On how the majestic vehicle shares many aspects.

Watching a huge temple chariot trundling along without any contretemps can be an awe-inspiring experience. There are references in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata to military chariots and chariots for royalty. Tamil scholar Malayaman says, “Sangam work Porunaratrupadai talks of ‘kottil seida kodingi nedunther,’ ‘kottil’ indicating that wood was the material used. Tamil literature even names the parts of chariots - therkudam for the hub of the wheels, therkodungai for the roof, therkoombu for the pinnacle and so on.” King Bhoja (10th century C.E.) talks of streets that are broad enough to allow easy passage of military chariots.

Sangam works – Aganaanooru and Pattinappalai - describe Surya’s one wheel chariot. There is a reference to the Puri Jagannath ratha in the Skanda Puranam. In Srirangam, an inscription describes the golden chariot gifted by Sundara Pandya in the 13th century C.E.

There is an inscription (1670 C.E.) at the Venkataswamin temple in Ellanuru, Andhra, that indicates a portion of land taxes that was used to meet the expenses of the ratha yatra.

Silpa texts such as Mahaviswakarmeeyam, Rathalakshanam and Aparajitapruccha describe the making of the ratha. Sthapathy Umapathy Acharya says, “The Apri Sukta and Pavamana Sukta from Rig Veda are recited when the tree is cut. A chariot has a Vedi, in each layer. Vedi is the term used for Vedic altar.”

A list of all Vedic references to rathas has been compiled by Bagavathy Veezhinathan, whose interest was sparked off because Vaiyapuri Acharya, who made the big chariot of Kumbakonam Sarangapani temple, and also the old, gutted chariot of Thiruvarur, was her husband’s grandfather.

“Vedic Gods Tvastr and Ribhus are referred to as chariot makers,” she says. “Sages of the Rig Veda compare themselves to chariot makers and their verses to chariots. The Jaiminiya Brahmana, Aitareya Brahmana and Kausitaki Brahmana describe Vedic sacrifice itself as a chariot. In the Vedas, chariots are identified with all gods.”

Later works such as Vishnu Tattva Samhita and the Pancharatra Agama, describe temple chariots as sarvadevamaya- embodiment of all gods, and sarvayajnamaya- embodiment of all sacrifices.

Instructions about the making of the ratha for Vishnu temples, given in the Purushottama Samhita, a Pancharatra agama, conjure up an image of an opulent ratha. “This text says that chariots may be made in metal or wood, but if it is in metal, it has to be gold plated – swarnagata, and studded with nine gems – navaratnakhacita,” says Sanskrit scholar Dr. Prabhakar Apte. “The Samhita says there should be a hall inside the ratha, supported by entrances and pillars- dwarastambha shatavrutam, in the diminishing range of 100, 16, 12 or 8, whichever suits the hall - sabha vibhava vistaaram. There can be up to 14 layers, with inhabitants of the14 worlds represented in them. At the middle of the ratha is a tortoise shaped Vedi, above which a snake with 1,000 hoods is represented.

The deity is seated on a golden swing in the middle of the Vedi. The Vishnu Tilak Samhita talks about invoking Vayu on the wheel and Garuda on the entire chariot.”

It is emphasised that the chariot should have intricate sculpturing, and that the incarnations of Vishnu are to be depicted. There is a symbolically rich representation of different aspects of Narasimha in five panels of the Sarangapani temple chariot.

Skambha Narasimha - where Narasimha seems ready to rush to the rescue of Prahlada; Yuddha Narasimha, where both demon and deity are of the same height, perhaps to show the large ego of the demon, which made him see himself as divine; Vada Narasimha - where the Lord is in a punishing mood; Yoga Narasimha and Lakshmi Narasimha.

“Narasimha is generally represented in all temple chariots, including the ones in Siva temples,” says Umapathy. Regarding measurements, he says the size and type of the chariot vary according to the sanctum sanctorum.

While silpa texts talk of the merits of chariot making, Bagavathy says that one must look at a Vedic reference to gauge the benefits of temple rathas. “The Taittriya Brahmana says ‘vajro vai rathah.’ The chariot is being compared to the thunderbolt here. So we must infer that a temple chariot will destroy all evil in its path.”

However, beyond all this, there must have been a social purpose behind introducing chariots in temple worship. A ratha is a moving temple, a description no other vahana can lay claim to. Like a temple, it has an adisthanam and Vedis. So a ratha makes it possible for the devotees to worship their favourite God in their own place without going to the temple. In this context, this writer is reminded of a story by Tamil author Devan. A rich family has chairs arranged in the balcony to view the temple procession from a vantage point. But when the procession arrives, the maid, who goes upstairs to do some cleaning, witnesses the procession, while her master and his family are busy elsewhere! Yes, rathas are not just for the rich, but for the meek and the weak too.

Weight management

Dr. J. S. Rao, retired professor of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Delhi, says topology optimisation can help reduce the weight of temple rathas, without tampering with their traditional structure. “In any structure, there’s a lot of dead weight, that doesn’t bear the load. Load is measured by the stress in the system. What we do is to measure strain energy density. Where this is zero, we know there is dead weight, and we can get rid of the weight without damaging the structure in any way. Strain energy density is a product of stress and strain, where stress is the force and strain, the displacement. I applied this in designing the advanced military aircraft engine, Kaveri for light combat aircraft and also in designing High Speed Cryogenic Pumps for Last Stage of Geostationary Launch Vehicle for ISRO,” he says. He is going to present a paper on topology optimisation and rathas in Manchester, later this year.

Chariot festival

This year, the Srivilliputtur chariot festival (Aadi Pooram) falls on July 30. The chariot, donated by Thirumalai Naicker, was damaged in course of time. A new chariot was made by Sri Ranganarayana Jeer, the 19th head of Vanamamalai Math, and had its maiden run in 1849 C.E. This is the ratha that we see now. It is 75 ft in height and has nine storeys. The panels and woodwork from the old chariot can be seen in the Gopala Vilasa mandapam in the temple.