[INDOLOGY] Konkaneswara, Konganar, & Brhadisvara Mahatmya?

Tue Feb 11 23:13:39 UTC 2025

Dear Jonas and others,

I am truly grateful for your help. This information is immensely helpful!

Best wishes to you all.

*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.

On Sun, Feb 9, 2025 at 11:20 PM Buchholz, Jonas <jonas.buchholz at hadw-bw.de>
wrote:

> Dear Westin,
>
>
>
> Chidambaram, Kanchipuram, Tiruvanaikka, Tiruvannamalai, and Kalahasti
> indeed all feature in the hymns of the *Tēvāram* (7th to 9th c.?), but
> the concept of these five sites forming a group is not. The earliest
> reference to the *pañcabhūtasthala* concept that I am aware of is found
> in verse 100 of the * Kuñcitāṅghristava* of Umāpati Śivācārya (14th c.)
> (quoted in Hermann Kulke: * Cidambaramāhātmya*, Wiesbaden 1970, p. 140).
> However, it is not clear when this concept became well established. At
> least in the case of Kanchipuram, the local *māhātmya/sthalapurāṇa* texts
> do not make any mention of Kanchipuram being a part of such a group.
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
> Jonas Buchholz
>
>
>
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> *On Behalf Of *Westin
> Harris via INDOLOGY
> *Sent:* Saturday, February 8, 2025 1:13 AM
> *To:* Rastelli, Marion <Marion.Rastelli at oeaw.ac.at>
> *Cc:* Indology <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* Re: [INDOLOGY] Konkaneswara, Konganar, & Brhadisvara Mahatmya?
>
>
>
> Dear Jonas, Marion, and other Indologists,
>
>
>
> Many thanks for your replies. These are extremely helpful leads. If I may,
> I have one more question to add to the conversation.
>
>
>
> When do we first find mention of Thilla Nataraja (Chidambaram),
> Ekambaresvara (Kanci), Jambukesvara (Tiruchirapalli), Arunacalesvara
> (Thiruvannamalai), and Srikalahasti (Kalahasthi) as the *pancabhutasthala*s
> (five elemental [Saiva] sites)? I have found references suggesting that
> these same temples are mentioned among the 200+ *padalpetrasthalas* in
> the medieval writings of the Nayanmars. Is the *pancabhutasthala* collection
> also mentioned in these (or other) medieval sources, or is it a later
> development?
>
>
>
>
>
> *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.
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Feb 7, 2025 at 4:16 AM Rastelli, Marion <
> Marion.Rastelli at oeaw.ac.at> wrote:
>
> Dear Westin,
>
>
>
> The Divyasūricarita, a Śrīvaiṣṇava hagiography, describes a Koṅkana riding
> on a flying tiger at the beginning of chapter 3.
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Marion Rastelli
>
>
>
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> *On Behalf Of *Buchholz,
> Jonas via INDOLOGY
> *Sent:* Friday, February 7, 2025 12:46 PM
> *To:* Westin Harris <wlharris at ucdavis.edu>
> *Cc:* indology at list.indology.info
> *Subject:* [EXT] Re: [INDOLOGY] Konkaneswara, Konganar, & Brhadisvara
> Mahatmya?
>
>
>
> *External Email*: please use links and attachments from trusted sources
> only
>
> Dear Westin,
>
>
>
> I’m afraid I cannot really answer your question, but in just case you were
> not already aware, Indira Peterson has worked on the *Bṛhadīśvaramāhātmya*.
> I don’t know if she is a member of this list, but it might be worth
> contacting her directly.
>
>
>
> For what it’s woth, the sage Koṅkaṇa also features in the origin story of
> the Vīraṭṭāṉeśvara temple in Kanchipuram as it is told in the Śaiva
> *Kāñcīmāhātmya* and its Tamil adaptation, Civañāṉa Muṉivar’s
> *Kāñcippurāṇam*. There is, however, no mention of Koṅkaṇa riding a tiger
> or of the other narrative elements that you mentioned.
>
>
>
> Best wishes,
> Jonas Buchholz
>
>
>
> *
>                                                        ____                _____ *
>
> *Dr. Jonas Buchholz*
>
> Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
>
> Project “Hindu Temple Legends in South India”
>
>
>
> Karl Jaspers Centre
>
> Voßstr. 2 | Building 4400 | Room 004
>
> 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
>
>
>
> P:  +49 (0)6221 54 4095
>
> E:  jonas.buchholz at hadw-bw.de
>
> W: https://www.hadw-bw.de/htl
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> *On Behalf Of *Westin
> Harris via INDOLOGY
> *Sent:* Wednesday, February 5, 2025 4:36 AM
> *To:* INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] Konkaneswara, Konganar, & Brhadisvara Mahatmya?
>
>
>
> 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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