Demarcating Sacred Space The Jina Images at Kalugumalai

SR No.: 007302
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Lisa N Owen
Publisher: ZZZ Unknown
Publication Year: 2010
Total Pages: 28
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 2 MB

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With this in mind, we can return to the Jina reliefs at Kalugumalai and see them as more than a re-assertion of Jain devotional practice at the site. The Jain reliefs at Kalugumalai were not necessarily added to compete with the Siva temple but were added to further contribute to the site's sanctity. Moreover, the religious context at Kalugumalai becomes more complicated if we take into account the somewhat later structural temple that was built in front of Groups 2 and 3. As mentioned earlier in this essay, this templecomplex (now remodeled with concrete) is dedicated to Ayyanār, a Hindu deity who sometimes serves as a guardian figure in southern medieval Jain temples (Dundas 1992: 108). His presence here, preceding the Jina reliefs, is therefore not necessarily incongruous. Thus, we seemingly have a number of ritual spaces on the top of the hill that can accommodate different types of worship, whether they are directed to Ayyanār, Pārsvanātha, the goddesses Ambikā and Padmāvatī, and/or to Kalugumalai's tiru mēni.
It is indeed noteworthy that Jain presence and the demarcation of sacred space for devotional activities are not articulated by carving a temple (which could have been done), but by transforming the landscape through imagery. It is a sacred space that is not created internally, but rather it extends outward and upward, broadcasting the power of Jain art and devotional practice beyond its immediate vicinity. It is this "power of place" that links many of Tamil Nadu's boulder sites together, thereby providing a foundation from which to view and better understand these monuments. By examining these sites foremost as sacred places, we can go beyond the restrictions inherent in the categories of "architecture" and "sculpture." Clearly, this type of monument functioned as both and
more.
PHOTOGRAPHIC CREDIT
All photographs reproduced in this article are by the author.
Similar studies can also be directed at boulder sites in Tamil Nadu that feature Hindu imagery and constructions of devotional space. The most well known examples can be found at Mamallapuram (Māmallapuram).
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