Processional vāhanas of the Hindu gods and goddesses
Vāhanas are vehicles of the Hindu gods and goddesses that are taken in
ulā “procession” during annual festivals.1 These are mostly in the
zoomorphic form of animals or birds, trees, palanquins and above all
chariots, called (tēr) “temple car” . The vāhanas and chariots in wood as a
recognizable theme for research was the pioneering work of Raju Kalidos
whose thesis (Madurai Kamaraj University 1981) was commended by the experts
Mario Bussagli (Rome), Pierre Sylvain-Filliozat (Paris), S. Settar
(Dharwad)2 and Maurizio Taddei . Later Anna L. Dallapiccola 1994 wrote an
account of the Rāmāyaṇa sculptures in the Rāmasvāmi temple car at
Kuṃbhakōnam, which is a mere charting of the programme of images with no
critical analysis. This was followed by another meticulous documentation of
the Kūṭal Aḻakar tēr at Maturai by R.K.K. Rajarajan 1998. A British scholar
of the SOAS who devoted his attention to the methodology of Nāyaka art that
published the same article twice has not even noted the tēr of the Kūṭal
Aḻakar temple , which is a splendid monument of the Maturai Nāyakas. Raju
Kalidos advised all his doctoral wards to take into account the wooden
vāhanas and chariots in the temples studied by them . By this way many of
the chariots in the Kāviri delta have been examined and brought to light.
These doctoral dissertations are unpublished yet.
Among the pioneering studies, I am also informed of an examination of
the stone wheels attached to wooden temple cars in Karnāṭaka. I have not
come across this work in French. Furthermore, Raju Kalidos in most of his
articles published in the East and West (see back volumes since 1984) and
Annali dell’ Universita Degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” made it a point
to features images from the temple cars Another scholar of the Tamil
University, M. Kennedy 2005 has studied the vāhanas in the Kāñcīpuram
region for his doctoral thesis. I am to end this introductory note saying
that many of these wooden monuments are perishing unnoticed and unreported
by scholars. It is the bounden duty of an art historian and Journal of
standing to register these for benefit of the future . In the present note
I am reporting few vāhanas, not chariots, from the temples of northern
Tamilnadu that show some rare iconographic traits. The vāhanas as vehicles
of the gods have been noted in literary and epigraphical sources since the
Ṛgvedic time as most of the gods are associated with chariots.
By immortal tradition each god and goddess of the Hindu pantheon has a
vāhana of his/her own; Śiva and Maheśvarī vṛsabha “bull” or Nandi, Viṣṇu
and Vaiṣṇavī garuḍa “kite” (besides Ananta or Śeṣa for his couch ), Brahmā
and Brahmī haṃsa “swan” or haṅsa? “goose”), Devī siṃha “lion”, Gaṇapati
mūṣika “bandicoot”, Muruakṉ mayil/mayūra “peacock”, Indra airāvata
“four-tusked white elephant” and so on. These are also the vāhanas for the
meant gods in their annual ulā “procession” in temples. Besides the other
vāhanas reported in this article are Kāmadhenu “all-giving cow”, Aśva
“horse”, Yāḷi (mythical dragon) and Puruṣamṛga (man-animal). Some peculiar
vāhanas associated with the gods and goddesses are dog (Bhairva), donkey
(Jyeṣṭādevī, Tamil Mūtēvi), horse (Aiyappaṉ or Sāsta), buffalo (Yama), crow
(Śani), gazelle (Vāyu), fish (Varuṇa), parrot (Manmatha and Rati), ram
(Agni), preta (Cāmuṇḍā) and so on.10 Raju Kalidos (1989: 46-47) has
reported the following rare processional wooden vāhanas from the temples of
Tamilnadu: Kalpahavṛkṣa (wish-fulfilling tree), Kailāsa (abode of Śiva),
Indra-vimāna “aerial car” of Indra, Pallakku (palanquin), Siṃhāsana
(lion-throne), Hanuman, tiger, fox and the winged-Yāḷi. What is the
significance of the several animal images that are kept in the Vatican
Museum? I do not know. I wonder whether they were processional vehicles of
the Graeco-Roman gods and goddess. We do get some idea of the processional
vehicles since the early medieval period as notified in the bhakti hymns of
the Nāyaṉmār and Āḻvārs and epigraphical sources.
Note the following
• Bull, Tamil viṭai or kāḷai, noted in a number of Tēvāram (7.46.4) hymns
• Swan, haṃsa (Tamil aṉṉam), noted in Tēvāram 6.311.11
• Elephant, Tamil yāṉi or kaḷiṟu, noted in Tēvāram 6.223.5
• Golden bull noted in an inscription (ARE 1893, no. 431)
• A Telugu inscription notes the donation of the following vāhanas to the
temples of Tirumala, Tirupati and Kālahasti:
svarṇāśva (golden horse) or turaṅgama,
sindhura or gaja (elephant),
samarabhūpāla-vāhana (war chariot),
padmapīṭha (lotus-seat),
kanakamayūra (golden peacock) and
mohana-vāhana – Mohinī? (Sitapati 1972: 4).
• Tavernier (17th century AD) makes a note of a palanquin procession of the
gods.
• The Italian traveler, Pietro Della Valle in his Travels makes a note of
the palanchin procession and the temple car to the accompaniment of the
dance of vestal virgins of the Ikkēri Nāyaka. The above brief note allows
us to infer the vāhanas as vehicles of the gods was employed in temple
festivities since the 7th to the 17th century and today it is a living
tradition. Basically, made of wood Processional vāhanas of the Hindu gods
and goddesses 347 these were covered with brass, silver or golden plates.
The vāhanas reported in the present study are in active use in the temples
they are found. Regarding the pratimālakṣaṇa of the vāhanas the
śilpaśāstras have no detailed information to supply. The Mayamata in its
31st adhyāya gives details of yāna and sayana. However, it is only in the
Śilparatna (adhyāya 21) that the rules pertaining to the vṛṣabha-, aśvaand
gaja- vāhanas are told. Therefore, in the present article the vāhanas are
described as they are found in situ.
No Animal Personal name Sanskrit God/Goddess
1. Bull Nandi vṛsabha Śiva
2. Kite Garuḍa cillābha Viṣṇu
3. Rat “bandicoot” mūṣikā-rāja mūṣika Gaṇapati
4. Peacock mayil/mayūra Skanda
5. Elephant Airāvata gaja Indra
6. Lion Siṃhā Durga12/Nṛsiṁhī
7. wish-fulfilling cow Kāmadhenu haviṣmatī Viṣṇu/Dēvī
8. wish-fulfilling tree Kalpavṛkṣa/ Vaṭavṛkṣa 13 Viṣṇu/Dēvī/ Dakṣiṇāmūrti
9. Swan haṃsa Brahma
10. Horse Uccaiḥśrava Aśva Viṣṇu/ Śiva/ Indra The vāhanas considered for
the present study are the following:
Mūṣika, Mayūra, Siṃha, Vṛṣabha, Śeṣa, Haṃsa, Airāvata, Kāmadhenu, Aśva,
winged-Yāḷi and Puruṣamṛga. These are from the temples of Kuṟṟālanāthasvāmi
temple at Kuṟṟālam, Kāpālīśvara temple at Mayilāpūr (Anglicized Mylapore in
Cheṉṇai), Brahmapurīśvara temple at Perunakar, Kāraṇīśvara temple at
Mayilapūr and Ekāṃranātha temple at Kāñcīpuram.
In few cases a cluster of vāhanas as they found stationed in a part of the
maṇḍapa of the temple is reported. These are from Mayilāpūr and Perunakar.
In the Mayilāpūr (Kāraṇīśvara temple) cluster we find a Bhūta-vāhana.
The other vāhanas are Mūṣika, Vṛṣabha mounted on Siṃha, Airāvata and Aśva .
The second cluster from Perunakar includes Haṃsa, Mūṣika, Vṛṣabha (Fig.
2). These clusters are possible because the vāhanas are taken from their
station only at the time of the festival. During all other days of the
year, they remain dormant and unused. They are shut down in separate cells
or dumped in a room, called vāhana-maṇḍapa. Often, they are painted in
order to look fresh at the time of procession. In view of this frequent
painting, it is difficult to date the vāhanas as the wood inside may be
100-300 years old and the painting recent.
Normally Śiva never goes alone and is followed by his wife, Umā, and son,
Murukaṉ in Somāskanda form (supra).
Śeṣa-vāhana is a seven hooded zoomorphic cobra with its hoods spread out
(Fig. 7). The body of the snake is coiled to form a pedestal for the
processional image to be seated. Normally Śeṣa-vāhana is found only in
Viṣṇu temples. In the present case it is from a Śiva temple in Mayilapūr as
name of the temple indicates, Kāraṇīśvara. Maybe it is meant for the
Goddess of the temple as Devī appropriates the emblems of her brother,
Viṣṇu (e.g., śaṅkha and cakra). The seven heads of the snake are shown with
broad eyes, noses and mouth. The head part consists of ringed projections
that make up the spread-out hood. The cobra in India is not a dreaded
animal but adorable reptile and believed to have five or 1,000 hoods in
mythologies. The light shed by the gems on its hoods illuminates the
worlds, the Āḻvārs say.
The Siṃhavāhana is in the form of a zoomorphic lion. Its four legs with
sharp nails are arranged so as it is walking mode. The tail is erect and
curved at the end. The leonine face is broad with bulging eyes, protruding
sharp teeth and the manes spread around the head. The genital organ is
conspicuous and looks like that of a man with the glans exposed as though
it is circumcised (Fig. 8). A seat is set on its back to place the
processional images. It is perhaps meant for the Devī of the temple. Upon
the pedestal of the lion a small vṛṣabhavāhana is placed. It appears as
though it is a two-in-one, Siṃḥa-vṛabha-vāhana. Nearby the Airāvata is
found that is white in colour.
The Mūṣikavāhana is a big rat. No other god excepting Gaṇapati could travel
on it (Bühnemann 1989: 16-20). Normally mousses and rats are frail
creatures and fly away at the sight men.
The mūṣika 6. Vṛsabha-vāhana, Kāraṇīśvara temple, Mayilāpūr 7. Śeṣa-vāhana,
Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Kalyana Mitra: A Treasure House of History,
Culture and Archaeological Studies 350 8 & 9. Siṃhavāhana & Mūṣikavāhana,
Kāraṇīśvara temple, Mayilapūr 10. Mayūravāhana, Brahmapurīśvara temple,
Perunakar 11.
Haṃsavāhana, Ekāṃranātha temple, Kāñcīpuram illustrated finds him a sturdy
creature (Fig. 9). Its head, eyes and mouth with protruding teeth are
prominent that adds a sort of belligerency to the animal. It has four legs
with sharp nails. Interestingly, the poor animal is decorated with bells
and other ornaments.
According to mythology, Mūṣika was a demon, tamed and made his vāhana by
Gaṇapati. Very interestingly, Gaṇapati with his Śakti is seated on a mouse
and engaged in sexual pre-play (Rajarajan 2006: II, fig. 302).
The Mayūravāhana is meant only for Murukaṉ and his female counterpart,
Kaumārī. This bird in frontal and profile shows the bird in a majestic
posture (Fig. 10). The feathers are spread sidewise. The plumage is erect
at the tail-end. The head is tiny and the beak long. The beak holds a
cobra. The two legs of the peacock are entwined by five-hooded snakes. In
Hindu mythology the enemies of snakes are garuḍa “kite”, vehicle of Viṣṇu,
and mayūra (Tamil root mayil). The peacock is the national bird of India.
The Āryans did not know the peacock and so some argue Murukaṉ is a Tamil
God. Evidences of his worship have been found among the artifacts of the
Indic culture, dated around 2500 BC and the excavations of prehistoric
sites as at Āticcanallūr.
Haṃsa is the vāhana of Brahmā and Brahmī. In Tamil tradition it is believed
it is a sagacious bird that if offered milk mixed with water with separates
the water and drinks the milk only. In the story Processional vāhanas of
the Hindu gods and goddesses 351 12.
Airāvata, Brahmapurīśvara temple, Perunakar 13 & 14. Kāmadhenu and
Winged-Yāḷi, Ekāṃranātha temple, Kāñcīpuram of Nala and Damayantī (told in
the Vanaparva of the Mahābhārata), it is said the haṃsa acted as a herald
between the two (see the first part of Tamil Nalaveṇpā “Quatrain on Nala”
by Pukaḻēnti of the high Cōḻa period).
The vāhana illustrated in the article finds a two-legged birth standing
(Fig. 11). Its nails are sharp. The wings spread out on either side but are
not prominent. It is milkwhite in colour. To distinguish it from a swan or
goose an ornate tassel issuing forth from the beak of the bird is added.
The white elephant Airāvata is four-tusked and the mount of Indra, King of
gods and the Directional God of the east. It figures in many mythologies
such as sage Durvāsa cursing it for its intransigence and this story is
repeated in the Tamil Tiruviḷaiyāṭaṟ Purāṇam also. The illustrated specimen
shows a white elephant, fully caparisoned (Fig. 12). It has a broad
mastaka, four tusks, winnow-like ears and four sturdy legs. The mastaka,
ears and the back are decorated with carpets. The neck is tied with bells.
The Tamil proverb is: Yāṉai varum piṉṉē maṇi ōcai varum muṉṉē “the elephant
comes later and its bell sound comes first”.
Kāmadhenu is supposed to be the “mother of cattle” and all-giving cow14.
It has the head of a girl, wings of a bird and the cow’s four legs, horns,
body and human breasts. It is supposed to be one among the products that
came out of the Churning the Ocean of Milk 15. The illustrated specimen
shows the following features: a girl’s face, horns, ears and body of a cow,
and wings of a bird. It is decorated with ornaments on the nose, ears and
neck (Fig. 13). It is believed to be a never-failing brook of milk, its
udder with four teats, which is hidden in the image illustrated. Strangely,
this vāhana is fitted with the breasts of a woman and udder of a cow. The
present image shows only the udder.
The winged-Yaḷi is a very rare vāhana found only in few temples. The
illustrated image is from the Ekāṃranātha temple at Kāñcīpuram (Fig. 14).
The image finds a rearing yāḷi with its fore legs lifted up. The legs are
sturdy and fitted with very sharp nails. Its wings are spread out on either
side. The face is the most terrific with broadly opened mouth and the long
and sharp teeth peeping out. The nose and eyes are broad. A decorative
tassel hangs from the neck of the dragon. Below a demon in anthropomorphic
form is found fallen. The holds the dragon with his left arm and carries a
dagger in the right. It seems he is intended to have fought with the
winged-yāḷi and is fallen. It is not clear whether the śilpi has tries to
project the yāḷi as Nṛsiṃha and the demon, Hiraṇya. Puruṣamṛga-vāhana is
reported from the Kāraṇīśvara temple, Mayilāpūr (Fig. 15).
Puruṣamṛga is the combination of a man and animal that may be compared to
Nṛsiṃha. Several images of Puruṣamṛga chasing Bhīma have been reported from
Nāyaka art. To my knowledge the Kalyana Mitra: A Treasure House of History,
Culture and Archaeological Studies 352 15. Puruṣamṛga, Kāraṇīśvara temple,
Mayilāpūr 16. Daśagrīva-Rāvaṇa, Muṇṇeśvaram, Śrī Laṅkā images reported
herein are those pertaining to vāhanas of the gods. The image from
Mayilāpūr is analogous in pattern, as far as the human part represents a
ṛṣi with long beards, hanging mustaches and jaṭamakuṭas. The body above the
hip is anthropomorphic and below animal with strong legs fitted with sharp
nails on the soles. The genital organ is prominent and peeps out
horizontally. The image is decorated with more ornamentation such as a
skandamālā and wings.
The few vāhanas reported herein are chips from a huge mass of such vehicles
of the gods found in almost all the big temples of Tamilnadu. A systematic
survey of these monuments is the need of the times as many of these in
small temples in remote villages are vanishing due to lack of patronage and
maintenance. It is the responsibility of the art historian to take care of
them and at least report them in scholarly journals for benefit of scholars
who may come forward to work on the subject in future. KR IRS 22423
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