• DOI:10.1080/02666030.2011.614413
• Corpus ID: 194022781

Dakṣiṇāmūrti on Vimānas of Viṣṇu Temples in the Far South

@article{Rajarajan2011DakimrtiOV,
  title={Dakṣiṇāmūrti on Vimānas of Viṣṇu Temples in the Far South},
  author={R. K. K. Rajarajan},
  journal={South Asian Studies},
  year={2011},
  volume={27},
  pages={131 - 144}
}

• R. Rajarajan
• Published 1 September 2011
• Art
• South Asian Studies

Dakṣiṇāmūrti is a Śaivite iconographical form which appears in Indian art from the later Pallava period onwards. It was a stereotyped installation on the southern devakoṣṭha in any Śiva temple from the early Cōḻa period. Deviating from this established pattern, some of the Viṣṇu temples, called Navatiruppatis, on both banks of the River Tāmiraparaṇi in the Far South of India have these images installed on the devakoṣṭhas, grīvakoṣṭhas, and talas of the vimānas in Viṣṇu temples. Why a typical Śaiva iconographical motif posed like Viṣṇu-Yogīśvara appears in Viṣṇu temples is the question answered in this article. It is suggested that these might be representations of Viṣṇu posing as Dakṣiṇa, a point clearly indicated in several of the epithets in the Viṣṇusahasranāma. Furthermore, Devī also takes the epithet Dakṣiṇāmūrtisvarūpiṇi.