A cluster of pallipadai or funeral temples, raised over the cremation sites of royalty and held by the Lākulīśa Pāśupata sect. Tamil Nadu has three such temples whose inscriptions name them pallipadai, with a fourth in Andhra Pradesh.
Each temple holds 10 to 25 photographs. Drop them into the temple’s
_originals folder and they convert to webp on build; every plate carries its
photographer credit, licence and print link.
The temples were built of brick with elaborate stuccowork, some of which can still be seen. The Melpadi pallipadai stands close to the well proportioned Somanāthēśvara temple; the Melpadi and Panchavan Mahadevi Eswaram temples have beautiful sculptures. In the Panchavan Mahadevi Eswaram a later hand has tried, without success, to chisel away the word pallipadai itself, visible on the right side entrance beside the step.
Three temples in Tamil Nadu carry inscriptions on wall or plinth stating they are pallipadai or funeral temples. Arinjikai Eswaram, the Chozheeswaram at Melpadi near Ranipet, was built by Rāja Rāja I around 1014 for Ariñjaya (c. 956 to 957). The Ramalingaswamy temple, the Panchavan Mahadevi Eswaram near Kumbakonam, was built by Rājēndra (1012 to 1044) before his seventh regnal year for his aunt Pañcavan Mahādēvī, wife of Rāja Rāja I. The Kailāsanātha temple at Pallimadam in Virudhunagar district was built by Vīra Pāṇḍya (946 to 966), with Sundara Pāṇḍya probably his brother.
A fourth pallipadai for a Tamil king lies outside Tamil Nadu, the Kōdaṇḍa Rāmēśvaram or Adityeswaram at Tondamanad in Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh, built by Parāntaka I (907 to 955) before his 34th regnal year for Āditya I (850 to 907).
Analysis of the inscriptions and dates shows the temples were meant not only to commemorate and deify the dead king or queen but also to assert the legitimacy of the successor, since only the direct male descendant could build a pallipadai. They came under the control of a Śaiva sect, the Lākulīśa Pāśupatas, an offshoot of the Pāśupatas, popular between the 8th and 11th centuries and supported especially by the Chōḷas, particularly Rājēndra I.
The three temples carry inscriptions stating that they are pallipadai or funeral temples. In the Panchavan Mahadevi Eswaram a later hand tried, without success, to erase the word pallipadai itself.
The Tamil word palli is not certain in meaning but is linked to sleeping today and to death in the past. The deification of a dead king was a natural extension of the belief that the king was God's representative on earth, and the practice of commemorating fallen warriors with a memorial stone is attested in Sangam poems such as the Purananūru.
The Lākulīśa Pāśupatas worshipped Śiva in an unorthodox way, bathing in ash rather than water and living in seclusion, often in cremation grounds, where through death they could merge with Śiva. Their founder is believed to be Lākulīśa of Kāyāvarōhaṇa in Gujarat, dated between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. Their temples in the Tamil country were called Karonams.
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