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Far East SRIRANGAM

From the Bhakti List Archives

usdeiva • June 7, 1997 


The following report is from THE HINDU issue June 7 1997:

CHOLA PERIOD SCULPTURES DISCOVERED.

"Several sculptures of 1200 A.D. were discovered during a survey by a
team of archaeologists and historians at TRIBHUVANAM, near
Saliyamangalam, 15 km from Thanjavur.   The team headed by Dr R.
Nagaswamy, former director of Archaeology, Kudavasal Balasubramanyam of
Saraswathi Mahal Library, Prof Thyagarajan of Ariyalur and Mr S.
Sachidanandan, a teacher of the village, found that Tribhuvanam was a
township established around 1200 A.D. by Kulothunga Chola III and named
Tribhuvana-vira-puram after his title.   AN ANCIENT VISHNU TEMPLE,
DEDICATED TO RANGANATHA and now in ruins, WAS THE CENTRAL PART OF THE
TOWNSHIP.   A 14TH CENTURY INSCRIPTION ON THE RUINED BASE OF TEMPLE HAS
MENTIONED THIS FACT.   The Vishnu temple is now housed in a small
structure, a few metres in front.   The relics of a Siva temple
consisting of a linga and an image of Goddess Parvathi in stone was also
found about one km to the north east.   A group of Saivite bronzes,
unearthed here about 50 years ago, were found to be in the Madras
Government museum."

COMMENT:  Could this Tribhuvana-Kulottunga III be the one who made
amends for his predecessor's rabid intolerance of srivaishnavam? the
one who is said to have remarked that srivaishnavam was not protected by
fortresses of stone;  it was SrI rAmAyaNam and tiruvAimozhi which
were the effective wall ('tirumadiL') of protection.

I have visited the kuruvAlappar koyil in jayankonDam taluq of the newly
created Perambalur district.   It is obvious that the temple is named
after SrI Tirukkurugai-kAvalappan, whom SoTTai-nambi visited when Appan
was practising yoga.   The temple is dedicated to SrI vIranArAyaNa
perumAL (same as in SrI nAthamuni's birthplace, vIranArAyaNapuram/
kATTumannArkoyil, near tillai-chitrakUTam/chidambaram);  a little east
of kuruvAlappar is the nellitOppu where there is a SrIranganAtha temple 
in neglect.   
 
Sri Mohan Sagar and Sri K. Srinivasan (of Quebec) had taken a break
(their message May 27) from abstruse metaphysics, and refer to the
SrI ranganAtha temple in Angkor Vat, Cambodia, built by the king
sUryavarman II in 9-11 cent.   Sri Srinivasan reasonably surmises that
the king had visited Srirangam, maybe also met SrI nAthamuni/
SrI ALavandAr/uDaiyavar.   

He remarks that there cd be a reference to this in the Cambodian mss.
Someone, placed in the former Indo-China region and preferably in
Cambodia itself, cd look up a good history of Cambodia/kAmbOja and tell
us about it.

I have an English translation of a **Tibetan work (circa 14th cent.) of
Buddhist travelogue which refers to the temple of 'ranganAtha' in
kAnchIpuram;  this probably refers to the 'yathOkta-kAri' who is also
in reclension over the Sesha-dalpa.  I have an **article published by an
Assamese anthropologist, containing the photograph of a large-size
Central-American (Inca/Maya?) sculpture depicting a deity seated over
the Sesha-dalpa (something like in AihoLe, Karnataka).   On a visit to
(north) Korea in Sep'94, I had noticed an imagery like 'SrI' arising
from the sea-waves.   The coronation ceremony of the monarch of Thailand
includes recitation of tiruppAvai stanzas (referred to as 'lOrpA',
perhaps in garbled form).
_________________________________
**not readily with me in Memphis.
---------------------------------

The exposure of srIvaishNava influences and concretisations in the 
Far East (and possibly in Central America) is a very fascinating study
in itself.    Thank U, Srinivasan!

aDiyen rAmAnujadAsan, T.S. Sundara Rajan.