Page 31 - Stone and Bronze, Indian art of the Chola Dynasty, Metropolitan Museum, NYC

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FIGURE 30
Lingodbhavamurti (right), c. 150. Western gopura, Sri Nataraja temple, Chidambaram

or
The southern sanctum niche of an Early Chola tem- Seated under a banyan pipal tree, he is in meditation
ple is, as a rule, occupied by another manifestation of or playing the vina (vinadhara) or, most frequently,
Siva, as Dakshinamurti, the Teacher. This beautiful expounding the truth to his disciples and to the deer of
icon is, once more, a creation of south India; its earliest the forest, which have come to listen to him. The latter
occurrences are on Pallava temples of the first third of features immediately recall the concept of Buddha as
the eighth century and on a contemporary Chalukya teacher, preaching the first sermon to the ascetics in
temple at Pattadakal (in the Deccan),66 which was the Deer Park near Varanasi (Benares).67 We remem-
directly influenced by the Pallava shrines.
The concept is based on that of Siva as the great yogi.
66. K. R. Srinivasan, "Some Aspects," p. I87.
He has replaced Brahma as the lord of the four Vedas . . . ri v " , A p
Brahma as the
has replaced rr
6 7. Gopinatha Rao, Elements, II, part I, pp. 273 ff.; Banerjea,
and has become the guru or teacher par excellence. Developmnt, pp. 470 ff.
59