[INDOLOGY] Konkaneswara, Konganar, & Brhadisvara Mahatmya?

[Westin Harris]

Greetings Indologists,

I am looking for some help from the list's esteemed cadre of experts on
Tamil Nadu. Direct answers or references to secondary sources are both
welcome.

If I am reading Gopalan's preface to Raghavan's edition of the Cola Campu
correctly, the Brhadisvara Mahatmya attributes the establishment of
Tanjore's Konkanesvara Temple to the siddha Konganar. Is this correct
(narratively speaking, not historically)? If so, do we have any reliable
dates for the Brhadisvara Mahatmya?

At Konkanesvara, there are several images (paintings and statues) of an
ascetic riding upon a tiger. Local informants explained that this image
represents Konganar Cittar himself, and relates to a local legend in which
Śiva came to reside in Konganar's jatamukuta and Indra transformed into his
tiger mount. Can anyone corroborate these details? If so, is this legend,
particularly the tiger-riding element, attested in any written sources (of
course, not to imply that a narrative must to be written to be important)?

Many thanks.

PS. I'm writing from my phone so I apologize for the lack of diacritics.


*Sincerely,*

*Westin Harris*
Ph.D. Candidate
Study of Religion
University of California, Davis
https://religionsgrad.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris
<https://religions.ucdavis.edu/people/westin-harris>

2021 Dissertation Fellow,
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Program in Buddhist Studies

Sarva Mangalam.
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