Tiruvilayadal Puranam
Historical background
The ‘Purana of sacred plays’ of Shiva at Madurai is the final version of an old tradition of legends. The sixty-four legends were arranged in the present sequence by Paranjoti (late 16th, early 17th cent.) and are considered one of the peaks of Tamil narrative poetry.
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Devotion to Sundareshvara frees a Brahmin of the sin of brahmahatya (brahminicide), here personified as a large dark creature. (TP 26)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Shiva, as a fencing master, cuts Siddhan to pieces.(TP 27)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Description: King Anantaguna Pandya kills the magic snake, created by the Jains. The snake assumes the form of a mountain, Nagamalai, and the poison contaminates Madurai. The town is saved by the King’s devotion to Sundareshvara. (TP 28)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Nandi fights against a magic cow sent by the Jains to destroy Madurai. (TP 29)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Shiva, at the head of an army, comes to the help of Kulabhushana Pandya. (TP 30)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Shiva in the guise of a bracelet merchant, sells bracelets to the wives of the rishis. (TP 32)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Shiva teaches the eight main yogic powers (Ashtamahasiddhi) to the six Kriittikas (the six Pleiades). (TP 33)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: By Shiva’s grace, King Kulabhushana Pandya receives an inexhaustible quantity of money which he distributes among the needy and gives order to restore the Madurai temple. (TP 31)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Shiva in disguise distributes water to the troops of Rajendra Pandya. (TP 35)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: Shiva, in the guise of a siddha, transforms the metal vessels into gold and the rudrakanya (dancing girl) fashions the images of Minakshi and Sundareshvara. (TP 36)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century, disappeared
Description: Disappeared, probably TP 38.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
Date: First half of the 19th century
Description: King Varaguna Pandya, haunted by the sin of having killed a Brahmin, worships the Shivalinga at Tiruvidaimarudur, and once freed from his sin, requests the god to show him Shivaloka (Shiva’s world). (TP 40)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Brihadishvara Temple complex;Thanjavur
Positioning: Courtyard, north colonnade
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