Resembling a chariot (ratha), it is carved out of a single, long stone of pink granite.[3][4][5] Though sometimes mistakenly referred to as a temple, the structure was not consecrated because it was not completed[6] following the death of Narasimhavarman I.[4][5][7] The structure is named after the eldest of the Pancha Pandavas, of epic Mahabharata fame,[3][5][8] though this nomenclature is not supported by its iconography.[4] It is dedicated to Shiva.[9]
The structure is located at Mahabalipuram (previously known as Mammallapuram) on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal in Kancheepuram district. It is approximately 35 miles (56 km) south of Chennai (previously known as Madras), the capital city,[10] while Chengalpattu is about 20 miles (32 km) away.[11]
Like the other four Pancha Rathas, Dharmaraja ratha was built from stone, a replica of a wooden version which preceded it.[12] Though the temple is named after the first of Pandava princes from Mahabharatha, there is no history to ascertain the name. The temple was left incomplete and consecration was not performed due to the death of the king Narasimhavarman I.[8] Historians assign the date of construction to the period of two Pallava kings Narasimhavarman I (690-725) and Parameswaravarman I. The inscriptions of Parameswaravarman I are seen in the temple.[13]
Architecture
[edit]Elevation of Dharmaraja's RathaSection of Dharmaraja's Ratha
All the Pancha Rathas are aligned in a north–south direction and share a common plinth. They have no precedent in Indian architecture and have proved to be "templates" for building larger temples in the South Indian tradition of Dravidian temple architecture.[8] Though cut out of monolithic rocks, they are carved in the form of structural temples in regular building form and hence termed as "quasimonolithic temple form.
Full reflection of the architectural complexity of the Dharmaraja Ratha
Dharmaraja Ratha is the most prominent architecturally of the five rathas and also the tallest and largest.[14][15][16] The ratha faces west and is sculpturally very rich. It has three floors including the ground floor. The plan of the ground floor measure a square of 28 feet (8.5 m) and has a height of 35 feet (11 m) from ground level to the top of the roof. It is open on all four sides and the facade on all sides are supported by two pillars and two pilasters with the corners forming an integral part of the support system for the upper floors. Carved out from a single rock of pink granite,[17][18] along with other three rathas on a single block of stone oriented in a north–south direction,[5] it is a trithala or three-story[19][20] vimana,[21] square in plan, with open porches and a terraced pyramidal tower.[22] and an octagonal shikhara (pinnacle) at the top. Small-sized model shrines called kudus make up the ornament of the upper part of the tower.[9][23] There are many sculptures on the corners of the sanctum, which depict Shiva;[24]Harihara, Brahma-Sasta, Skanda, Brahma, Ardhanarisvara (half Shiva half Parvati)[25] and Krishna[26] are depicted alongside an inscribed portrait of a king, indicated to be Narasimhavarman I,[22][27][28] who commissioned the temple.[29] The shafts of the pillars are supported by seated lions.[22]
The first floor contains twenty niches containing the images of Kankalamurthi, Vinadhara, dancing Shiva, Shiva with Candesha, Gangadhara, Vishnu, Kalari, Vrashabtikamurthi, Andhakasuramurthi, Krishna with figurines of women with offerings, Dvarapalas and priests of the temple.[13] The second floor contains rich imagery,[30] with further depictions of Shiva as Gangadara and Natesa, and Vishnu resting on Garuda and Kaliya Mardhana. The second level contains a cell with the earliest of inscription of Somaskanda.[13]
Kudus (Horse-shoe shaped dormer windows) depicted on all side along the cornices
On the Dharmaraja Rathas there are 16 inscriptions in Grantha and Nagari scriptsinSanskrit inscriptions on which are royal cognomen, single-word titles, most of them are attributed to Narasimhavarman I.[31] On the top tier of the temple is an inscription which refers to it as Atyantakama Pallavesvaram; Atyantakama was one of the known titles of Paramesvaravarman I. Other inscribed titles for the king are Shri Megha and Trailokiya–vardhana-vidhi.[27]
^K. R. Srinivasan (1975). The Dharmarāja ratha & its sculptures, Mahābalipuram. Abhinav Publications.
^G. Jouveau-Dubreuil (1994). Pallava Antiquities – 2 Vols. Asian Educational Services. p. 63. ISBN9788120605718.
^Elisabeth Beck (2006). Pallava rock architecture and sculpture. Sri Aurobindo Institute of Research in Social Sciences in association with East West Books (Madras). p. 226. ISBN9788188661466.
^"A monumental effort". Front Line India's National Magazine from the publishers of The Hindu. 8 November 2003. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
