This year I had the privilege of visiting the ancient ruins of Hampi, situated near Vijaywada in the state of Karnataka. The ancient architecture and the carvings on the solid rocks bowled me over and it was mesmerizing. Ancient Indian architecture has always been a source of pride for us Indians and especially so the creations made during the reign of the Vijaynagara kings. The Vijayanagara kingdom was one of the richest kingdom of India and it is said that precious stones, gold and silver were bought and sold in the open markets in huge quantities. The fact that India has such a heritage to boast about makes it a land of wonders! The architects of ancient India have proved their talent which was much beyond their times. These heritage sites are the excellent examples to show the infinite knowledge of those artisans. Among them, the musical pillars found in the temples of South India sing to different tunes altogether.
India -often described as the "country of temples" - saw temple building activity begin in the 5'th century CE. It was only in the sixth and seventh centuries that regional styles began taking shape. Gradually these distinct architectural styles became a 'formula" that came to be associated with a region. Among several specificities that defined the temples of different regions, the musical pillars became idiosyncratic to the temples of Deccan and especially in the state of Tamil Nadu. Musical pillars are a group of stone shafts that produce musical notes of varying frequencies when tapped with a finger or wooden mallet. The tapping pillars or the Blowing pillars are the two kinds of pillars found here. Tapping pillars make a sound when you beat or tap on it whereas, the blowing pillars have holes where you can blow air and hear the tunes as it is on the flute. The tapping pillars are further classified into three categories - Shruti which produces swars, Gana produces classical ragas and laya produces taal or rhythm when tapped. According to scholars, they are usually arranged in groups between 3 and 56 around a central pillar which supports the roof of the structure. The central pillar could vary in height but the cluster pillars are of the same height with varying girth and shape. In olden times, the temples were the centers for various cultural activities. Hence, musical pillars were tapped or blown like musical instrument to accompany chants and devotional performances in the temples.
The Vitthala temple in Hampi is an ancient structure built in the 15'th century during the rule of Devraya II, who was one of the greatest ruler of this large empire. This is now a world famous UNESCO site as protected ruins of the Vijaynagara empire. Later on many portions of this temple was enhanced and expanded by Raja Krishnadevraya. These temples are famous for their musical pillars, which are an architectural marvel. The pillars play the sound of drums, temple bells, schools bells and you can combine the sound of different pillars to create a modern day door bell. One pillar made of one piece of stone and has small columns carved onto this. If each of these small columns are tapped they make the sound of the basic seven notes of Indian classical notes- Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ne and Sa which is very similar to Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Te in the Western Classical music. The pillars also emit sounds of the Jaltarang, which uses the science of water waves and make a lovely melodious music when we tap bowls filled with water using a stick and a Ghattam which uses terracota pots and even sounds of string instruments. This is amazing as all these pillars are carved out of granite and have the same dimensions and there are no holes in them to create these sounds. Maybe the intrinsic density of the pillars were changed by adding alloys of various of different metals with rocks using rock melting technology. The geological analysis of these pillars reveals that the rocks are resonant not only because of the presence of metallic ore but also because of the large amounts of silica. The tall pillars of the 'musical hall' of the Vitthala temple is carved with beautiful ends. It is said that the granite monoliths produce along with seven notes, percussion instrument such as tabla, veena, mrindangam, damaru, ghatak and bells and counch sheels once struck with one's hands.
The Meenakshi temple is at the center of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature with the goddess temple mentioned in 6'th century CE texts. This temple is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalam which consist of 275 temples of Lord Shiva that are revered in the verses of Tamil Saiva Nayanars of 6'th -9th century CE. The 1,000 pillar hall of Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple Tamil Nadu has actually 985 pillars in total. This hall was built by Ariyanatha Madurai (1559-1660).The pillars are erected in such a way as they look as they are in a line from any angle you view. It's a classical example of a perfect sound engineering technique as there is no echo in this hall. In the year 1983, an expert team from audiology department went into the hall and carried out an extensive study. With the latest scientific gadgets they found that there is no echo in any part of the temple even in the most crowded locations. Just outside this hall, towards the west, are the Musical Pillars. Each pillar, when struck, produces a different musical note. The sound level in this hall seldom exceed 80 decibel and in the adjacent Ashta Shakti Hall the noise level is only 40 decibels, which equates Library ambience.
The Nellaiappar Temple is one of most prominent temples located in Tirunelveli of Tamil Nadu. This is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati. This large temple is known for its elegant and exotic carvings. The musical pillars of the Mani mandapam, with two giant pillars carved out of a single stone, and each one has 48 sub pillars when produce musical notes when struck. Tamil poets say that the pillars here are a combination of the Shruti (meaning lyrics in Sanskrit), Gana (song) and Laya (rhythm). The detailing of the musical pillars are just incredible and each of the pillar make different sounds. According to the ancient temple architects some stones produce a melodious note as musical instrument would and they ensured that the ancient temples in Tamil Nadu had stones showcased in the shrines as musical pillars.
The Suchindram temple is a unique temple dedicated to the trinity of the Hindu philosophy - Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer). This temple is approximately 1,300 years old. The temple construction took place over an extended period of at least six hundred years, so parts of the temple date back to the late 8'th century, while others are from the 15'th century. The two northern groups present each a cluster of 24 pillars, while the southern ones present each a cluster of 33. A striking feature is that all the pillars of each group, together with the exquisitely carved turret at the top of each group are chiseled out of a single rock of granite. A tap on each of the pillars in a group produces different sound.
"Though this may baffle us now, the execution of the work, especially the way the musical stones are carved into pillars and arranged shows not only the superior workmanship but also their knowledge and use of stones in temple architecture", an official at the Archeological survey of India said. Much of the masterpiece work dates back to the Chola, Pandya and Chera era established in South India. Stones that emanate musical sounds are natural formation that is really hard to source, says a traditional architect - Sthapathi. According to the Shilpa Shastra, (ancient Indian texts) for skilled artisans, there is a record of classification of stones and the type that ought to be used for temple architecture. Stones, according to the Shilpa Shastra, are masculine, feminine and neuter depending on their sound and color. Male stones produce the tinkle of bronze bells when tapped, the female of bass and the neuter produces a dull sound. It is possible that the pillars are musical because they are carved out of rocks with acoustic properties - diabase rocks (black granite) or rocks rich in silica and metallic ore. Such rocks are called singing or lithophonic rocks. The Ancient Indian architects and skilled workers displayed a remarkable skill and ingenuity in crafting ""musical pillars" which when struck at the right spot produce mellifluous octaves. Though now it may be difficult to identify the source of such stones, these musical pillars are of granite and charnockites. They come in different girths and volumes to produce the right octaves. Unlike the modern architectures the ancient temples are geometrically, scientifically and symbolically built.
So, wouldn't you like to visit these temples and witness these marvelous architectural features yourself?
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