When Gods Get Broken—the Theory and Practice of the jīrṇoddhāra and navīkaraṇa in the Pāñcarātrika sources

Authors

  • Marzenna Czerniak-Drożdżowicz Jagiellonian University, Poland image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.16.2014.16.04

Keywords:

Pāñcarātra, temple cult, images, renovation rituals (jīrṇoddhāra)

Abstract

The elaborate rituals accompanying the construction of a temple and the installation of its idols characteristic of Tantric traditions were meant to ensure a perfect abode and receptacle for the highest god in his earthly manifestation. Descriptions of these rituals in religious texts supplement technical prescripts included in texts on art and architecture and provide a theoretical and theological background for the temple cult. The practices enable the proper creation and then the appropriate use of the temple and its idol, guaranteed by the permanent presence of god. But in the every-day temple practice the ritual could be endangered by the fact that the temple and the idol in some situations lose their perfection. This can be caused by impurity or damage. The ideal structure can be spoilt and therefore the religious practice and ritualistic manuals have to provide practical methods of reacting to such inevitable events.
The article refers to several Pāñcarātrika sources which in their passages concern the impurity and damages as well as the renovation and replacement of old temples and images. The actions to be undertaken in such cases are presented in the texts under the heading jīrṇoddhāra.

PlumX Metrics of this article

References

Sanskrit Sources:

Īśvarasaṃhitā. Prativādibhayaṅkarānantācāryaiḥ saṃśodhitā. (Śāstramuktāvalī 45). Kāñcī 1923.

Īśvarasaṃhitā. Critically edited and translated in Five Volumes by Lakshmi Tathacharya. Introduction by V. Varadachari and G. C. Tripathi. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 2009.

Jayākhyasaṃhitā. Crit. Ed. with an Introduction in Sanskrit, Indices etc. by Embar Krishnamacharya. (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series 54). Baroda 1931.

Nāradīyasaṃhitā: Nāradīya Saṃhitā. Ed. by Rāghava Prasāda Chaudhary. (Kendriya Sanskrita Vidyapeetha Series 15). Tirupati 1971.

Pādmasaṃhitā (PādS). (Part I). Crit. Ed. by Seetha Padmanabhan and R. N. Sampath. (Part II). Crit. Ed. by Seetha Padmanabhan and V. Varadachari. Madras: Pāñcarātra Pariśodhana Pariṣad 1974, 1982.

Pāñcarātraprāsādaprasādhanam, Chapters 1–10, the kriyāpāda, Pādmasaṃhitā. Ed. and annotated by H. D. Smith, with an Introduction in Sanskrit by Śrī T. S. M. Varadarājabhaṭṭar, Chief-Arcaka, Śrī Varadarājaswamy Temple. Kāñcīpuram. Madras 1963.

Paramasaṃhitā [of the Pāñcharātra]. Ed. and Translated into English with an Introduction by S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar. (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series 86). Baroda 1940.

Paramasaṃhitā. Ms 62.045 (10.G.27). Theosophical Society, Adyar.

Pārameśvarasaṃhitā: Śrīpāñarātrāntargatā Śrīpārameśvarasaṃhitā. Śrī Govindācāryaiḥ saṃskr̥tā. Śrīraṅgam 1953.

Pauṣkarasaṃhitā: Pauṣkara-Saṃhitā. Vol. 1 Critically ed. by Prabhakar Pandurang Apte. (Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati Series 54) Tirupati 1991; Vol. 2 Critically ed. and translated into English by Prabhakar Pandurang Apte. Tirupati 2006.

Sātvatasaṃhitā: Sātvata-Saṃhitā. With Comment[a]ry by Alaśiṅga Bhaṭṭa. Foreword by Gaurinath Sastri. Ed. by Vraja Vallabha Dwivedi. (Library Rare Texts Publication Series 6). Varanasi 1982.

Śrīpraśnasaṃhitā: Śrīpraśna Samhitā. Ed. by Seetha Padmanabhan with the Foreword of V. Raghavan. (Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha Series 12). Tirupati 1969.

Viṣṇusaṃhitā . Ed. by M. M. Gaṇapati Sāstrī with an Elaborate Introduction by N. P. Unni. (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series 85). Revised & Enlarged Edition. Delhi 1991.

Viṣvaksenasaṃhitā: Viṣvaksena Saṃhitā. Crit. ed. by Laksmi Narasimha Bhatta. (Kendriya Sanskrita Vidyapeetha Series 17). Tirupati 1972.

Secondary sources:

Bhatta, L., K. H. Puranik and H. Rangarajan. 2005. Āgama Suṣamā. Glimpses of the National Seminar on Āgamas. Tirupati: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha.

Banerjea, J. N. 2002. The Development of Hindu Iconography. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. (Fifth edition).

Bhattacharya, N. S. P. 2005. Consecration of different deities based on Śrī Vaikhānasa Āgama. In: L. Bhatta, K. H. Puranik and H. Rangarajan. 2005. Āgama Suṣamā. Glimpses of the National Seminar on Āgamas. Tirupati: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha: 83–98.

Branfoot, C. 2013. Remaking the past: Tamil sacred landscape and temple renovations. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies. University of London vol. 76 no 1: 21–47.

Brunner-Lachaux, H. 1963–1998. Somaśambhupaddhati. Texte, Traduction et Notes. 4 vols. (PIFI 25.1–4). Pondicherry.

Colas, G. 1986. Le Temple selon Marīci. Pondichery: Publications de l’Institut Français d’Inologie.

Colas, G. 1996. Viṣṇu, ses images et ses feux. Les métamorphoses du dieu chez les vaikhānasa. Paris: Presses de l’École française d’Extrême Orient.

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, M. 2003. Pāñcarātra Scripture in the Process of Change. A Study of the Paramasaṃhitā. Publications of The De Nobili Research Library. Ed. Gerhard Obrehammer and Utz Podzeit. Vol. XXXI. Vienna.

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, M. 2007. Review article: S. Einoo and J. Takashima (Eds): From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration. Japanese Studies on South Asia nr 4. New Delhi, Manohar Publishers 2005. In: Indo-Iranian Journal. Groningen. Vol. 50, issue 3: 297-303

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, M. 2008. Studia nad pańćaratrą. Tradycja i współczesność. Kraków: WUJ.

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, M. 2011. Studia nad pańćaratrą, Część II. W poszukiwaniu tożsamości. Kraków: WUJ.

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, M. 2013. The Pratiṣṭhā Ceremony (Installation of an Idol) in Some Pāñcarātrika Sources. In: D. Stasik and A. Trynkowska (Eds). CEENIS Current Research Series vol. 1. Warsaw: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa: 149–157.

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz, M. forthcoming. At the crossroad of art and religion—image consecration in the Pāñcarātrika sources. Paper presented at the International Seminar Consecration Rituals in South Asia. Department of Archaeology and Religious Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 18.10.2012–20.10.2012.

Dagens, B. 1995. Mayamata. An Indian Treatise on Housing Architecture and Iconography. English translation. New Delhi: Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research.

Davis, R. H. 1999. Lives of Indian images. Princeton University Press.

Davis, R. H. 2000. Ritual in an Oscillating Universe. Worshiping Śiva in Medieval India. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.

Einoo, S. 2005. Notes on the Installation Ceremonies described in the Gr̥ hyapariśiṣṭas. In: S. Einoo and J. Takashima (Eds). From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers: 95–113.

Einoo, S. and J. Takashima (Eds). 2005. From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers.

Fuller, C. J. 2004. The renovation ritual in a south Indian temple: the 1995 kumbhābhiṣeka in the Minākṣī temple, Madurai. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 67 (1): 40–63.

Hikita, H. 2005. Consecration of Divine Images in the Temple. In: S. Einoo and J. Takashima (Eds). From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers: 143–197.

Narasimhan, L. K. K. C. 2005. Renovation and Consecration of Temples and Icons (Jīrṇoddhāraṇa/Navīkaraṇa). In: L. Bhatta, K. H. Puranik and H. Rangarajan. 2005. Āgama Suṣamā. Glimpses of the National Seminar on Āgamas. Tirupati: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha: 202–216.

Narayanan, V. 1984. Arcāvatāra: On Earth as He Is in Heaven. In: J. P. Waghorne and N. Cutler (Eds). Gods of Flesh, Gods of Stone. The Embodiment of Divinity in India. Chambersburg: Columbia University Press: 53–66.

Nayar, N. A. 1992. Poetry as Theology. The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.

Rama Bai, E. R. 2005. A Few Technical Aspects in Vaiṣṇava Āgamas. In: L. Bhatta, K. H. Puranik and H. Rangarajan. 2005. Āgama Suṣamā. Glimpses of the National Seminar on Āgamas. Tirupati: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha: 217–234.

Rospatt von, A. 2013. Buddhist strategies of keeping its sacred images and shrines alive: the example of Svayambhu - caitya of Kathmandu. In: D. Park, K. Wangmo, Sh. Cather (Eds). Art of Merit: Studies in buddhist Art and its Conservation. London: Courtauld Institute of Art: 275-285.

Sarma, S. A. S. forthcoming. ‘Re-installation’ of idols replacing damaged ones, with special referenece to the ritual literature of Kerala. Paper presented at the International Seminar Consecration Rituals in South Asia.

Department of Archaeology and Religious Studies, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 18.10.2012–20.10.2012.

Smith, D. H. 1963. See Pāñcarātraprāsādaprasādhanam.

Smith, D. H. and K. K. A. Venkatachari. 1969. A Sourcebook of Vaiṣṇava Iconography according to pāñcarātrāgama texts. Madras: Pāñcarātra Pariśodhana Pariṣad.

Sthapati, V. G. 2002. Indian Sculpture and Iconography. Forms and Measurements. English rendering by Sashikala Ananth. Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Society.

TAK = Tāntrikābhidhānakośa, A Dictionary of Technical Terms from Hindu Tantric Literature. H. Brunner, G. Oberhammer and A. Padoux (Eds). Vol. I. Wien 2000, vol. II Wien 2003, D. Goodall, M. Rastelli (Eds), vol. III Wien 2013: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Takashima, J. 2005. Pratiṣṭhā in the Śaiva Āgamas. In: S. Einoo and J. Takashima (Eds). From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers: 115–143.

Tsuchiyama, Y. 2005. Abhiṣeka in the Vedic and post-Vedic Rituals. In: S. Einoo and J. Takashima (Eds). From Material to Deity. Indian Rituals of Consecration. New Delhi: Manohar Publishers: 51–93.

Venkatachari, K. K. A. 2005. Pratiṣṭhā Rituals with Special Reference to Pāñcarātra Āgamas. In: L. Bhatta, K. H. Puranik and H. Rangarajan. 2005. Āgama Suṣamā. Glimpses of the National Seminar on Āgamas. Tirupati: Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha: 33–41.

Welbon, G. R. 1984. Mahāsaṃprokṣaṇa 1981. Āgama and Actuality in a Contemporary Temple Renovational. In: Agama and Silpa. Proceedings of the Seminar held in December 1981. Bombay: Ananthacharya Indological Research Institute: 69–102.

Downloads

Published

2014-12-21

How to Cite

Czerniak-Drożdżowicz , Marzenna. 2014. “When Gods Get Broken—the Theory and Practice of the jīrṇoddhāra and navīkaraṇa in the Pāñcarātrika Sources”. Cracow Indological Studies 16 (December):51-86. https://doi.org/10.12797/CIS.16.2014.16.04.

Funding data