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: Late 1990s; unfinished; Artist, T. Vinoth
Description: The marriage of Minakshi and Sundareshvara. Vishnu, on the left, gives the bride away. (TP 5)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Potramarai tank, north side
Date: Late 1990s incomplete; Artist, T. Vinoth
Description: Tatatakai fights against a gana; She fights against Shiva’s army; Nandi reports to Shiva; Shiva himself enters the battlefield; Tatatakai’s third breast disappears; She is defeated; Shiva tells her to return to Madurai where their wedding will be celebrated.(TP 5)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Potramarai tank, north side
Date: Late 1990s; Artist, T. Vinoth
Description: Narrative of the previous birth of Tatatakai (TP 4); Tatatakai sets out to conquer the world and marches up to Kailasa. (TP 5)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Potramarai tank, north side
Date: Late 1990s, incomplete; Artist; T. Vinoth
Description: The sacred city of Madurai is built by Kulashekhara Pandya on command of Sundareshvara.(TP 3); Kulashekhara’s son, Malayattuvachan marries the Chola princess Kanchanai; Tatatakai, their daughter is born; She has three breasts; She is trained in the martial arts; She is consecrated queen of Madurai; She performs the last rites for her father. (TP 4)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Potramarai tank, north side
Date: Late 1990s; Artist: T. Vinoth
Description: Messengers of Indra discover the Shivalinga near a lake which Indra calls Potramarai and the worship of Sundarar (Shiva) is established (TP 1); Airavata, Indra’s white elephant is freed from Durvasa’s curse by worshipping the linga (TP 2); The sacred city of Madurai is built by Kulashekhara Pandya on command of Sundareshvara. (TP 3)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Potramarai tank, north side
Date: c. 1700
Description: Tatatakai defeats Kubera and Ishana. (TP 5)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Kilikuttu mandapa ceiling
Date: c. 1700
Description: Tatatakai defeats Varuna and Vayu. (TP 5)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Kilikuttu mandapa, ceiling
Date: c. 1700
Description: Tatatakai defeats Indra and Agni. (TP 5)
Location: Tamil;Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Kilikuttu mandapa,ceiling:
Date: c. 1700
Description: Tatatakai defeats Yama and Nairriti. (TP 5)
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple;Madurai
Positioning: Kilikuttu mandapa, ceiling
Date: Second half of the 17th century
Description: Two Vaishnava holy sites are shown here. 1) On the left: Alagar Koyil. At the centre of the tableau is Kallalagar flanked by his consorts. On the left of the main shrine is Karuppaswamy, and on the right are Yoga Narasimha and the Nupura Ganga. The river gushes forth from the bull-shaped mountain.This refers to an incident narrated in the Tiruvilayadal Puranam (TP 29).
On the right, 2) Tirupati: Ventaketshvara and Alarmelumangai. On the top left is the Bhu Varaha temple. The large tank on the right, may represnt the Swamy Pushkarini.
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kailasanathar Temple;Nattam
Positioning: Ceiling of the open mandapa, south section
Date: Second half of the 17th century
Description: Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai. From left: Mukkuruni Vinayaka; Chokkanatha’s shrine, with the siddha (Shiva in disguise) feeding sugarcanes to the stone elephants sculpted on the temple’s walls. This incident is narrated in the Tiruvilayadal Puranam (TP 21). In the foreground, Shiva dancing in the Velliambalam in Madurai, flanked by Parvati (TP 24).
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kailasanathar Temple;Nattam
Positioning: Open mandapa, ceiling, south section
Date: Second half of the 17th century
Description: Alagar Koyil; Kallalagar (Vishnu) flanked by his consorts. On the left Karuppaswamy, on the right Yoga Narasimha, and the Nupura Ganga gushing forth from the bull-shaped mountain. This refers to an incident narrated in the Tiruvilayadal Puranam (TP 29).
Location: Tamil Nadu Temple;Kailasanathar Temple;Nattam
Positioning: Ceiling of the open mandapa, south section
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