were made part of the royal cultus, the goddess thus serving as the consort of
S ́iva. Under the Co ̄l
̄
as, iconography, especially bronze castings, became both
an art form and a focus of ritual. Among the representations of the divine
that became noted during the Co ̄l
̄
a period was a bronze casting of Pa ̄rvatı ̄,
S ́iva’s consort, cast in the image of a Co ̄l
̄
a queen. Even more enduring was
the representation of Na ̄t.a ̄rajan
̄
, the dancing S ́iva, the presiding deity at
Citamparam. Na ̄t.a ̄rajan
̄
’s symbology was complex: he had four arms, sig-
nifying omnipotence; in one hand he held a drum, promulgating the rhythm
of the universe; his two dancing legs suggested both the standing and the
moving of the cosmos. He danced within a circle of flames, representing
the tradition of sacrifice, but also the circle of the universe, life, and dharma
to which S ́iva was thought to give coherence. He stood on a dwarf, emblematic
of malevolence, evil, “chaos.” Around him a snake was entwined, suggesting
creativity, fertility, and primordiality were controlled by the dancer.
The temple structure itself was made congruent to the human body, not
only vertically but also horizontally. Built by s ́ilpiswho practiced the rules of
temple construction, the temple’s ritual space became a microcosm, known
as the va ̄stupurus.aman.d.ala(a space which is congruent to human and cosmic
form). Temples had become the arenas for the enacting of a complex
festival and ritual life. Ritual sequences followed a complex chronometry,
combining solar, lunar, and constellational markings. The solar year, for
example, had its light half (from winter to summer solstice) and its dark
half, with the light half thought to be most auspicious. The lunar cycle,
similarly, was thought to be most auspicious in its waxing half. The sun was
believed to pass through twelve constellations in a year and the moon
through twenty-seven constellations (naks.atras) each month. Similarly, the
day was congruent to the solar year and had “sacred hours,” three before
dawn, equated to the period before the winter solstice; six sacred hours
occurred between dawn and noon and were homologized to the six months
of the sun’s “light half.” After noon, there was a period of inauspiciousness
and ritual abstinence, just as in the three months after the summer solstice,
temple festivals were rare. Finally, three hours occurred after dusk and
were equated to the period immediately after the fall equinox. Not least
important, the career of the deity was “grafted” onto the solar and daily
calendar. Each year festivals enacted events in the life of the deity but also
occurred at the appropriate juncture of the solar calendar, the full moon,
and the lunar constellation (naks.atra). Each temple kept its own festival
calendar. In the Citamparam Temple, for example, at least by the eleventh
century, two festivals had assumed major significance: an anointing festival
in December–January (ma ̄rkal
̄
i) and a festival immediately after the summer
solstice in June to July (an
̄
i).^9 By the fourteenth century in that temple a full
annual festival cycle was in place.^10
The Post-classical Period 95