At a distance of about 40km from Pudukkottai, the administrative capital of the district, on a state highway between Pudukkottai and Manapparai lies a place by the name Kodumbalur. It is a village, and is known for its archaeological sites. I drive on the state highway, and stop a kilometer before the village for there is a shop that sells porridge. It is owned by an elderly person, who then directs me in the direction of a famous temple of the village. I reach the village, and as directed by him, I take the right after the hump that I crossed. The tar road, which connects the temple, runs amid the farm lands. The road on either side contains many babul cimaik trees which possess a greater threat to groundwater accumulation. Beyond the babul cimaik trees are a few fertile agricultural land pieces where a few are occupied with agricultural work. Though a few are cultivated, majority of the land pieces are left uncultivated. As I proceed further, I get the visual of the temple which has been covered by a stone block compound wall. The temple goes by the name, Moovar koil (மூவர் கோயில்) which means the temple of the three people. It looks picturesque sitting amid the land pieces, under the cloudy blue sky. I drive close to the temple, and park my vehicle under the shadow of a tree at the northwest corner of the temple.
I enter the temple, and am being directed by the security to the ticket office which is newly constructed at the left side of the temples. I mention temples, because there had been three temples in the premises that had been worshipped by the people. I get my entry ticket which costs me 25Rs, and enter the temple premises. Of the three temples, only two are in existence now. There is a board that was erected by the Archaeological department of India stating the history, and historical importance of the monument. As I step down the stairs next to the board, I notice that the floor surrounding the temples has been renovated with the terra cota tiles. The temples are in line, and as per the inscriptions on the south wall of the middle temple, it had been constructed by the Irukkuvel chief of Kodumabalur, Bhuti Vikramakesari. Each temple is dedicated to a person, i.e., one is dedicated to the king himself, and the other two temples at the sides had been dedicated to his two queens, named Karrali, and Varaguna. Of the three temples, two are in existence, and for the other, it has only the traces of its existence, that is only the base of the temple on earth exists now, and the superstructure of the temple had been destroyed. At the south east corner of the temple is a step well, that now is almost filled due to the recent monsoon in the district.
The temples are facing the north, and opposite to the temples is a stage that could have been a stage (or Mandapa) for the Arangetram (அரங்கேற்றம்) which means ascending a stage. It is done till date by the dancers who have learnt the traditional Indian classical dancing “Bharadhanatyam”. Arangetram – the word is split in Tamil as Arangu + Yetram. Arangu means stage, and Yetram means Ascending. Therefore, Arangetram means ascending the stage, and here ascending the stage to showcase their skills in Bharadhanatyam. Once a person successfully completes his/her Arangetram, he is eligible to pass on the art form to other aspiring learners of the art. At the north side of the stage are arranged a few broken statues that had been left by the Archaeological department when it took the other statues for safekeeping.
At the lowest part of the superstructures is a beautifully carved lotus petal shaped stones that decorate the visible base of each temple. The curves and ends of the petals have been sculptured in a way that shows how passionate would the sculptors had been in the creation. It also shows how skillful had the sculptors been in those periods. It projects as if the temple sits on a lotus flower. This particular part of the temple is left undamaged; whereas the portions above this are mostly eroded, for it has been built 1000 years ago. There are pillar like projections that are a part of the walls of the temple. These pillars would probably be at the breadth of half a foot and the height would be of about 6 feet. On each of these pillars with half a foot breadth, and a foot height are many minute designs carved with absolute detail. Most of these carvings are flower based, or beads based designs. There is one extraordinarily amazing carving that got my eyes glued to it, and left me awestruck with its beauty, and detail. Similar to the flower carvings, this was also about a half a foot breadth, and a foot height, but it has dancers in different poses. It has two dancers at the top, side by side, and below them are 4 rows of dancers in different poses, each row containing 3 dancers. I don’t get if it implies the same dancer in different poses, or if it implies a group of dancers performing different poses headed by two dancers. In either ways, the sculptor’s attention to minute details fascinates me.
I enter inside the temple only to find out that in the southern side temple, there is no statue. I, later, come to know that many statues of the temple had been taken by the Archaeological department of India for safekeeping. From inside, as I look to the top of the temple, I could see that bats have made it a shelter for them. Bats are hanging and flying in and out. Inside the second (middle) temple is a Shivalinga statue. Unlike any other Shivalinga statue I have ever seen, it looks unique with its lengthy cylindrical structure. It has recently been burnished, which gives it a shining look, and makes it look not too old, but in actuality, it dates back to the 9th century, so it technically is more than 1000 years old.
Having marveled at the works of the ancient people closely, I wish to sit at a short distant spot and immerse myself into its beauty, so I go to the corner of the premises where there is a stone bench. On the stone bench, a security guard is already seated, and a lady is cleaning the lawn, I go there, and sit beside the security. I ask him how long has he been in the place. To which he responds two years. I, then, start a conversation to get to know something more about the temple. The lady then joins us in the conversation and shares her knowledge on the temple. From them, I get to know that there had been many statues that were present, but in 2010 when the temple came under the control of Archaeological department of India, they have taken many statues for the purpose of safekeeping. Now, a few statues are safeguarded in Trichy, and a few others are safeguarded in Chennai by the Archaeological department of India. There are a few broken statues that are left at the temple premises. Of those statues, I am particularly attracted to a broken piece that has different flowers perfectly chiseled around the sides, and petals like formation carved at the top of it.
I was told a story about the temple by another person, which made me visit this temple in the first place. It was that, back in those days, when there happened war between the kings, mostly, the primary motive of war was to show power, in addition to that, there had also been historical incidents that state about one trying to destroy the evidences of other’s existence in every way possible. The story I was told also the same that when one such war began, the people had known that their invader’s motive would be to destroy the temple. In such war situation also the people’s primary intention had not to save themselves but the temple for it meant more to them than their own lives. It made them dig the earth around the temple, and to bury the temple to protect it from invader’s destruction. As far as, I have researched , I couldn’t find any evidence stating the temple being buried during an invasion, but still it felt good to know how passionate had the ancients been towards arts, and the arts that they created. Their passion for art forms still speaks thousands of soundless words after 1000 years through their work.
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