Murugan Temple, Saluvankuppam

After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami had subsided, archaeologists discovered rock inscriptions which had been exposed by the tsunami waves{{cite news|title=Remains of Murugan temple found near Mahabalipuram|url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/12/stories/2005071214881300.htm|work=The Hindu|author=T. S. Subramanian|date=27 July 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103235414/http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/12/stories/2005071214881300.htm|archive-date=3 November 2012}} close to the hamlet of Saluvankuppam, near the UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram.{{cite news|title=Tsunami reveals ancient temple sites|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4312024.stm|author=Paddy Maguire|work=BBC|date=27 October 2005|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625161342/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4312024.stm|archive-date=25 June 2006}}{{cite journal|title=Saluvankuppam coastal temple – excavation and application of soil micromorphology|journal=Current Science|volume=100|issue=7|date=10 April 2011|author=Sathyabhama Badhreenath|author2=Hema Achyuthan|author3=Smriti Haricharan|author4=K. P. Mohandas|url=http://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/100/07/1071.pdf|access-date=2012-08-23}} The inscriptions by the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III and the Chola kings Parantaka I and Kulothunga Chola I spoke of a Subrahmanya Temple at Thiruvizhchil (the present day Saluvanakuppam). S. Rajavelu, epigraphist with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), identified a nearby mound as the site of the temple. In 2005, archaeologists unearthed an 8th-century Pallava temple under the mound. G. Thirumoorthy, ASI Assistant Archaeologist, believed that the shrine could be the oldest Murugan temple to be excavated in Tamil Nadu. There were speculations on whether the temple could be one of the "Seven Pagodas".

File:SaluvanakuppamVel.jpg on a brick platform at the entrance to the shrine|alt=|left]]

However, further excavations revealed that the 8th-century temple was constructed over the remains of an older brick temple. According to Thirumoorthy, the garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum of the brick temple was filled with sand and covered with granite slabs upon which the newer temple was constructed.{{cite journal|title=Another surprise in Mamallapuram|journal=Frontline|author=T. S. Subramanian|volume=22|issue=22|date=4 November 2005|url=http://www.flonnet.com/fl2222/stories/20051104005113000.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070809174458/http://www.flonnet.com/fl2222/stories/20051104005113000.htm|archive-date=9 August 2007}} Sathyamurthy, Superintendent, ASI Chennai Circle, said that the brick temple could be dated to the Sangam period as the shrine faced north unlike modern temples which face either east or west.{{cite news|title=Much more than stone|date=13 August 2010|url=http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/08/13/stories/2010081351260800.htm|author=S. Sivakumar|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110070737/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2010/08/13/stories/2010081351260800.htm|work=The Hindu|archive-date=10 November 2012}} This proved conclusively that the temple was constructed before the 6th or 7th century CE when the shilpa shastras, the canonical texts of temple architecture, were written. Estimates of the age of the brick shrine range from 1700{{cite news|title=Pillars with inscriptions of Pallava, Chola kings found|url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/17/stories/2007031701111600.htm|date=17 March 2007|author=T. S. Subramanian|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824042809/http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/17/stories/2007031701111600.htm|work=The Hindu|archive-date=24 August 2011}} to 2200 years.

Archaeologists believe that the brick shrine was destroyed either by a cyclone or a tsunami which took place 2,200 years ago. The Pallavas built a granite temple on the brick foundation in the 8th century CE, which also was likely to have been destroyed by a tsunami. Archaeologists believe that the second tsunami must have occurred in the 13th century CE as the latest inscriptions which speak of the shrine have been dated to 1215.

Although the city of Mahabalipuram was constructed by the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I in the 7th century CE, there is evidence that a small port might have functioned at the site even earlier.{{cite journal|title=Underwater investigations off Mahabalipuram|url=http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/316|journal=Current Science|volume=86|issue=9|date=10 May 2004|last1=Sundaresh|last2=A. S.|first2=Gaur|first3=Sila|last3=Tripati|first4=K. H.|last4=Vora|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815152325/http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/316|archive-date=15 August 2016|access-date=25 June 2012}}{{cite book|title=Early Interactions Between South and Southeast Asia: Reflections on Cross-Cultural Exchange|editor1-first=Pierre-Yves |editor1-last=Manguin|editor2-last= A. |editor2-first=Mani|editor3-first= Geoff|editor3-last= Wade|chapter=Marine Archaeological Investigations along the Tamil Nadu coast and their implications for understanding cultural expansion to Southeast Asian countries|last2=Sundaresh|first1=A. S.|last1=Gaur|pages=221–239|publisher=Institute of South-East Asian Studies|year=2011|isbn=9789814345101}} Megalithic burial urns dating to the very dawn of the Christian era have been discovered near Mahabalipuram. The Sangam age poem Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai describes a port called Nirppeyyaru which some scholars identify with the present-day Mahabalipuram. Sadras near Mahabalipuram has been identified as the site of the port of Sopatma mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

There are many rock inscriptions near the temple. The discovery of three granite pillars with inscriptions of grants made to the shrine led to the discovery of the temple itself. While one pillar contains an inscription recording the donation of ten kazhanchus (small balls) of gold by one Kirarpiriyan of Mahabalipuram in 858, another records the donation of 16 kazhanchus of gold in 813 for the maintenance of a lamp by a Brahmin woman named Vasanthanar. The third pillar has an inscription by Raja Raja Chola I. Apart from these, there are five other pillars with inscriptions by the Pallava kings Dantivarman I, Nandivarman III and Kambavarman, the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III and the Chola king Rajendra Chola III.

File:Prakara Subrahmanya Temple Saluvankuppam.jpg

File:Garbagriha Saluvankuppam temple.jpg or sanctum sanctorum of the Murugan Temple, Saluvankuppam. While the thin, tabular bricks at the top were laid by the Pallavas, the larger bricks underneath date from the Sangam period]]

The temple is dedicated to the Tamil Hindu deity Murugan and faces north. The garbhagriha or sanctum sanctorum is 2 metres long and 2.2 metres wide and is made of 27 courses of bricks. The bricks used are similar to the ones used in other Sangam age sites such as Puhar, Urayur, Mangudi and Arikamedu. A stone vel is positioned at the entrance of the shrine. During the excavations, a terracotta plaque depicting a Kuravai Koothu, a dance which is mentioned in the 1st century CE Tamil epic Silappadhikaram, was discovered. Sathyamoorthy feels that there may not have been any idol in the square garbhagriha as it is too small to house one. The temple is surrounded by a prakara or a compound wall dating from the Sangam period. According to Thirumoorthy, the shrine is "the biggest brick temple complex dating to the pre-Pallava period".

The temple is built on a cushion of alluvium on which a layer of man-made bricks were laid. On top of this were another four layers of man-made bricks separated by four layers of laterite. There were two types of bricks used: large-sized laterite bricks of the Sangam period and thin, tabular bricks of a later age. The bricks were plastered together with lime.

File:Saluvankuppam artifacts.jpg

A terracotta Nandi (the bull of the god Shiva), head of a woman, terracotta lamps, potsherds and a shivalinga (an iconic symbol of Shiva) made of green stone are some of the important artifacts found at the site. The Nandi is the first one made of terracotta to be found. While most of the items unearthed belong to the Sangam period, artefacts of a later period including a Chola copper coin have also been found.

• Mundeshwari Temple
• Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

• {{cite web|title=World Heritage Sites – Mahabalipuram – Excavated Remains|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_mahabalipuram_remains.asp|access-date=26 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011194419/http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_mahabalipuram_remains.asp|archive-date=11 October 2011|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|title=Murugan Temple at Saluvankuppam - Recent Pictures|publisher=ChennaiOnNet|url=http://www.chennaionnet.com/gallery/20/subrahmanya-temple-at-saluvankuppam-near-mahabalipuram|access-date=1 April 2013|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305032115/http://www.chennaionnet.com/gallery/20/subrahmanya-temple-at-saluvankuppam-near-mahabalipuram|url-status=dead}}
• {{cite web|title=Subramanya Temple, Mahabalipuram / Mamallapuram – The Oldest Lord Murugan temple in the World|publisher=CasualWalker|url=http://casualwalker.com/subramanya-temple-mahabalipuram-mamallapuram-oldest-lord-murugan-temple-in-the-world-visit-travel-guide}}..

• Gudimallam Lingam

{{Kanchipuram district}}

Category:Archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu

Category:Dravidian architecture

Category:Chola architecture

Category:Pallava architecture

Category:Sangam period

Category:3rd-century BC Hindu temples