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<< Our Photo Pages >> Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram - Ancient Temple in India

Submitted by liesbethpankaja on Friday, 17 September 2010  Page Views: 5704

Multi-periodSite Name: Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Country: India
NOTE: This site is 24.44 km away from the location you searched for.

Type: Ancient Temple
Nearest Town: Mamallapuram
Latitude: 12.363700N  Longitude: 80.100100E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram submitted by liesbethpankaja : Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram. A simple pavilion of four by six pillars and a flat roof. The sculpture and shape of the pillars indicate it may have been build in the 14th century. (Vote or comment on this photo)
This is a pavilion or mandapa of four by six pillars with a flat roof and originally open on all sides with the front facing South. By the side of this pavilion we find a small shrine for Ganesha and what is left of a sacred tank.

It is found by the side of the East Coast Road just South of Mamallapuram. The pillars are decorated although some have been left unfinished. The reliefs on the pillars depict deities, mythological creatures and abstract symbols. On the base of the front row of pillars we also find depictions of human beings, probably the donors responsible for the building of the mandapa. One figure is sculpted in a completely different style and is probably a later addition.

It depicts a Western trader or sea-captain. The nearby fort of Sadras was a Dutch trading post in the 17th and 18th century. But the really interesting part of this pavilion is its ceiling. It depicts several solar and lunar eclipses together with mythological figures and animals. The eclipses are depicted by cobras approaching a lunar or solar disk. This is known to represent eclipses.

Further we find a sphinx or purushmriga, the saint Kannappa, a gandha-bherunda (double-headed eagle), a whale, a moray eal, scorpions with human faces, a tiger-like animal chasing a deer, a tortoise and a turtle, and many fish. On the outside of the roof-beams we find several heads with fangs and two hands, this is Rahu, the Asura who represents the ascending lunar node. From the arrangement of the eclipse depictions Raja Deekshithar, the person who discovered them, concluded that a total solar eclipse was depicted through the symbol of a lotus medallion.

Raja Deekshithar suggests tentatively the possible date of one of the eclipses depicted could be Mahashivaratri on February 21st 1300. He also thought some of the animals depicted, for instance the scorpions, could be references to the constellations in which the commemorated eclipses occured.

For a complete introduction and discription with lots more photos please see his article on Asian Art:
Mysterious Pavilion: Document in stone of astronomical events.
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Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram submitted by liesbethpankaja : Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram. A simple lotus medallion with a gandha bherunda, the double headed eagle and a scorpion with a human face. Possibly astronomical symbols indicating the occurance of a solar eclipse? (Vote or comment on this photo)

Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram submitted by liesbethpankaja : Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram. A cobra approaches a solar disk, this depicts a solar eclipse. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram submitted by liesbethpankaja : Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram. An Indian sphinx or purushamriga depcited on the ceiling flanking a lotud medallion and opposite the saint Kannappa. For more on these figures read Raja Deekshithar's article on Asian Art. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram submitted by liesbethpankaja : Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram. One of the reliefs in a very different style from the other sculpture depicts a Western trader or sailor with boots, a hat and a heavy coat. In the nearby village of Sadras the Dutch VOC had a trading settlement and fort in the 17th and 18th century. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram
Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram submitted by liesbethpankaja : Eclipse Commemoration Pavilion near Mamallapuram. A cobra approaches the lunar disk. This depicts a lunar eclipse.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 29.8km NNE 19° Mamallapuram* Ancient Temple
 30.1km NNE 21° Mamallapuram Shore Temple* Ancient Temple
 34.6km NNE 20° Tiger Headed Rock-Cut Cave* Ancient Temple
 34.7km NNE 20° Atiranachanda* Ancient Temple
 36.3km N 9° Thiruporur Stone Circles and Burial Cists* Stone Circle
 67.6km NW 321° Sri Vaikuntha Perumal Temple* Ancient Temple
 68.1km NW 321° Sri Kamakshi Amman temple* Ancient Temple
 68.3km NW 321° Sri Katchabeswarar temple* Ancient Temple
 68.3km NW 321° Sri Ekambaranathar temple* Ancient Temple
 69.4km NW 320° Sri Kailasanathar temple* Ancient Temple
 69.4km NW 320° Eclipse commemoration pavilions in and around Kanchipuram* Ancient Temple
 99.5km SW 218° Urn Burials in Marungur Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 102.2km WSW 245° Kollur Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 108.0km SSW 200° Killai Ancient Temple
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 116.0km SSW 202° Chidambaram NatarŠ°ja temple* Ancient Temple
 130.9km SW 215° Srimushnam, Bhuvaraha-Vishnu and Shiva temple* Ancient Temple
 142.0km SW 221° Shri Sudarkozhundeesar temple of Pennadam* Ancient Temple
 147.4km SW 222° Aratturai, Aratturai Natha (Shiva) temple* Ancient Temple
 151.1km SW 225° Shri Vaidhyanathasvami Temple* Ancient Temple
 155.2km NW 310° Dolmen Amilepalli* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 157.9km SW 218° Rajendrapattinam, Shiva temple* Ancient Temple
 174.9km SSW 207° kumbakonam temples* Ancient Temple
 195.1km WNW 283° Kangundi* Rock Art
 205.0km SSW 211° Sri brahadeeswara temple Ancient Temple
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