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OCTOBER, 1916]
THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA
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THE HISTORY OF THE NAIK KINGDOM OF MADURA.
BY V. RANGACHARI, M.A., L.T., MADRAS.
(Continued from p. 154.) It is impossible to give a complete account of Tirumal Naik's religious works in other places, nor is such an account necessary to understand his place in the history of Indian art, for all of them bear the same characteristics as the buildings we have already described. It may be noted, however, that next to Madura, the city which engaged the largest attention from him was Srivilliputtûr, the great stronghold of Vaishnavism in the Nalu-Mandalam or middle country, and the reputed birth-place of Periyalvar and the divine Gôda. There was apparently an object which Tirumal Naik had in view in selecting this city for the second place in his affections. We have already seen how certain circumstances induced him to attach greater importance to the Saivate divinities of Madura ; but too strongly tolerant to discard Vishņu altogether he seems to have made up for his over-solicitude to Siva in Madura by doing something, if not equally great, at least something substantial, to implore the favour of Vishņu. And ho chose the god of Srivilliputtûr, for the reason that he had to stay there frequently for political reasons. Situated midway between Madura and Tinnevelly and on the route from the coastal region to the palayams and chiefdoms of the Western Ghats, it was a highly strategic and important place. Tirumal Naik therefore seems to havo stayed here, if not every year, at all events, very frequently. Frequent visits necessitated the construction of a palace, the remnants of which still remain, and of the beautifying of the city by means of tem ples, tanks, choultries, etc. Every foot of the city bears the impress of Tirumal Naik's solicitude. In its small, but picturesque, suburb known as Madavilâgam, he constructed the fine and graceful tower which rises over the gateway of the Saiva temple as well as the broad, stone-pillared wooden ceiled Mantapa just after the main entrance. Here on two pillars are seen two singularly beautiful and lifelike statues of the great Naik monarch and of his alleged brother-in-law, Vijaya Ranga 88 Chokkappa. The grave and solemn air of the king contrasts in a striking manner with his corpulent size and epicurean appearance, and the artistic historian cannot but see a silent majesty in the whole scene. Both the king and his alloged brother-in-law are attended by two ladies. The skill displayed by the sculptor in carving the headdresses and the delicate ornaments. in depicting the general air of serious gravity and the expression of the feeling in the face, is remarkable, and make these statues among the best in South India. The fine eleven storyed tower of the Periâ Ivar temple, closely resembling in its details, though on & much smaller scale. the grand and incomplete gopura gate of Madura, is also evidently the work of Tirumal Naik. It is in the Andal temple, however, that he lavished his money and labours. In the beauty of workmanship, the amount of labour employed, the size of the mantapams, the number of sculptures, the excellence of paintings. and other respects, Andal's shrine bears no comparison whatever with the Madura shrine. It is moreover dingy, and except in certain places, very plain. But the Hali façades and the fresco paintings of the large frontal choultry, the numerous sculp
88 An inscription, dated A. D. 1627, records a grant by a chief of this name of some lands in the Kaittar province to Irunko! Pillai, the chief of Korkai, on account of his having settled a bou idary dispute. See Antiquities, I., p. 7.
