HI

STORYOFART

EMPHASI
STHEGLORIOUS
CONTRI
BUTI
ONOFPALLAVASIN
ARTANDARCHI
TECTURE

ADARSHKR.RAO
I
II
rdYEAR-PAI NTI
NG
ROLL.NO.-02
 EMPHASISTHEGLORI
OUSCONTRI
BUTIONOF
PALLAVASINARTANDARCHI
TECTURE
I
NTRODUCTI
ON

ThePal lav asshoul dbespeci al

lyremember edf ortheircontributi
on
tothecul t ural,
lit
eral ,
ar tandarcheol ogicalhi st
oryofSout hIndia.
Therewasanal lpervasi v
edev elopmentdur ingt hi
sper iodin
l
iter
ature, music, paintings,reli
gionev erywal kofli
fe.TheKi ngsof
Pall
av aDy nastywar mlypat ronisedtheSanskr i
tlanguage.Kanchi
becamet hef amousseatofSanskr itlearningI ntheSout h.Dandi,
Bharav i
,Di gnaga, t
hegr eatpoet,mast erofSanskr itproseand
scholarr espect ively,allcameandst ay edinKanchi court.TheTami l
l
iter
atureal sor eceivedpat r
onagef rom t hePal l
av akings.Weal so
knowt hatt heMat tavil
asPr ahasana, theTami l
classic,Tami lKural
werecomposedi nt hi
sage.Pai nti
ngsr eceiv edpat r
onageoft he
Tamil ki
ngs.Thecomposerofsev eral t
reatiesinmusi c
Mahendr av armanawasaki ngofhi sage.

Pall
avashav ealotofpassi onandwecanseesl enderski
ll
soft he
art
ist
sinthecar vi
ngoft hescul ptur
es.Pall
avadynast
ywasa
famousdy nastyi
nSout hI ndia.ThePallav
akingsplay
edapat ron
rol
etoflouri
shartandar chitectureinthei
rki
ngdom.Thepr esent
Pall
avaartandscul pt
uresar edat edbacktothe610ADt o690AD.
Probabl
yther ockcutcav esal socamei nt
oexist
enceduri
ngt he
peri
odofPallavas.Theki
ngsofPall
avasencour
agedt
heart
ist
sto
constr
uctthetemplesandrepl
acedtheol
dt empl
eswi
thi
nnovati
ve
rockscul
pturesandarchi
tect
ure.

Thel ongperiodoft hePallavarulerepresentsbot hr ock-cut

architect
ureandear l
yconstructedstonet empl es.Thebr i
ck,ti
mber,
met alandmor tarpartcouldhar dl
ysurv i
veint hewar m andhumi d
cli
mat eoftheregion.Butt helasti
ngmonol it
hict empl esknownas
rathasandmandapaspr ovidesuperbski l
lofscul ptorsofPal lava
periodnarasimhav armanI ,wasagr eatapat ronofar tand
architect
ureashewast hecommanderoft hear my .Hecal led
himsel f“
Mamal la”(Kannadamahamal la—gr eatwr estler)and
namedt hetownwher ehebui l
ttemplesasMamal l
apur am, now
knownasMahabal ipuram.

Itmusthav ebeeabi gseapor tatthemout hoft hePalarRiv er,t

hir
ty
twomi l
essout hofChennai.Thel argegranti
ehill100f thi
ghand
halfamileinlengthfrom northtosouthandquar terami l
ewi de,
withsmallerprotr
usionsprovideduniquescopef orthePallava
sculpt
ors.Prof.Therearecleartracesofcareful
lydesignedsy st
em
ofwatersupplyf r
om palarRivertotheancientcity.Thehuge
sculpt
ureof“TehDescentoft heGanges”al soknowni sArjuna’s
Penancewasr el
atedtothissy st
em ofwat ersuppl y
.
ARTANDARCHI
TECTUREUNDERTHEPALLAVAS

ThegloryofthePallavasstil
lremainsintheircontri
butiontotheart
andarchit
ecture.Theyweret hepioneersofSout hIndianartand
archi
tect
ure.Theyhadi nt
roducedt hestonear chi
tectureinthe
Tamilcountry.Thei
rcontr
ibutionsarestil
lextantbecausegr anit
e
wasusedf orbuildi
ngtempl esandcar v
ingscul pt
ures.ThePal l
ava
archi
tect
urehadev olv
edst agebyst agefrom theperiodof
MahendravarmanI .

Pall
avaartandar chi
tecturerepresentanearlystageofDr avi
dianar
t
andarchi
tecturewhichbl ossomedt oitsful
lestextentunderthe
CholaDynasty.Thefirststoneandmor t
artemplesofSout hI
ndia
wereconstructedduringPallavaruleandwer ebasedonear l
i
er
bri
ckandt i
mberpr ot
ot ypes.

Start
ingwi throckcutt emples,
Pal
lavasculptor
slatergr
aduatedto
fr
ee-standingst r
ucturalshri
neswhichi
nspiredCholatemplesofa
l
aterage.Someoft hebestexamplesofPal l
avaartandarchi
tect
ure
aretheKai l
asanat harTempleatKanchipur
am, theShoreTemple
andthePanchaRat hasofMahabalipur
am.Akshar awast he
greatestsculptoroftheirti
me.
Pal
l
avasandThei
rSt
yleofScul
ptur
es

Dur ingt her ul

eofPal l
avas,t
hear t
istsimpr ovedtheirskill
sof
excav at i
ngt emplesf r
om therocks.Ther ewer especialinsti
tutions
tot eacht het echni
quesofcar vi
ngt hearchi t
ecture.Theybr ought
theDr av idianst yl
eofar tandint
roducedi nt hetempl econst ructi
on.
Thedev elopmentoft empleandar chit
ectur echangedf rom oneki ng
toanot her .Theybr oughtthecavebasedconst r
uctingtempl est o
structur al temples.ThePal l
avasconst r
uctedmanymonument s
aroundt het emples.AccordingtotheHi storians,t
het emple
const ruct i
onst y
leschangedi nfourstages.

Thegr eatMahendr avarmaIencour agedt her ockcutt emples,we

canseet hem atMahendr av adi,
Mamandur ,Dalavanm, Val
lanand
someot herplacesinTami lnadu.Wecanseet hesecondst ageof
Pall
avast y
leoftemplesatMamal l
apur am.Her ethetemple’s
archi
tectureconstructedbyMonol ithi
cr athasandMandapas.
Narasimhav ar
manconst r
uct edthetempl eswi thmagni fi
cent
archi
tectural monument s.Themandapasi nt hetempl eshadthe
decorati
onswi t
hstunningscul ptures,whichwer enarrati
ngthe
stori
esofHi nduepi
cs.

Maj
orPALLAVARULERSwhobui
l
ttempl
es

Mahendravar
man: Mandagapatt
ur ockcuttemple.
Raj
simha(Narsimhamvar
aman/ Kalasamudra/Mammalla):
Kai
lasanat
harTemple,
Kanchipuram, Shor
eTempl eMahabal
ipur
am
(Mammal l
apuram)

CLASSI
FICATI
ONOFPALLAVAARCHI
TECTURE

Wecanbr
oadl
ycl
assi
fyt
hePal
l
avaar
chi
tect
ureas

1.Rock-
cuttemples.
2.Monoli
thi
cRathasandScul
ptur
alMandapasand
3.Str
uct
uraltemples.
ROCK-
CUTTEMPLES

Wecal l
thePal lavar
ock- cutt emplesasMahendr avarmanst yle.He
carvedt empl esoutoft her ocksandt hust heywer eknownasr ock
cuttempl es.Itwasr eallyani nnovati
oni nthespher eofar tbecause
hedidnotuseanyot herbui l
dingmat eri
als.Therefore,hewas
hail
edsVi chitr
aChitta.Int heserockcutt empl es,wef i
ndt he
sanctum sanct orum andont hewallsofitbeaut i
fulsculptures.The
pil
l
ar sarecar vedinsuchawayt hattheyst andont heheadsof
l
ions.Ther ockcuttempl esofMahendr avarmanIar efoundat
vari
ouspl acesofTami l Nadu.Themosti mportantamongt hem are
Pall
av aram, Mamandur ,Mahendr avadi,Vallam andThal avanur .

MONOLI
THI
CRATHAS

Themonol i
thicrathasandscul ptur
almandapasconst it
utethe
Mamallastyleofar chi
tecture.ThePal l
avaking,Narasi
mhav ar
manI
wasknownasMamal l
a.Hehadconv ert
edthepor tof
Mamallapuram asabeaut if
ul cit
yofartandar chit
ect
ure.The
Monoli
thicrathasatMamal lapuram arenowcal ledasPancha
PandavaRat has.Eachr at
haorchar i
otwascar vedoutofsingl
e
rockandhencet
henamemonoli
thi
c.Theser
athasdepi
ctt
hef
ive
dif
fer
entfor
msoftempl
ear
chi
tectur
e.

Themandapasorhal l
satMamal lapuram hadal sobel ongedt othe
Mamal lanper iod.Eachmandapawascar vedoutofsi nglerock.On
theside-wallsoft hesemandapas, beaut i
fulsculpturesdepi ct
ing
Puranicstorieshadbeencar ved.Thescenedepi ctingtheGoddess
Durga’sattackonMahi shasurai sseeni ntheMahi shasur aMardhini
Mandapa.Suchbeaut ifulsculptureshav ealsobeencar vedin
Thir
umoor thi andVar ahamandapas.
Themosti mpor tantamongt heMamal l
ast yl
eofar chi
tectureisthe
OpenAr tGaller y.Several miniaturesculptureshav ebeencar ved
beautif
ull
yont hewal lofabi grock.Thef all
oftheRi verGangef r
om
theheadofGodSi vaandt heAr j
una’ spenancear enot ableamong
them.Thei magesofdeer ,monkey ,cat,
mouseandot heranimals
arebeautiful
lycar v edont hishuger ock.

STRUCTURALTEMPLES

Sof ar
,wehavestudiedaboutther ock-
cutt
emplesandscul
ptur
al
mandapas.From therei
gnofRaj asimha,t
heconstr
ucti
onof
str
uctural
templ
eshadst arted.Thesetemplestr
uct
ureswerebui
lt
withtheuseofgr
aniteslabs.Hence, t
heyareknownasstr
uctur
al
temples.

Wecanbr
oadl
ycl
assi
fyt
hePal
l
avast
ruct
ural
templ
esi
nto
1.Raj
asi
mhaSty
leand
2.Nandi
var
manSty
le

Theear li
estamongt hePal lavast r
ucturalt
empl eswer et he
Kail
asanat haTempl eatKanchi puram andt heShor eTempl eat
Mamal l
apuram.Theset empl eswer ebuil
tbyusi ngsandst ones.The
Vimanaort oweroft heKai l
asanat hat empleisshapedl i
kehill
y
comb.Thi st empleisconsi deredast heCrownofPal l
av a
archit
ecture.Thistempl eisal socal l
edasRaj asimheswar am.We
alsofindbeaut i
fulsculpturesint histemple.Thescul ptures
depicti
ngt hescenesoft hesat ir
icaldramaMat hthav
ilasa
Prakasanam hav ebeenengr avedint hist
empl e.TheShor etemple
atMamal l
apuram isalsof il
ledwi thnumer ousscul pt
ur es.This
templeat t
ractstourist
sf rom allov ertheworld.
ThePal l
avakingshadal sopat ronizedf i
near t
s.TheKudumi anmalai
andThi r
umay am musi cinscri
pt i
onsshowt heirinterestinmusic.
Yaazhi ,Mri
dhangam andMur asuwer esomeoft hemusi cal
i
nst r
ument soft hePal l
avaper iod.BothMahendr av armanIand
Narasi mhav armanIhadr emai nedexper tsinmusi c.Thet emple
sculpturesoft hePallavaper i
odr evealthatthear tofdancewas
popul arinthoseday s.Thepai nti
ngsatChi ttannav asal i
l
lustr
atethe
natureofPal l
avapainti
ngMahendr avarmanIwasknownas
Chitt
irakkarapuli
.Hehadal socomposedt hebook, Thatchina
Chitram.Wehav ealreadyseent hathewast heaut horofthe
satir
icaldramaMat hthavil
asam Pr akasanam, Thus, music,dance,
paintingsanddr amawer epopul ardur i
ngthePal lav arul
e.Inthi
s
way ,thePal l
avashadcont ributedtot hegrowt hofcul ture.