Guardians From A Fallen Citadel

The first thought that crosses the mind upon seeing the sculpted grid displayed at the centre of the small ASI museum in Hemavati is " How  the mighty fall ! " 

When the dynastic line of the mighty Nolambas , who once wielded power over 32000 villages, splintered under the onslaught of their more powerful overlords, and  eventually faded out , the marvels they created in their erstwhile capital , Henjeru/ Hemavati , also bit the dust . They fell, literally , to ruin . Except for one or two shrines that continued to be in worship, the rest of the beautiful monuments just crumbled away and lay strewn  about till historians and the ASI took interest in salvaging what was left , around mid -20th century. 

Four temples have been put together inside the fortress like compound with reclaimed  blocks and pillars , while a large lot of assorted loose sculptures have been accomodated in the Museum , next to the shrine complex . 

The Ashtadikpala ceiling panel forms the centerpiece of that museum .....or , at least a major part of the panel does . It is obviously incomplete . A block of three panels has been sliced off . And carted away to the Chennai Museum long ago. 

The slab, in Hemavati museum, is about a foot  in thickness . Lying flat - as it would have all those centuries ago when the master sculptors materialised  dreams on it, one chisel-cut at a time . How long did it take them to complete this wonder ? And , when completed , how did they hoist this giant  slab up to the ceiling of the now vanished  navaranga ?.. ...1200 years ago ! Mindboggling.

The square panels featuring the dikpalas are worked almost in the round to create a lively, busy , celestial procession of The Guardians, mounted on their respective vehicles, wives riding pillion , surrounded by large retinues of servitors with regal paraphrenalia  .....observe closely , you can hear the sounds of their  music , revelry and merrymaking ! 

Dikpalas on ceilings are seen in many medieval temples , but it can safely be asserted  that no other artistic style matches the grace and exquisiteness achieved by Nolambic artisans . They are a class apart . 

The Dikpalas 

The Directions were originally 10 in number , four being the cardinal directions   four intermediary directions , one the UpperWorld  , and one the Underworld . The devatas assigned to guard each direction were to be propitiated for raising any structure of importance be it a sacrificial alter , a house of worship , a dwelling or a city . This was a post vedic development . 

As societies evolved into more settled and secure life , with more synthesis of disparate concepts,  , the vedic pantheon was reorganised ; vedic gods were reassigned to newer designations .

Almost all the Dikpalas are repackaged vedic divinities . Initially , in post vedic era ,  the names and number of the dikpalas and their attributes varied widely across the texts . Only after temple construction took off in a big way  was the number  fixed at 8 and the characters finalised . Brahma and Ananta ( upper and lower worlds) were dropped from the list and the name " Ashta Dikpalas" became current , ending the confusion with 'Lokapalas' who had been multipurpose guardians of the cardinal points. 

GUARDIAN OF THE EAST

Indra ....comes charging with fanfare ! 

Such  dynamism worked into the compostion ! Airavatha ploughing ahead , tail slightly upturned, the chain with bell on his back  swinging in retort  , while  Indra and Saci Devi tilt  for balance. His minions bear the chatri , a royal Standard and a conch . Airavatha has gathered up lotus on stalks, but the feature has been partially damaged . 

Indra was a poweful vedic god receiving the highest praise for slaying Vritra, the dark force who obstructed  human welfare. Indra was the Controller of Natural Forces . His character underwent changes in the Puranas , his influence in higher departments diminished, but became fixed as The Guardian of The East . His  Vajra is conspicuously  absent here .

GUARDIAN OF THE SOUTH EAST 

Agni ....the foremost Vasu , " mouth of all devatas " - conveyor of all offerings to respective destinations ( mukham yassarva devanaam ) - joins the procession here  , in a right royal fashion , riding with wife Svaha on a mesha ( male goat ) , attended by three musicians ( playing a stringed instrument , a reed pipe and a conch ) and a Standard bearer . Variations in hairstyles can be seen among the servitors . The polished stone makes the etched clouds in the background look like smoke from a havan , adding to the dramatic effect . His attribute the "sruk " is not seen , probably chipped off . But he is devoid of the expected beard , in keeping with the clean shaven company of Nolambavadi dikpalas . In the Vedas , he holds a position only next to Indra . He is Jataveda , the All Knowing , and present everywhere , in everything , including our stomach as jataragni , yet look at him here ! An unassuming , carefree youngman , out to have a good time at his assigned Direction , The South East . Only a skilled hand could bring out that  pervading feeling of happiness in such a small space . 

GUARDIAN OF THE SOUTH 

Yama .....the unfortunate devata who always gets bad press , looks magnificent on his buffalo mount , holding his danda . Excellently ornamented , with a beautifully bent waist ,the figure's artistic merit is of very high order . He is well complemented by a  lovely , graceful and utterly poised consort , Yami. They are attended by four gliding servitors . The one in front of them carries a tall staff , at the apex of which is a flag , which , with his swift movement , is seen fluttering and streaming backwards . The minion below the animal's forelegs and the one floating above the snout both seem to be have their  hands in anjali mudra. The attendent behind the couple carries a long object which could be either a staff  or a stringed instrument. The  clouded sky in the background is  pronounced , thanks to the polishing . 

Yama , in vedic lore was not all terrifying . He was the first person ever to die and cross over to celestial lands . Having blazed that trail , he became a guide to other transiting souls, imparting  knowledge about Atma and Moksha . He was certainly not a terroriser though he discharged dual duties as destroyer and protector ( yena samhriyate sarvam , yena sarvamcha rakshayate). No one seeing this excellent panel would ever want to be scared of him again ! Nolamba art has ensured that the  Guardian of South can actually be adorable . 

GUARDIAN OF THE SOUTH WEST 

Nairutti .....is the only one in this set who does not ride an animal . He has clamped on to a Nara vahana , mercilessly goading him to keep up with the fleet footed animals carrying his companions . But then, he is a malevolent spirit , his character seen rather plainly  on his grimacing face . He finds pleasure in bringing misfortune to humans ; his wickedness made apparent here by a vehicle-less wife , Khadgini , under a parasol , made to walk  along with the retinue of attendents , all of whom are little masterpieces by themselves . Two of them play drums of different kinds , while the other three have  what could be a slim stringed instrument or a staff . His usual attribute is a khadga , but here he holds something smaller and globular . The sky around the group is still and cloudless . 

Nairutti , in very early texts , is a malevolent goddess , equated to Alakshmi . Somewhere down the line , for whatever reason , she was forced  into gender reassignment  and is today established as a male , Guardian of the South West . 

GUARDIAN OF THE  WEST 

Varuna ....the gorgeous water sprite , enlivens the entourage riding on a fabulous aquatic creature , generally called Makara ( for want of proper identity) .The tail of the creature spreads in a profusion of twirls and curls and floral flourishes suggesting roiling water . There are no humanoid attendents , just some  snakey creatures around but wife Varuni seems content so long as that nice looking canopy is floating overhead . They make a winsome couple. 

Varuna is one part of the vedic dvandva ( duo ) Mitra-Varuna who were omniscient gods overseeing observance of Rta ( code of good conduct ) among humans . Varuna was much respected for " by him everything is born and into him everything retracts on dissolution" ( yena prasooyate sarvam yasmin sarvam praleeyate ) . With other gods gaining ascendency in puranas , Varuna got posted as The Guardian of The West .

GUARDIAN OF THE NORTH WEST 

Vayu ....makes quite a splash , stylishly riding a charging deer , with wife Vayavi (aka Bharati)  holding on to his waist for balance . He holds her in embrace too . That they are airborne in a turbulent sky  is clearly intimated by the clouds etched in the background and the  three floating attendents . The attendent behind the couple holds aloft the parasol , while the other two provide the music . The little figure below blows the conch and the one above plays a kind of percussion instrument that is still seen in use in villages of the region. A fluttering flag is one of Vayu's attributes , but is not pucturised here . Perhaps  the long  staff , with some indistinct folds at the top , seen towards the margin , is an unfurled flag ? It is not certain. 

Vayu's  leg is not pendent , but folded showing that he is comfortable in his domain , flying in the air . 

Vayu as a vedic god was the protector of Life Forces and a liberal grantor of boons . In the epics , he is mentioned as the father of two powerful characters , Bhima and Hanuman. His permanent assignment is as Guardian of The North West . 

GUARDIAN OF THE NORTH 

Kubera ...Mr.Moneybags is surely popular , going by the great 

number of attendents milling around him here ! He looks prosperously plump , but has no pot belly generally attributed to him . He holds what looks like a gem . His wife Riddhi ( aka Kauberi )  holds something similar too. His vehicle , the Ram , seems energetic , breezing ahead  unmindful of the traffic jam .

There are nearly 14 figures all around , many  of them shown in pairs as cavorting couples. A lady is performing a dance in front to the music provided by five instrumentalists seen at the bottom , playing drums, cymbals and the lute. 

Kubera or Kuvera, the 'deformed' , makes his debut in Atharvaveda as the Chief of evil spirits . In later ages, he was upgraded to the rank of Yaksha , as a vaushvanara. Vishnudharmottarapurana makes him the embodiment of Artha ( wealth , prosperity and glory ) and Manu terms him a Lokapala . There is no consensus about his vehicle which keeps changing from Man  to Ram to Horse to  Chariot . No confusion in his status though -he is the Guardian of North . 

GUARDIAN OF THE NORTH EAST

Isana ...and Ishvari , what a lovely couple they make , riding the young leaping bull ! The parasol bearer , conch blower and the chauri bearer keeping step , seem eager to please . The fine drapes of the riders and the bells on the bull's rump are worked in great detail , for the size . Again , the Nolamba signature of toned , shapely limbs is clearly  visible here . 

Isana is Siva , the Lord of Knowledge and Prosperity. Isana and Kubera are thought to be pre-vedic cult deities , successively morphed according to needs of the time . Siva is a multitasking deity and as Isana , he is Guardian of The North East . 

The central panel around whom the dikpalas are arranged is ofcourse the Natesa , as in Aralaguppe . The pose is the rhomboid 'Chatura ', one hand thrown across in gajahasta . He holds a snake , a trident , a cup / kapala , bead mala and a deer , with one hand showing benediction. His ganas are seen providing the music with an oval drum ( mizhavu ?) a long ( stringed?) instrument and cymbals , while his Devi watches from the side. Apasmara seems happy to be trampled upon. There is a joyousness exuding from the frame , so reminiscent of the other beautiful, long limbed  Nolamba Natesa mentioned above. 

The three dikpalas of this set who emigrated to Chennai Museum are : 

Agni , Yama and Nairutti . 

The striking feature of this set of Dikpalas is the composition . The whole entourage of each dikpala had to be fitted into the given square without making the design seem cramped or forced . The number of attendents each pair is given seems well thought out . No one is found to have shortened limbs or unjustly starved bodies , just to be accomodated within the space . 

The other feature is the over all exuberance, the buoyancy  of spirit that informs this sculpted  marvel . One can imagine what it would have looked like on the ceiling : 

celestial beings , in festive mode , gliding about the magical firmament  , among puffs of clouds kicked up by their leaping mounts.....it would have been enough for the pilgrim to look up and be assured that 

" God is in heaven and all is well in the world " 

There can be no doubt at all that the  Artisans of Nolambavadi worked under Divine Inspiration , their hands  guided by the gods .

-----------------

Photography : By kind permission  of ASI , Anantpur Sub Division. 

Photos and inputs  : Jay Shankar 

Text : Vidya Murali