Fantastic creatures and where to find them

CHENNAI:Animals and birds form a significant part of temple architecture. Either they have been the avatars of the deities or their vahanas. As part of Apparao Galleries Outreach Programme was conducted from Monday to Wednesday. They conceptualised a series of lectures to explore animal and bird forms in art. Temple historian Chithra Madhavan delivered lectures on ‘Birds, animals and fantastical hybrid creatures’.

“We visit many temples on a daily basis. Sculptures in temple gopurams or the inscriptions on the walls catch our attention. And that’s how we chose the topic ‘Birds, animals and fantastical hybrid creatures’. It is indeed a rare topic but answers the questions of people who’ve wondered behind the meanings of the animals,” she said. The first day’s session was about Gods in the form of animals — Bhairava who takes the form of a dog, Lord Vishnu’s avatars (Adishesha in the form of snake, Hayagriva in the form of horse, Narasimha in the form of a  lion), Ganesha in the form of an elephant and Hanuman in the form of monkey.

The second day focussed on vahana (vehicle). The vahana is usually in the form of an animal or bird and it is said that every deity has one. The astonishing part is the importance of these in the architecture from pillars to tiniest of stone engravings. The popular ones include mouse for Lord Ganesha, peacock for Lord Muruga, bull for Lord Shiva, hansa for Lord Brahma, buffalo for Lord Yama and eagle for Lord Shiva. She also spoke about some rare ones. Makhara, ideally a crocodile, can also represent other aquatic animals and is the vahana of Lord Varuna (Water God), who guards the west, deer is the vahana for Vayu (God of wind), who guards the northwest, and horse is the vahana for Kubera (Lord of wealth), who guards the north. Kubera also uses Nara or man as a vahana. Bull for Isana who guards the northeast, the elephant is for Lord Indira who guards the east, ram is the vahana of Lord Agni (God of fire), who guards the south-east, and parrot is the vahana of Manmatha (God of love).

The talk on the third day was about architectural details where one finds animals as adornments like the makhara waterspouts, makhara toranas and the river Gods in the form of entwined serpents. Among the highlights was hybrid animals that are a combination of different animals. It brought to light their important features to commoners who would visit a temple and be able to relate some of these aspects with the philosophy behind it.

A fine example would be the hind legs of a gazelle and head of a lion and ears of a horse and tusk of an elephant, and so on, that you find in the dramatic Yali pillars of the Vijayanagara period.

Session guide
●    The first day’s session was about Gods in the form of animals.
●    The second day was on vahana.
●    The talk on the third day was about architectural details where one finds animals as adornments and river Gods in the form of entwined serpents.