Salabhanjikakal(faith & female fertility)
Salabhanjikakal : a journey through timelessness.
(English language has limitations and there’s no single word equivalence to describe salabhanjikakal)
*Chakravarthini Ninakku Njanente….
SALABhANJIKAKAL
Kaikalil Kusumathalamenthi Varavelkum
Let’s start circa 1972 go to 2020, and then add more to the trip through 1900s, 12th century CE, 2nd / 3rd, and 6th century BCE.
There is very little chance that anyone growing up in Kerala in 1970s hasn’t watched & relished Malayalam movies. That movies were integral to life in every which way is a given — made life worthwhile & memorable and made for the essence of nostalgia trips for most of us who were teenagers or in early twenties in the 70s. The 1972 movie Chembarathi is a stand out film — and there’s almost no chance that youngsters weren’t captivated by the movie’s songs and this song * in particular.
Ah, 2020 the Covid year! has had most of us living the new normal. Staying Home — Staying Safe has been the operational mantra. As the days & weeks rolled by to become months and more moths, the new normal evolved to more than the social distancing, handwashing, masking wearing routine. Staying sane became a priority. All out efforts to dig out & catch up with school friends from 50+ years back, video conference calls with friends & family and scheduling/joining in Zoom Meetings at least five times a week, if not twice a day, were suddenly de rigueur. Reading books, however, continued to be the pleasure that it always was. The sudden inspiration to write this blog is Rajaram my school friend, who lent me a book to read — this the second week of October 2020..Charles Allen’s Coromandel..a very compelling read. Salabhanjikakal are described in the context of South India. Ouch,it’s no longer possible that I postpone pouring out my tryst with ’em. And also furthering the frontiers.
And back to 70s.. if you had pretensions of being a singer or you had a friend who could sing, then 1970s were a blessed time. My friend & classmate Santhosh sung* the number for a light music competition 1972/ 73 and the melody still rings in my ears even as I write these. The immortal lines of Vayalar (an exclusive lyrics treasure trove of Keralites) that Yesudas (the pride of Mallus) had etched in deep into Malayali memory, should be a cinch of a recall for just about anyone.
*Chakravarthini Ninakku Njanente….
Salabhanjikakal
Kaikalil Kusumathalamenthi Varavelkum
The word salabhanjikakal had intrigued & stayed with me ever since mid 1972.. True to my lazy boy streak, I just didn’t bother to figure out what it meant. Much less how it fitted into the lyrics etc. All that stayed was that it carried a musical punch and it rhymed sweetly enough for the listening pleasure endlessly and over & over.
Several years later, sometime in late 90s or indeed in the early 2000s, much into my settled life in Mumbai with family & work scene — — I chanced to read a book about Padmanabha Swami temple & it’s architecture. It was overwhelming to read about the significance of each and indeed any aspect of the temple. The narrative about the majestic gopuram, the ottakkal mandapam housing the one piece main deity lying stretched across three doors and its singularity, the choice of other deities, the mighty figures of dwarapalakas, the sheer ecstaticity of music cum prayer halls, the stately pathways or corridors, the scores of load bearing pillars and a number of other marvels are all deeply engaging.
The insights into the logic & science behind the construction, materials used, materials handling involved etc made you feel a clever, very well informed Jack. Nestled amongst the narrative was a small para on salabhanjikakal. The several years that separated the time I was reading the book from the time I had first heard the word suddenly vanished. It was as if a moment of truth had dawned on me. An overwhelming desire to behold the salabhanjikakal (sals, from here on) at the earliest opportunity took over. It was soon to be.
My readers might know or might not know where to look for sals at this huge expanse of Pad Swami temple. On a fairly cold January morning my friend Rajasekharan & I walked into the temple at half past five clothed appropriately but covered head to toe in trepidation. The light effects in the temple at that magical hour was beyond words. One step at a time, past the entrance door and into the corridor… there lo & behold there was this long line of black granite sals carrying typical lighted lamps — one for each pillar.
We stay back to devour the sight, walk slowly past each pillar and touch a few sals.. The rest of the temple features just receded into insignificance that morning. Sals are figurine aspects carved onto the pillar structure .. damsels dressed in beads, bangles, garlands, revealing girdles and nothing else, except a hint of a captivating smile that enhances the beauty of the rest of their body. Hands well folded at just below the chest and palms cupping this small receptacle that holds just enough oil & a lighted wick that spreads the heavenly glow. We stayed back taking in the sals for as much time as possible, before we are required to vamoose before the Maharaja arrived for the daily darshan.
There’s so much more to Sals. They are part of an ancient civilisation & culture that gave role as guardian attendants to nature spirits both male & female. The term itself means breaker of a branch of sal tree. The symbolic act of breaking a branch is traced to beliefs about increasing fertility and linking it to rudimentary ideas on pruning. The concept & symbolism changed over the course of time and sals (continuing in their exaggerated female features) came to be located in the pradikshana (circumambulation) paths in temples and served as brackets to hold lighted lamps.
The excavations carried out by Archeological Survey of India from late 1800s to mid 1900s and the inferences based on the findings are valuable. A few pointers : The Hoysala (Karnataka) sals are said to be from 12th century. Stupa at Sanchi has a sal at its east gateway. Commentaries on antiquity suggest that it could be from 2nd or 3rd century BCE. These, as well as the present day sals all over in temples of later vintage across the south are now decorative or ornamental and testify to the imagination & skills of the artisans to accommodate elements of social realities of the period in which they lived.
So much for Sals.. Now on to CARYATIDS , their vilayati cousins. Wikipedia is a good source for everything about Caryatids.
These sculpted female figures serve as architectural support taking the place of columns or pillars. The logic or story behind choosing female forms as support are a fascinating read. The story about male bro Atlas is equally engaging.
The Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion in Athens Greece, coiffured ones at Acropolis Museum in Athens, the treasuries of Delphi etc stretch the origins of Caryatids to the period upto 6th century BCE. The Renaissance period in Medival Europe opens an exciting new frontier for study of these forms.
More about the journey through timelessness with sals & caryatids for company, well later. For now, Bye Sals.