found even in epigraphs of 13th century CE at Courtallam. It is also known as Tekkan Malayalam and Nanamonam[2]. Earlier inscriptions in this script were mostly noticed in southern districts, and occasionally in other areas. So far, it is not noticed in Thanjavur and adjoining regions of the Kaveri river delta known earlier as Chola mandalam.

The Development of the Tamil script: In Tamil Nadu, early inscriptions are found in four scripts namely Tamil-Brahmi, Vatteluttu, Tamil and Grantha scripts. The first three scripts were used to write Tamil language whereas the Grantha was used to write Sanskrit language. The earliest hero stone inscriptions in Puliman kombai near Theni were in Tamil Brahmi script. In the later period, Vatteluttu script was used to inscriptions. Hero stone inscription as well as Temple inscriptions was also used to write in vatteluttu script. One of the most important contributions of the memorial stone is of the palaeography. It helps to trace the development of the Tamil-Brahmi script into Vatteluttu. The Tamil-Brahmi script was in practice between 3rd -4th centuries BCE and in the 4th – 5th centuries CE, it was also found in pottery, stone and metal. For more than seven hundred years there was not much evolution in this script. But from the 4th-5th century onwards it shows some development in this script is called as Vatteluttu. The Vatteluttuscript only having the development sources in Tamil Nadu. But the other two scripts Grantha and Tamil are used in the 7^th century CE.

Importance of cattle: Cattle were no doubt the important or perhaps the only form ‘of the wealth of the people in this region during this period and it had therefore proved to be the bone of contention between the residents of various villages. Except on a few occasions when robbers had raided to lift the cattle, the fight for them had occurred between to well-delineated parties like the marumakkal of Vanakovaraiyar. Villages such as Perumugai, Velpp(undi] and Pondai in the times of Mahendravarman I, Mérkovalir in the times of Narasimhavarman I and Iramandaipadi in the times of Nandivarman II were also targets of attack by parties whose delineations and affiliations are not made clear. The name Irémandaipadi is an eloquent commentary on the foundation of such villages for purposes of protecting (padi) the cattle shed (mandai) in the nights (ira), thus testifying to the most important vocation of the people living around. It is but natural, therefore, that we meet with prosaic records which have nothing else to speak of. We find that some of the heroes died in the defence or recapturing of the cattle (toru) while some others died in the course of defending their villages.

Objects depicted near the Hero: Most of these hero-stone inscriptions bear sculptural representations of certain objects depicted to have been placed near the hero. They are no doubt associated with the cult of worship of the dead. Nearly all of them except one have been identified as bow, shield, arrows or shoulder bags containing arrows etc. The one object which requires elucidation is what has been described as a receptacle (Simi, சிமிழ்). The relevance of a Simi = small container, is not clear. It looks more like a pedestal or a representation of what might have been the form of a shrine raised in memory of the dead hero. This is very clear from the hero-stones of Edattanir, Kudalir and Sattantr. If they represent shrines, as is suggested by me here, they may be considered as the precursors of the later day pallipadai shrines erected over the remains or the place of the dead heroes. We may recall that a shrine was erected at Tondaiman-Arriar for Aditya who is described perhaps in the course of his northern campaigns. An analogous instance in the case of Arinjaya at Mélpadi is also known to us.

Transformation of script during the Pallava period[3]:  He also showed how the transition took place during the Pallava period, as the number of Hero-stones erected stopped coming down. Last but not the least important aspect cf these hero-stone inscriptions is its palaeography. All the inscriptions assignable to a period before that of Kampavarman are in Vatteluttu characters. Their evolution can be clearly traced right from the inscription of Simhavishnu through those of Mahéndravarman, Narasimhavarman I, Narasimhavarman II and Paramesvaravarman II. The most conspicuous among the characters of the alphabet showing significant stages are i, at, e (இ), na (ந), cha (ச), na (ன), na(ண), ta (த), ma (ம), va (அ) and na (ஞ). The difference between ai and ma is quite clear enough, without giving room for confusion. The curved beginning of the left arm, the definitely flat base and the projected downward shaft across the centre of the base distinguish the ui from the ma which maintains its plain horse-shoe shape for long. At a later stage the clear loop in its right arm makes it totally different from ai. The letter zia shifts its top matra to its left and gives birth to the original form of modern sia. The plain curve of cha cuts as a cross in later days. The early na looking like a later ta develops a loop on its top inner curve. The letter na shows marked changes by developing a loop at the bottom of the central stem and by converting the left curved arm into a looped horizontal arm. The final na changed its form of a straight horizontal line followed by a convex curve in Simhavishnu’s times into an entire concave curve with a downward tail.

A note about the blog posting: The speaker has not given his paper and even the PPTs were provided just before the lecture. Moreover, he spoke in Tamil and therefore, the following write-up has been based on the newspaper reports compiled and added for the convenience of the readers. I have freely used the published paper of Sri K.G.Krishnan, Epigraphist, as his English paper gives details. As I used to prepare the write-up and post in my blog, I had to rely upon the materials available with me. Moreover, yesterday, I was operating PPT, taking photos and taking notes also.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

05-05-2024

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[1]  The expression “nettuzhuttu” used in the sense of line script i.e, Brahmi. Moreover, in hard stone, the “vattezguthu” cannot be inscribed.

[2] Naanam Moonam was a language used in the middle part of Travancore, in Kerala. It was in use among the communities for centuries. It was assumed to be originated from Sanskrit and Tamil. It had its own letters. One of the ancient churches in this part of Kerala is St George’s Church Aruvithura. There are many inscriptions in this church which are written in Naanam Moonam. It is believed to be completely extinct since the end of the 18^th century. An old version of Malayalam became more popular by then. The language is also known as Nanam Monam.

[3] K. G. Krishnan, Hero-stone inscriptions of the Pallava times, in R. Nagaswamy, Seminar on Hero-stones, Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department, Government of Tamilnadu, 1974, p.4.

Mulabaagilu or Mulbhagal Mutt of Srirangam – The Abode of Vishnu on the Earth

Mulabaagilu or Mulbhagal Mutt of Srirangam – The Abode of Vishnu on the Earth

Location of the Mulbaghali Mutt – Google Map is shown in two directions. The Main Mutt roof is in blue colour and the adjacent modern building roof has been in reddish colour.

The front portion of the Mulabhagali Mutt

The board showing the details of the Brindavans inside the Mutt.

Mulabaagilu or Mulbhagal Mutt of Srirangam: Mulabaagilu is a town and taluk headquarters of Mulabaagilu taluk in the Kolar district in the state of Karnataka, India. Mulabagilu is located at 13.17°N 78.4°E. It has an average elevation of 827 metres (2,713 feet). It lies just off the National Highway 75 as the easternmost town of the state and a hill landmark. “Mulabagilu” (ಮುಳಬಾಗಿಲು) comes from the word mualabagilu, which means the “eastern door” in the native Kannada language. Mulabagilu was supposedly the easternmost frontier of (and thereby the entrance to) the state of Mysuru.  Mysore has close contacts with the Tamilagam Kings like Tanjore, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram and others. The movement of sages, poets, musicians, artists and others had been very common[1]. It is believed according to the Madhwa sampradhya that the Hanuman temple here was installed by Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, after the Mahabharata war (3102 BCE)[2]. Sage Vasishta is believed to have installed the idols of the main deity Srinivasa, Padmavati and Rama-Sita-Lakshmana. The history of Mulabagilu was compiled by Benjamin Lewis Rice, in his book “The Gazetteer of Mysore” (1887). In modern history, Mulabagilu is mentioned as the site of the Battle of Mulabagilu on 4^th October 1768, during the First Anglo-Mysore War. Incidentally, there has been connection of the Madhwa Samparadhaya Saints with Srirangam.

The Old Mutt structure was demolished and the pictures show the demolition activities with the JCB machine. The old compound wall can be seen at the backside.

The pillars, lintels and other parts of the Old Mutt.

The JCB machine worked day and night to complete the work.

Sripadaraya (c.1422-1480): Sripadaraya or Lakshminarayana Tirtha was a Dvaita philosopher, scholar, composer and the pontiff of the Madhvacharya mutt at Mulbagal. He worked here and then moved to Mulabhagile, Karnataka. He is widely considered as the founder of the Haridasa movement along with Narahari Tirtha. His songs and hymns, written under the nom-de-plume of “Ranga Vitthala”, contain the distillation of Dvaita principles infused with mysticism and humanism. He has also been credited with the invention of the Suladi musical structure and composed 133 of them along with several kirtans. He was the advisor of Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya and mentored the young Vyasatirtha.  He has also authored a commentary on Jayatirtha’s Nyaya Sudha called Nyayasudhopanyasa-Vagvajra.

The rooms, where we used to stay have gone and disappeared……

All have been the evidences of the past, now bygone!

The medieval wall and the Temple Gopura can be seen at the backside of the Mutt site under demolition.

Mulbhaglu Mutt important for the Madhwa community: The Mutt at Srirangam is called as Mulabhagal Mutt, Mulbhagal Mutt, Mulabhgalu Mutt, Mulubhagal Mutt etc., 41. South Chittirai Street, has been the centre for the Madhwas, the followers of Madhwacharyas for religious activities. It is situated very near to the Sri Ranganatha Temple. Particularly, the “Antyesti” Samskara, the last rites, rituals and ceremonies for the departed souls are carried on systematically by well-versed Pundits, prohits and priests and trained in such liturgical practices. I have been visiting this Mutt for the last more than 50 years, as our relatives used to conduct rites here and I find that it has been one of the oldest and historical places of Srirangam. However, my recent visit in 2021 made me uncomfortable and distressed to note that the traditional building has been demolished and a new vertical building has come up, just like any modern building appears nowadays. It has three parts – one multi-purpose hall on the LHS, the Mutt at the Centre and another hall at RHS for religious and ceremonial activities. The cental building has a underground parking place, now used as a dining hall, oly for the Mut religious purposes.

The medieval wall and the Temple Gopura can be seen at the backside of the Mutt site under demolition.

The rooms

The Vigrahas…

The Acharya Parampara: The old structures – traditional stone pillars, lintels and other parts have been missing, granite and tiled covered floors and walls have been replaced with. Actually, they must have been retained, i.e, the original structure dated to some 400 years back, must have been retained and the modern structure could have been built over it as a protective cover or for utilizing the space without affecting according Agama or other Sastras binding. The three Brindavans stand in the RHS hall of Sri Padaraja, Sri Vysaraja and Swarnavarna Parashuramatheertha. The Guruparampara goes like this – Swarnavarna Theertha[3] -> Sripadaraya Theertha -> Vysaraya Theertha[4] -> Vijayendra Theertha[5]. Interestingly, Brindavans of these Gurus, Saints or Philosophers are also found inside the Sri Ranganatha Temple. It is also known that some Brindavans are found inside the Srirangam Temple. Generally, they are unnoticed by the ordinary devotees, but, they have clear evidences of carved sculptures peculiar to the Madhwa Sampradhya with Anjaneya Sculptures and Sri Rama-Sita-Lakshmana nearby.

The LHS building was completed…

The Brindavan…

The Contribution of Vyasaraja (c.1460–1539): Vyasaraja has installed hundreds of Anjaneya Idols all over the medieval Thamilagam. The Brindavans – either the tombs of the Madhwa Saints or the earth taken from the tombs, characterized and known as “Mruthika” – have been built to commemorate the association of them with the specific places, where, they have carried their work. Thus, the Brindavans found inside the Srirangam Temple could convey their services to the Temple. Sri Vyasaraja was a great saint of that time and follower of the Dwita philosophy of Sri Madvacharya. He was the Rajaguru for both Saluva and Tuluva dynasties of Vijayanagaram. He was instrumental in the renovation of many temples that were destroyed during the onslaught of Malik kafur. He was a great devotee of Sri Hanuman and had built many temples for Sri Anjaneya. He also solved the boundary dispute between the Srirangam Temple and Tiruvanaikkovil by constructing “Ellai Anjaneyar Koils.” It is customary of Vijayanagara to mark the boundary of villages with a temple for Sri Anjaneya. With no exception, Sri Vyasaraja who was also a devotee of Sri Hanuman had built four Hanuman temples at these four places marked as boundaries of Srirangam. Now, only three of them are in existence and the fourth one at Ellaikarai Mandapam had been missing. This is how the historical evidences are missing and history is also forgotten and misinterpreted.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

24-12-2021

The Three Brindavans inside the Mulbhala Mutt, Srirangam..

The Three Brindavans inside the Mulbhala Mutt, Srirangam..without coverings…..

The Narasimha sculpture

The Anjaneya sculpture

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[1] The Temple building and renovation activities brought the people of Maharastra, Karnataka, Andhra and Tamilagam together. Such tradition had been continuing since the Sangam period, as the Sangam literature men such interaction of the people for metallurgy and stonework.

[2] Vibhshina had reportedly installed the Idol at Srirangam and that spot became sacred to be converted into a Great Vaishnavite Kshetra, the Bholuga Vaikuntam on the Earth. As Post Sangam literature mentions (Silappathikaram) about the Srirangam, it is evident that the tradition has been about 2000 years old.

[3] His real name is Parashurama Tirtharu and was regularly involved with Srihari Chintane and Japa tapa.  As such, his body was shining like gold and hence called as Swarnavarna Tirtharu. He helped the kings in solving the problems faced by them. Once he went to see Sri Purushottama Tirtharu, the mathadipathi of Abboor Matha in a pallakki.  On his way, he saw an 8 years old boy who was grazing the cows.  The boy was none other than Sri Lakshminarayana Muni who took the ashrama from Swarnavarna Tirtharu and later got the title Sripadarajaru.

[4] Vyāsatīrtha (c.1460–1539), also called Vyasaraja or Chandrikacharya, was a Hindu philosopher, scholar, polemicist, commentator and poet belonging to the Madhwacharya’s Dvaita order of Vedanta. As the patron saint of the Vijayanagara Empire, Vyasatirtha was at the forefront of a golden age in Dvaita which saw new developments in dialectical thought, growth of the Haridasa literature under bards like Purandara Dasa and Kanaka Dasa and an amplified spread of Dvaita across the subcontinent. Three of his polemically themed doxographical works Nyayamruta, Tatparya Chandrika and Tarka Tandava (collectively called Vyasa Traya) documented and critiqued an encyclopaedic range of sub-philosophies in Advaita,[note 1] Visistadvaita, Mahayana Buddhism, Mimamsa and Nyaya, revealing internal contradictions and fallacies. His Nyayamruta caused a significant stir in the Advaita community across the country requiring a rebuttal by Madhusudhana Saraswati through his text, Advaitasiddhi.

[5] Vijayīndra Tīrtha (also known as Vijayendra Tīrtha) (c.1514-1595) was a Dvaita philosopher, dramatist and dialectician. A prolific writer and an unrelenting polemicist, he is said to have authored 104 treatises expounding the principles of Dvaita and defending it against attacks from the contemporary orthodox schools of Vedanta. He held the pontifical seat at Kumbakonam under the rule of Thanjavur Nayaks where he participated in polemical discussions with the Advaita philosopher Appayya Dikshita Inscriptions from that era record grants of villages received by Vijayindra for his triumph over theological debates. Legend ascribes to his mastery over 64 arts and his erudition, writes Sharma, “is evident from a few of his works bearing on Purva Mimamsa, Nyaya and Kavya literature”

Sri Vijayendra Teertha Brindavan at Kumbakonam