PrajnaVihara_Vol24_No1_final.pdf


 1

 Vol. 24 no. 1 January to June 2023, 1-33
© 2000 by Assumption University Press

Kesava Rajarajan1

 

ABSTRACT

This article is a summary of 60+  hymns on 

 and 
organizing principle of the structure of the temple, its 

s 

(nine holy lands). The 

, much less known 
to the outer world. The three authors of the , 
viz., Campantar (
and Cuntarar (7) have contributed six s (decades 
of hymns, totally of 62 hymns) on the Budha-  in 

unexamined in scholarly works. It is worthwhile to see 
what the 



2  

 Tamil 
literature clearly recognizes the importance of this venue 
with reference to its landscape, , , cultic values, 
mythologies, 
the visual iconography of the temple that evolved under 

which is often neglected by scholars.

Keywords: ; Budha; 

Introduction 

a planet or .2 All the nine 

 in the temple. The 

3

4. 



 3

the Navagraha-
 round the Sun), 

and Cuntarar have contributed six s (decades of hymns, totaling 

on. These are often not mentioned in scholarly works. Yet it is worthwhile 
to see what the 

 and [ ]-
 seems rooted 

in pan-Indian lore.5 We may talk of regionalism, but none escape from the 
shackles of nationalism that we call “emotional integration” or “unity in 
diversity.” The present article is a summary of the 60+  hymns 



4  

 in the initial stages of growth from 
the view point of structure and organization of the temple, its location 
and evolution of regional visual iconography.



 5

s
 (Anglicized 

Coromandel) occupies a key place in Indian religious geography. From 

several s are located on the West Coast (Rajarajan 2020, 2020a, 
-

-Wild, cf. Poongodi 2006) 

, much 
less known to the outer world. My doctoral guide, Dr. A. Veluswamy 
Suthanthiran (1982), did his doctoral work (University of Madras 1982) 
on the temple in this 
is another nearby 

s of 

 meant for Budha (Fig. 7; Rajarajan 2015: 192; 

Navagraha-
(nine holy lands, Rajarajan 2011: 131-144). The 

s (Karpagam 2020: 297-321).6 
The mystics that composed the , viz., Campantar (  

s 
(decades of hymns, totally of 62 hymns) on the 

Veluswamy Suthanthiran (1982) remains unpublished, but it is worthwhile 
to see what the 



6  

this  is as follows:

7  
(ARE 1918: 496) 

 
(ARE 475 of 1918) 

 

whose shoulder is bamboo-like smooth)

)

 and 
Candra- )

s
.

found in the temple. Other inscriptions are 



 7

(7th century CE) and Cuntarar (8th century). Their hymns have been 
brought under the seven s (Books of the Sacred Order), books 
one to three by Campantar, books four to six by Appar, and book seven 

much dearer to them than their own life. The  and  
(8th ) are regularly recited with the musical accompaniment in 

if we listen to at least a few among the several thousands of the hymns 
by the -trio.



8  

), 
). the sacred icon is united with a female 

9 He is the tempest that nurtures 
saplings.10

( ).
2. Ghouls do not harass,  (ignorance) is unveiled, 

(devotees) beget good children, and all good s are assured; there 

the venue of the divinity whose half is occupied by the gracious maiden;11 
Umai- . If Thou take a dip in the  (trio- )12, no evil 
[ ]-  (evil deed) haunts anyone. 

3. The Lord is an abstraction of the s;13  
(earth),  (  water), 
(ether),  (moon),  (sun) and the  (breath-spell) that makes 

14  4.48.10). He is . His 

). He is the 

this scenario, the pearl shells coming out of the sea are laughing. 
15 dwells in a venue in the coastal region. 

Yama had snatched the life of an expert in s16

place. The Yama- s are afraid of the Lord of the scarred-throat to 

a noose on devotees.

seated on trees listen to the names ( ) of the Lord recited 

s17.



 9

 

bones, 

melodiously as he was afraid of who was seated with the Lord.19 The Lord 
is residing in this temple. The handsome peacock is dancing, the ocean 

20

obtained grace. Those that do not melt their minds in devotion are not 
devotees.

10. The Buddhists and Jains21 are preaching philosophies based 
on false logic. Would you mind not listening to them? True wisdom is in 
the s. 

full of cold ponds. He is the author of the ten hymns bearing the 

hymns live happily on this earth. They are masters of the heavens. 

4. Campantar 

poison coming out of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. Our Patriarch, 
He is the emasculator of evils that attack the devotees of the Lord. Bees 

2. The Lord is the master that redeems us from the evils of 
, the s. He stamps out errors and showers bliss on devotees. 

s. 



10  

3. The venue has three 

eyes. The Lord appears as buds of pearls in the minds of those that partake 
in heart-melting worship. The ocean waves wash white pearls ashore in 

4. The  is for the grey-haired people who visit during old age 

its waves22. 

smoke) kindled in the 23

24. The Lord 

25 , 

that is a rare sight for the celestials. Bees are humming among the ponds 
there.

10. He is the Lord that has tamed the dancing cobra. Devotees are 
assembled to shower praises. The sacred  could not be understood 

 



 11

11. The Lord holding the  is the Governor 

to give up . If so, you are to rule in the celestial world.

1. He is my God extolled by the Vedic aphorisms (
) by the celestials and Indra. The Lord is smeared with  

(  “white-ash”)26

and  (end). He has no beginning and no end.
2. His weapon is the  (stone-cutters chisel). His garment, 

27.
3. The Lord is pleased to accept milk, ghee, curd, and other (fruits) 

the banyan tree for imparting wisdom .



12  

laurel ( ), and fragrant screw-pine ( ). White herons ( ) 

wild where the Lord stripped the elephant-demon, , of his skin.29 
He is fond of the melody of the lute.30

5. The gifted divinity, the Lord, is Holy, followed by the 
s. He absolves our crimes and overcomes all hardships. My 

God, He is foremost of the s. He is the Eternal whose sacred feet 

services to the Lord on all days without fail. His complete presence is felt 

coming to the sacred land.

visited by recluses and 
holding the  in hand.

level best to discover the crest and feet of the Lord that they could not 

in 
31. None is there to deserve our adorations other than the Lord.

The experts in the hymns shall be relieved from all ordeals of , 



 13

leading to Nirmala (devoid of s, or psychosis for likes and dislikes). 

loved by devotees 

Appar 
1. My mind, the Lord, is a dimple of the eye for devotees that 

The crest bears the crescent. For the attainment of bliss, one must reach 

by the s. He is decorated with a white crescent and mounted 
on the white bull. His throat is black32 (colored by the poison from the 
white33



14  

3. Do not pursue the enjoyment of s that melt your tissues. 
. 

Honey-like, the Lord lives on the tongues of those that always cherish 

34

elephant of its hide. He is posted on the big white hill.35 His abode is the 
36 s and s. 

37 With his 
arrow, he destroyed the enemies of humankind ( ) in the three-
cities, s.

appear as 39 ). 
Civam is the pinnacle of love, extolled by lovers of all countries.40 My 

locks. He was pleased to burn down the triple-cities of the immoral allies. 
He has explained the meanings of the four s and six s at 

forehead, 
Lord by uttering the 41

42 (Kalidos 1996). He is the Lord of wisdom that appears in 
43

 (swan) 

the coveted [ ]-
My mind reaches him.



 15

10. The Lord takes pleasure dipping in milk, . He 
preaches the  (carp 

was caught in his throat. His necklace consists of the bones of corpses. 

11. The Lord is crested with the moon that glitters during darkness. 

All hymns in this  end with the invocation  (see 
2.184.11 above) which has a variety of meanings. It can refer to a God, 
a man of freakish behavior; a person who is obsessed with particular 

with physical abnormality, an oddity, a rarity, an eccentric, a devotee, a 
lover, an enthusiast, an addict, a maniac and so on (“Manifestations” in 
Kramrisch 1981, cf. Meister 1984). Commentators often employ  
for  (cf.  3.8.9, Rajarajan et al. 2020: 1625)

the holy ash ( ). He lifts the  in hand and is decorated with 
the . A good cobra is inserted in the ear-hole ( )44. 
His golden locks are hanging down. The Lord is decorated with a three-

. He is majestically 

a divinity of oddities. 
2. The Lord is well disposed toward his devotees that extol 

his sacred feet by blessing them through his lotus feet,  
. This sacred foot stamps out all terrible 

receive . He plays the  during the  to tune the s. 



16  

45 I 
was standing there. He was pretending to be a visitor, not a beggar. I 

with soft breasts.

his one half. The hooded  is tied around his hip. He is mounted on the 
s. 
46 

with rainy clouds. 

wandering all over the Cosmos. Dwarfed s follow him sounding 
the  (big drum).47 He has captivated my mind.  I pretend not to 

whisper the s.
 in hand and is decorated 

with the , 
and moves not to receive the 

; he (Sundara) has captivated the viewers. He talks pleasingly 
to covet my bangles. He is the  whose tongue is the , the 

the [ ]. His job is not to eat and sleep as ordinary mortals; the 
food is  among the s). He is . 
Talking pleasingly, He has caught hold of me. The Eternal, he bears the 

8. Scared 
s. Those that provide services 

are amply rewarded with desirable boons. The dignitary is mounted on 



 17

Light, and his garland consists of 

Cuntarar 
1. Thou have decked the hooded cobra on Thy crest, 

. The hide of the prancing tiger is on Thy hip. Thou 

demons,49 

house in search of alms (

their archaic forms were destroyed and rehabilitated in new bodies.50 Thou 
destroyed Manmatha when he dared ruin Thy  and gave him a new 

the ocean.
3. Lord, Thou are loitering along with the s, followed 

. Tell me the truth, why are Thou frolicking and moving when 
the locks of Thou hair are pushed down.? Why are Thou begging seated 

4. Thou are the melody inherently present in music and poem. 
Thou are the eyes of human beings. Thou are the consciousness in devotees 
who meditate on Thee. Thou are present on the earth. Thou are the bearer 

surrounded by the ocean.



18  

5. Lord, Thy devotees worship by pouring water pots ( ), 
] s. Thou are the giver 

decorated with stringed gems on her breast was grafted to Thee. What 
for the deadly poison perpetually sticks to Thy neck? Lord, Thou are the 

6. Lord, Thou undertook the hazardous venture to strip the skin of 

is grafted to Thy half with whom Thou are wandering around begging 

7. Lord, Thou are the Justice and the Judge. Thou are an expert 
in dance and amusement Thy devotees the s are playing 
instruments and generating music. The s are creating 
music while standing by Thou side. Thou are propagating the s, 

 [Indian laburnum], and  [purple 

are the  (  and ). Thou have erased the impurities 

is surrounded by the ocean.

devotees. Why are Thou dancing in the crematorium where ghouls are 

that is surrounded by the ocean.



 19

the eastern ocean. It is the venue of the experts in the 

deemed to be celestials. 

Interpretation

a sacred center of worship in case of South Asian temples. They are 
,  and  (Soundararajan 1993-95: 9-10), and later 

s and s were added. There could be no temple without regular 
services  or  and periodical festivals,  
or  (Kalidos 1989: chap. IX). The  is uniformly called 

51



20  

-  

(  5.9.10)

This is because the sacred venue is holy of the holies on earth 

( , II, 67-68).

Candra, all the nine are neither grouped nor named. The  3.5 

 (550 CE, Zvelebil 1974: 141) 
notes 6. 178: 

that the 
not clear whether the 
case there are six plus two, or a total of eight (Kalidos 2006: IV, II, 146, 
cf. Mevissen 2005: 580). It is only in the  hymns of the  
(2.221.1) around the 7th century CE that a clear perspective of the planetary 
deities is obtained and the hymn itself is called  (Decad 
on Planets): … 
… The planets listed are nine and they are Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, 

s in a disorderly pattern: 

a hymn: 
 (  5.149.4). The s are 

called 



 21

Another hymn from 

“The souls that are not dedicated to the Lord are born again and 
again in any one of the caturyonis. He is liberator of the moon from being 
tortured by the demonic 

). The  was discharged to admonish the crocodile 
living in a pond. The liberated beasts (crocodile and elephant) were blessed 
to attain  and  (PVP).”



22  

th-8th  
in the East Coast that received the attention of the  hymnologists. We 

blunders they committed. At the same time, the Lord is the annihilator of 

Cosmic Harmony through wanton war or meditated pestilence. In the end, 
terror or Corona shall fall by its weapon; he who takes up the sword will 
perish by the sword. However, we do not indicate either Budha (Fig. 7) 
or the Budha- ,52 which seems to be a later overgrowth of the 

. The epigraphic sources bearing on the temple are fascinating 



 23

ENDNOTES

1 R.K.K. Rajarajan is currently at Gandhigram Rural University, Gandhigram, 
Dindigul. 

2 There is strong belief in India that the planets have a role to play in deciding 
their fortunes in all walks of life. Each family maintains an individual horoscope that 
is consulted with traditional local experts in astrology in times of need.

3

not the temple that falls within the precincts of the city, examined by Rajarajan (2008: 
405-14).

4 s 
into an entity, called s (after the s, e.g., Ap “water”, 

s ( ), s (seven dancing venues, 
) and s (performing eight deeds of heroism such 

, Latha 2010, Sumathi 2010.
5

Sathanarayanan (2022a: 128) write about the 

 
3.311.10). The twin- s is s” 
(

(  7.2.8: 

 
literature clearly points the importance of the ; the existing structural monuments 
add the value of the traditional living rituals connecting to the daily life.

6

Similarly, the 
s and the

as follows:



24  

Rajarajan (2015: 208, fn. 4).
7

with Britain - Dowson 1998: 315). In mythology, the Sapta-
s) 

 (salt),  (sugarcane),  (wine),  or  (butter),  (curd),  
or  (freshwater); for more details see Dowson (1998: 
102).

 The Romanization of the hymns is avoided due to the constraint of space in 
this small communication.

9 The Rhythm of creation ( ), integration (sustenance ) and destruction 
( ), the 

10 s.
11 Most 

12

13 The 

 of Tillai 
was overturned  (Kalidos 2021, see Fig. 5).

14

15

16 Expert in the 
17 Parrots are brought up pets in some temples, e.g.,  in 

II, 193-94).
19 An image conforming to this description is reported from Cave XVI, the 

of Cave XIV, Ellora.



 25

20  hymns in Kalidos 
(2003).

21  “meal or group” (  V, p. 

22

full of conchs and pearls on the seashore.
23 The scene radically changed in the 15th century with the coming of 

Malik Kapur and his diabolic followers during the Khilji and Tughlak periods. The 
s permeating with the 

sweet-smell of  were nauseating with the beef roasted by the s and 
s 

(Aiyangar 1921, Dodamani 2008: 19-20).
24

the Finance Minister, Dr Nirmala Sitaraman, behind the curtain.
25 This name appears in 

(Rajarajan et al 2020: 540).
26

 in  (1.202.1-11, Kalidos 2006: II, 68-70).
27  

 or  on his matted locks in 
the rock-cut Hindu cave, Aihole (Kalidos 2006: II, pl. LI.3).

29

30  (cf.  4.79.3, Kalidos 
1996: 34-35).

31  1.
32  6.6.3, 9.4.5).
33

 5.2.9, Rajarajan et al. 2020: 1591). See note 14.
34 s are 

35 Maybe 
Axis Mundi on which any  stands.

36 s. It belongs to all 
s are dramatized here for 

the entertainment of souls undergoing .



26  

37  means “higher wisdom” that includes , and 
 (justice to all and malice to none); religions addicted to war and contagions preach 

 (

 The s exist through the ages, e.g., the Axis during the Second World 
War; those that propagate terrorism and Corona (in several waves) today.

39 An episode in the , elaborated in the 
(Rajarajan 2021).

40

South be extolled; Lord of all countries be Praised” (  ll. 164-65 of 

41  
III, 1407).

42  
and 

 3) and 
.

43

s (Latha 2010) and 

literature belongs to an early period and so its impact over a later art-form is taken for 

artist. Behind each work of art, a saga of thinking and meditation had gone (Rajarajan 
2015a: 57).

44 The 
on tiara, ear-hole, neck and all over the body.

45

46

hymn is a 
 

47

has stolen my mind”.



 27

49

Cuputti (Subuddhi).
50 The 

and  and , are  in Indian 
lore.

51  (where 
are you from); the Tamil way is;  (what is your place). In Tamil tradition, 
sacred centers of worship are s (Gods 
own country!).

52  is pulled by four lions. He may also 
be seated on the  (Rajarajan 2015: 216).



28  

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