Opening Kailasanatha : the temple in Kanchipuram revealed in time and space /

Opening Kailasanatha : the temple in Kanchipuram revealed in time and space /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Kaimal, Padma Audrey, author.
Imprint:Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2020]
Description:1 online resource (xv, 256 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates )
Language:English
Subject:
Kailasanatha Temple (Kānchipuram, India)
Kailasanatha Temple (Kānchipuram, India)
Hindu temples -- India -- Kānchipuram.
Hindu art -- India -- Kānchipuram.
Śaiva Siddhānta -- India -- Kānchipuram.
Hinduism -- India -- Kānchipuram.
Hinduism
Hindu art
Temples
India -- Kānchipuram
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/12875879
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780295747781
0295747781
9780295747774
0295747773
Notes:"A McLellan book"--Jacket flap.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-239) and index.
Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Summary:Stone figures hardened by ascetic discipline and heroic effort face north in deep shadow. There they meet the gazes of the same gods and goddesses but with gentler bodies enacting grace, warmth, seduction, and marriage, drenched in sunlight, facing south. These figures adorn the eighth-century Kailasanatha temple complex in southeastern India, built by rulers who were both warriors and ascetics, engaged in the work of this world and in spiritual quests. They designed their temple as an exuberant visual feast to sustain both modes of being. In 'Opening Kailasanatha', Padma Kaimal deciphers the intentions of the monument's makers, reaching back across centuries to illuminate worldviews of the ancient Indic south. She reveals how circling the complex in a clockwise direction focuses the mind and spirit on worldly engagement ; in a counterclockwise direction, on renunciation and ascetic practice. This pairing of highly charged, complementary pathways enabled devotees to grasp these counterpoised opportunities in their own listening, gazing, moving bodies. By focusing on the material form of the complex - the architecture, inscriptions, and sculptures, along with the spaces they carve out that guide light, shadow, sound, and footsteps - Kaimal offers insights that complement what surviving texts tell us about Shaiva Siddhanta ideas and practices, providing a rare opportunity to walk in the distant past.
Other form:Print version: Opening Kailasanatha Seattle : University of Washington Press, [2020] 9780295747774
Table of Contents:
  • Order and Improvisation : The elements of the Pallavas' Kailasanatha Temple Complex
  • Looking North and South : Celibacy and intimacy, struggle and grace
  • Looking East and West, With and Without Sons : Deities, royalty, family, and lineage
  • Circumambulating This Way and That : Complementarity set in motion
  • Word-Image Tango : Telling stories with words and sculptures
  • Conclusions
  • Appendix 1. Inscriptions on Rajasimha's Prakara
  • Appendix 2. The Foundation Inscription of the Rajasimheshvara, Rajasimha's Vimana
  • Appendix 3. The Foundation Inscription of the Mahendravarmeshvara, Mahendravarman III's Vimana
  • Appendix 4. The Foundation Inscriptions around Vimanas C, E, and G, Marking Donations by Pallava Queens
  • Glossary of Sanskrit terms.

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