Musical Pillars !!

Musical stone pillars in the world  !!

        In South India, Carnatic Music is considered as Sacred and musicians are highly regarded. It is the oldest form of classical music. Samaveda is the origin for Carnatic Music, one can easily find the references of music in the sculptures of Indian temples.

 The stone sculpture of the below picture shows, one man playing Mridangam and a woman playing a Yazh, a classic string instrument.

  Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni... One can hear these sound notes from Vocal Singing and Musical instruments, But can these be heard from STONES ??? Yes, these swaras can be heard from the Musical stone pillars of few magnificent temples in South India. Stones play musical octaves !!

                  Music from stones - its a MAGIC !!!, this shows the artistic and scientific knowledge of highly skilled people of Ancient India. This magic won't happen anywhere outside India. There are various ancient traditional temples in South India where the pillars of which has the magical power to generate the sounds of these 7 swaras. Even today, tourist tap on these pillars to hear the musical sounds. South Indian temple architecture, stone antiquities and workmanship has always been a pride for India, in addition to that, these musical stone pillars in the temple added one more feather to the cap. The logic and scientific method behind the music from these stone pillars are still mystery to the World !!!

          Now, let's see the marvelous ancient south Indian temples with outstanding architecture and their mysterious musical stone pillars. 

Sthanumalayan Shiva Temple - Suchindram, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu

               This temple is important for devotees of both Lord Shiva and Vishnu. Sthanu - means Lord Shiva, Mal - mean - Lord Vishnu and Aya - means Brahma, one can see trinity of gods here. It is known for its sculptural wealth, which exhibits the Hindu mythologies and stories about this temple. The interior of the Dravidian style temple complex is skillfully carved with many scenes from Ramayana and Mahabharata Epics. 

Temple Gopuram

Intricate carving in the Temple Gopuram

          Musical pillars of Suchindram is famous across the world.  These pillars are situated at Alankara Mandapam (Alankara complex) of this temple, there are four musical pillars carved out of single stone with the height of 18 feet each. The stone pillars of Alankara Mandapam emits sounds of various musical notes when its beaten accordingly.  

                                 Musical pillars at Alankara Mandapa              

            Apart from the sound of seven swaras, these pillars also produces the sound of Tabla and Chenda instruments. This temple is an architectural wonder of the world, music from stone pillars are amusing millions of tourists visiting this place and the technique behind sound from these pillars are still a mystery. Infinite Knowledge and workmanship of Indian architects are highly admirable  !!!

                  

 Vijaya Vittala Temple -  Hampi, Karnataka

                       Vijaya Vittala temple in Hampi is one of the ancient temple of South India. The main deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu. It is the epic center of Hampi's attraction, it is also known for its amazing architecture, grand complex, stone chariots, musical pillars and unmatched craftsmanship. It's the most magnificent and grandest temple in Hampi. 

              The notable feature of Vittala temple is the Musical pillars. There are 56 musical pillars situated at a large Ranga Mandapa (complex) . They are also called as SaRaGaMa pillars, which emits Sa Re Ga Ma swara sounds.

                           

 There are seven thin pillars circulate around one thick pillar at the center. Each of these emits sounds of different musical notes. Each thick pillar gives supports to the ceiling of the Mandapa.

Ranga Mandapa with ceiling

             One can actually hear the music notes, if you tap on them gently. These seven minor pillars emit different musical notes , each note from these pillars produce different sounds , they will also change itself as string and wind instrument while being played / tapped. 

                The reason behind rhythmic sounds from these stone pillars are unknown. Many white invaders and Mughals tried to destroy the richness of the temple by lighting fire on these pillars. But it just reduced the decibel of the music, the sound was not stopped. During British reign, they cut two pillars to know the logic behind and what's there inside, but they only saw an empty pipe in that. 

              

            From time to time, this temple has witnessed many invasion of rulers. Today, this temple is also called as 'Ruins of Hampi', though many invaders tried to destroy the glory of this temple, they couldn't succeed it completely, they destroyed some of the structures and wall, but couldn't ruin more due to its hardness and toughness, That is the strength of this outstanding temple!.  Not only the architecture and craftsmanship, the construction quality was also so strong that it is still standing majestically with pride of Mastery of Indians. 

Nellaiappar Kovil - Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu

                  Nellaiappar kovil is one of the most prominent temple located at Tirunelveli city of Tamil Nadu.  Lord Shiva is named as 'Nellaiappar' in this temple, Nellaiappar means 'Protector of Paddy', in Tamil 'Nel' means Paddy. There is mythological story for this temple, which will be covered in my next post.

           It is known for its countless exotic stone carved sculptures, extensive corridors adorned with towering pillars carrying intricate carvings. The thousand pillar hall is famous for its architectural excellence. This temple represents Tamara Sabha (Copper Hall), one of the famous five halls where Lord Shiva has performed the cosmic dance. It is more than 1300 years old with marvelous architecture and mystifying musical stone pillars dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Cosmic Dancer who keeps the universe vibrating with his rhythmic beats.

              The musical pillars in Mani Mandapam which produces musical swaras with various pitches when struck. Mani Mandapam got its name from a hanging bell in the middle of the mandapam, each huge musical pillar was carved out of single rock comprises of small columns around. This mandpam (hall) is placed before the Main deity hall, it was designed in such way that musical prayer will be performed in front of God and for cultural events. 
                These pillars occur in cluster and set manner such that vibrations are generated from the neighboring pillars, when one pillar is tapped. There is a center thick pillar consisting of 48 small thin pillars carved from one piece of stone.  

There are three types of musical pillars.

Type Sruti - can produce musical swaras , basic seven notes

Type Gana - Produce basic tunes that make carnatic Ragas 

Type Laya - Produce Tala (Rythmic beats) when tapped

Also structurally there are two kinds of music pillars,

Tapping Pillars - music is produced from the stone pillar while tapping on it with fingers

Blowing Pillars - Sound is produced by blowing into the holes of the stone pillars

               The musical stone pillars at this temple is unique, because it was designed in the combination of Sruti and Laya types.  Nobody knows the intelligence of how these were designed to resonate musical frequency. 

Meenakshi Amman Temple - Madurai, Tamil Nadu

                Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple is considered as one of the Wonders of the World, for its gigantic tall Gopuram (Tower), rich sculptures, high walls, artistic ceiling and tales embedded with each of them. There are four entrances for this temple facing four directions , the colorful intricates on the outer Gopurams never failed to impress the first time visitors. 

            

 It is a vibrant and rich beauty of Dravidian style architecture, with an estimate of around 33,000 sculptures in this temple.

             It takes one separate post to write about the glory of this temple. So, now coming to the topic of musical pillars, there are five musical pillars just outside the hall of 1000 pillars. There is grand hall named as 'Hall of 1000 pillars' (Aayiram Kaal Mandapam in Tamil), it actually contains 985 sculpted pillars.

                These pillars were arranged brilliantly that from whatever angle one looks from within, the pillars looks in rows and rows. 

                 The pillars at the beginning and at the end of the rows are the bigger ones with small pillars surrounding them and the one at the bottom could also be rolled. These are musical stone pillars, which produce musical notes while tapped. Today, It is not allowed to tap on these pillars now, in order to preserve them.

Musical pillar at Meenakshi Amman Temple

Alwar Tirunagiri Temple -  Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu

               It is famous Vishnu temple in Tamil Nadu. It was flourished during Pandya dynasty. The main attraction of this temple is its musical pillars, here both tapping and blowing pillars are found. 

            The stone Nagaswaram (Double Reed wind instrument) is one of the interesting feature of this temple. There are many other temples in South India, where you find musical pillars.

            The heritage sites are the excellent examples to show infinite knowledge of Indian artisans and their skilled workmanship. Sculptures of many musicians and music instruments are found on the walls of temples, which shows the wealth of carnatic music from ancient times.

  These striking temples and stupendous architecture evinces that the Carnatic Music was considered highly divine and integral part of our culture. 

- Aarthi Thiyagarajan

Mighty Pandya king and Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu

Mighty Pandya King and Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu
       'Matsya' Avatar is the First and Foremost avatar of Lord Vishnu's 'Dasavatar' (10 Forms of Lord Vishnu, which he took on the Earth during different Yuga cycles). Lord Vishnu took his first avatar as 'Matsya' / 'Dolphin' during the declination of Kumari Kandam - the lost land of ancient Tamizh people, which was then ruled by Heroic Pandyan Kings. Pandyan Kings were the first and only rulers of the World then.

        Kumari Kandam - The lost land of ancient Tamizh people. It was the Cradle of all civilizations in the World, Land of Lord Shiva, ruled by mighty kings of Pandya dynasty. Kumari Kandam comprises Wide spread of nature's wealthy resources, the place of magnificent palaces, architectural wonders, also called as Fountainhead of Knowledge, it was Source of Science, Medicine and Martial arts, famous for its engineering marvelous in Temples, Power of language and  Birth place of Tamizh Civilization. 

           According to many Hindu holy literatures like Matsya Purana, Vishnu Purana and Kurma Purana, there were seven sacred mountains which covered the Greater India. They are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahaya, Suktimat, Riksha, Vindhya and Paripatra mountains.  In Matsya purana and Vishnu Purana, it was mentioned that " Matsya (Fish), the first avatar of Lord Vishnu, appeared as small fish to the Dravidian King Shraddhadeva / Satyavrata (Meaning: Always Truthful),  while he was washing his hands in a river, which was flowing down from the Malaya Mountains. He was also known as Vaivasvata, the son of Vivasvana and therefore known as Vaivasvata Manu (Current and Seventh Manu)."

           The little fish asked the King to save him. So, in order to save the fish, the King has put the fish in a jar of water. But, the fish kept growing bigger and bigger, then the King has put the fish into a big pitch, but it turned out to be less for the fish, then he transferred the fish into a well. The Well was also not sufficient for the ever growing fish, so the King Satyavrata changed the place and put the fish into a huge tank which was about 16 miles height and 8 miles breadth. But, that effort was also failed due to the significant growth of the fish, then placed the fish into the river and then finally he placed the magical fish into the ocean, there it looked like a huge Dolphin. 

     Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu, revealed himself to the King Satyavrata and forewarned him about the massive flood, which will destroy his land. He asked the King to build a huge boat to facilitate the Kings, Rishis, Source of Food, animals etc. So, the King has a built a giant boat, which housed his family, Saptarishis, Nine types of Seeds and Animals and sacred books. He also asked his people to migrate towards Northern side of Bharata Kandam, before the attack of subsequent Tsunamis. 

     So, from Kumari Kandam many kings, chieftains and people migrated towards North. During the diaspora, due to the change in ocean currents and Tsunamis, some people has moved towards East and some traveled towards Western directions. 

        At the time of deluge, Lord Vishnu appeared as horned fish and AdiShesha (King of Serpents) appeared as rope, with which the King fastened the boat to the horn of the Fish. 

          With the help of Lord Vishnu's Matsya Avatar and the Serpent, the giant boat with the Pandya King, Chieftains and animals has survived through the flood and it perched on the top of Malaya Mountains. After the deluge, Manu's family and Sapta rishis repopulated the Earth. Sangam literature refers this Malaya Mountain to the present day 'Pothigai Hills' in Tamil Nadu.  From Kumari Kandam, Vivasvata Manu / Sathyavrata reached the Pothigai hills ( Also called as 'Agathiyar Malai') and expanded his kingdom in Southern India. As the Kumari Kandam sub continent was lost, he didn't go back to his motherland and continued to rule in Bharata Kandam. 

    Agasthiyar Malai in western ghats are much older and Sacred than later formed Himalayas. Many people claim that mountain Malaya is the present day Himalayas. A Big No to that false claim!! During a drastic flood, practically people from the low lying areas will try to reach a nearer higher altitude places for safety. Likewise, people from the Southern land (Kumari Kandam) tried to reach out to the nearby high altitude mountain, i.e Pothigai Hills which is only 50 kilometers North from Kanya kumari. Thus, the sacred mount Malaya can't be related to the Himalayas, as it is very far from Kumari Kandam. 

      Later, The King Satyavrata and the Saptarishis propounded the code of laws for the betterment society known as 'MANUSMRITI', it was said to be the text given by the first Manu(Swayambhu Manu), Son of Brahma (Lord of Creation). Satyavrata / Vaivasvata Manu is the seventh Manu of current Manvantra proposed 'Manusmriti'. 

    Manu is not a name of a particular person, it is a title given to the person who has been chosen to lead the humanity, Manu is the progenitor of all human races. All human beings are born from Manu's race and therefore called as 'Manavas' (In Tamil, Manithan, Maanidan). Each Manu rules an aeon called 'Manvantra'. 
      

Scientific Reason for the Deluge in Kumari Kandam: 

        This flood occurred during beginning of Satya Yuga. Satya Yuga started around 11,350 BCE (Will pen down a Separate post for Yuga Cycle with Detailed Explanations and Reference ). In the last 14,500 years, sea level rose high upto 100 meters as the ice glaciers was melting rapidly, due to the increase in Earth's temperature. This coincides with the date of last glacier melting period where the Earth faced more warmth. The melting rate of glaciers were high, which caused the waters to flow rapidly to reach oceans. This sudden rise in sea level caused Tsunamis and floods.

       At the end of each Manvatra, a great flood will occur. Here, at the end of Sixth Manvantra, this flood occurred during the reign of Pandya King Satyavrata and destroyed this oldest civilization in the World. King Satyavrata as Vivasvata Manu headed the human race in the Seventh Manvantra with the help of Lord Vishu as 'Matsya' Avatar.


Is King Satyavrata , a Pandya King of Kumari Kandam ??

           There can be many dravidian rulers, how a Pandya king could be referred as Vaivasvata Manu / Satyavrata ? 

   The answer revolves around the key 'Malaya' mountain. Malaya mountain is older than Himalayas and it is considered as the one of holiest mount in India. As Maharishi Agastya spent most of his lifetime at this Malaya mountain, it was also called as 'Agasthiar Malai' situated in the Western Ghats of India. Agasthiar Malai / Pothigai Malai is the only place in the World, where there are many distinctive types of flora, fauna and animal species are found that can't be found anywhere else in the World. Very rare types of poisonous Spiders, leeches and snakes can also be found here. (These rare species and seeds were bought from Kumari Kandam through the Giant Boat)

Agasthiyar Malai / Pothigai Malai

                                     Agasthiyar Falls


A)         From the verses of Matsya Avatar, it's understood that Satyavrata / Vivasvata Manu was a Dravidian King from South of Bharata (i.e) Kumari Kandam and Saptarishis were also part of his Kingdom. In the purana, it was initially mentioned that king washed his hands in the river flowing down from Malaya mountain, which is current Pothigai Hills. What was that River ??

Tamarabarani - the ancient sacred river, which was originated from the Holy Pothigai hills and gushed towards Southern direction reaching Kumari Kandam, it glided parallel to the coastal line of Tamil Nadu. (Present day, it's not flowing towards South, it has changed his course to eastern side and reaches Bay of Bengal). It was the only river which connects Malaya Mountain and Kumari Kandam, which was situated at the South of Bharat.

So, River Tamarabarani flowed from Malaya mountain, reached Kumari Kandam and it was flowing fiercely over there. When the King Satyavrata was washing his hands in the river, that little fish appeared to him and asked for help. Also, Pandya Kings were the only rulers of the World before the start of Satya Yuga and there were NO CHOLAS and NO CHERAS during those times. 


AA)         As the king reached Malaya mountain and settled down there till the nature stabilizes, he worshiped and praised the mountain which saved the life on the Earth. He started his empire from the Mountain and to honor the holy hill, he named his son after the mountain as Malayadhwaja Pandiyan, the Second King of Pandyan Dynasty in Vaivasvata Manu (Note: He is not the same one who was mentioned in Mahabharata, This Malayadhwaja Pandyan King corresponds to Satya Yuga).

B)        Pandya King changed his Flag symbol to Fish, as a gratitude to Lord Vishnu's Matsya Avatar. The fish symbol of Pandyas was related to Matsya Avatar of Lord Vishnu during the flood, thus it is proving the truth that the early pandyan King was the ONE who was referred as Satyavrata / Vaivasvata Manu in the Matsya Purana. Also, as Matsya Avatar is the first avatar of Lord Vishnu, it is corresponded to Satya Yuga, which was also coincides with the name of this Pandya King, Satyavrata.

        This Tamirabarani river, Malaya Mountain, Dravidian King Satyavrata, his son Malayadhwaja Pandya, Pandya's Fish flag, Maharishi Agasthiyar (One of the Sapta Rishis in the Boat) are proving the fact that Kumari Kandam was real and in Kumari Kandam there were no Cholas and Chera kings. Cholas and Chera dynastys were formed only after the submergence of Kapatapuram, the place where second Tamil sangam was held. So, obviously King Satyavrata was a Pandya King from Kumari Kandam, who headed the human race as Vivasvata Manu from Bharata Kandam.

       This Massive flood occurred at the end of Sixth Manvantra, during the reign of Caksusa Manu. 

  This is proving another fact that the Pandya king Satyavrata has ruled Kumari Kandam before the beginning of seventh manvatra (present manvantra), which was before Satya Yuga and the period of Vedas.  

Pandyan kingdom has 2 different royal symbols: Bull and Twin Fish. 


     Before the arrival of massive Tsunami, they have started to explore the world, Pandyas traveled across seas, established their kingdom in many countries with their flag Bull / Twin Fish / Single Fish. They have named many of their established places in Tamizh, they were the first explorers of the World.


            Coins of Early Pandyas with Bull symbol (Left Coin) and Twin Symbol Symbol (Right Coin)


       Though the symbols of early Pandya Kings were destroyed in India, it can be seen in other countries. Example: In Sri Lanka , Pandya's twin fish symbol was carved in granite Stone, bas relief from Koneswaram temple at Triconamalea, which carved by later Pandyas. 

      
         Kulasekara Pandyan was the first ruler of the Kumari Kandam during the period of Caksusa Manu, the Sixth Manvantra. Lord Shiva as Soma Sundara Pandyan established First Tamizh Sangam at Thenmadurai of Kumari Kandam. Vivasvata Manu / King Satyavrata has ruled ancient Kumari Kandam with Bull as their symbol before the deluge, ancient tamizhs considered Bull as symbol as Masculinity and Valor. In Tamil, Pandi / Pandya ('Pandaya') means Early / ancient. This clearly mentions that 'Pandya nadu' means ancient Country, which was ruled by Pandya kings . 

    Lord Vishnu's Matsya Avatar and King Satyavrata's boat are depicted in various country's stone carvings as Gilgamesh Flood, Noah's Flood theory etc. Ancient Sumerian stone carvings represents Vivasvata Manu's boat with Lord Vishnu in Matsya Avatar. According to modern archaeologists, Sumerian civilization is said to be one of the oldest civilization in the world. Early Pandyas were prior to them, their dates were put forward and suppressed the hidden truths about Tamizhs !!! 

Sumerian Tablet 

Babylonian Great Flood

Sumerian Merman God - Matsya Avatar

            Ancient Tamils / Tamizhians were also traveled towards South East direction and settled there due to the sunken land of Kumari Kandam. 

       Even now, in many places and structures we can see the symbols used by ancient Tamils. Many words were taken from Tamizhi / Tamil and adopted in the modern languages.  Language spoken by African Tribes, Australian Tribes, Andaman and Nicobar Tribes, Lakshadweep tribes are identical to Tamizh. 



-- Aarthi Thiyagarajan