________________________________________ It is well known that the erection of religious edifices, making of images, their consecration, the daily and periodical rites, festivals and the philosophy behind them are dealt with in the group of works called Āgamas or Tantras. Āgamas also speak of the erection of memorials to the dead and its worship. A full chapter is dedicated to the erection and sites of memorial to the dead in Rauravāgama (Rauravāgama-Part II. Edited by N.R. Bhatt, Institute Francaise Indology - Pondichery 1972 P. 35-46). It is called Kṣetraliṅga Pratiṣṭha. Mr. N.R. Bhatt has added very useful information by listing other Āgamas where this subject is dealt with. The Āgamas auch as the Kāmika, Kāraṇa, Kiraṇa, Cintya, Dipta, Makuta, Mataṅga-paramesvara, Yogaja, Suprebheda and Sūkṣma Āgamas deal with memorials. In some texts it is called samadhi-liṅga-sthāpana. The purpose of erecting morial is twofold namely for conferring benefits to the builder to relieve the cycle of births and deaths to the dead (Raurava, 30-31). The memorials can be erected within a temple or outside it. It can be erected on the banks of rivers, lakes, tanks, coastal regions, in the midst of forests, on the foot hills or in cemeteries if it is to be an independent one. Kāmika divides such memorial as independent (sva-pradhana) or dependent (para-aṅga) (Kāmika 11-66). If it is to be erected as a secondary or dependent one it should be installed in a temple, either in the central ambulatory or in the outer sālā (Raurava 30, 9-10). Various quarters are also prescribed for different desired effects.
The memorial can be either in the form of a liṅga or in the form of a figure sculpture. If it is a liṅga it may face either eastern or western direction, but if it is a figure sculpture it should face south. A temple of the variety of sarva-kama-prada or jayada may be erected for the memorial. For erecting normal temples, it is necessary to build a small miniature temple to perform the rites before erecting the main temple. Such miniature temples are called bālālayas. But for erecting memorial temples, no bālālaya should be constructed. The text prescribes the selection of stone, carving of the image, placing under water for a particular period (called nīrp-paṭuttal in Tamiḻ and jala-adhivāsa in Sanskrit) followed by resting it on grains for a particular period (sayana-adhivāsa) which are to be done as for installation of other deities. The laying of base-stone and special gems (ratna-nyāsa) are to be followed by the installatory rites. Final fire offerings and consecratory rite called kumbha-abhiṣeka must be performed. From the above it is seen that from the selection of stone to consecration, almost all rites prescribed for other deities are to be gone through for memorial sculptures. The consecration of Kaṇṇaki as described in the Cilappatikāram corresponds to these texts. We have a few instances conforming to this Āgamic prescription that needs our attention. In the 8th regnal year of Kampavarmaṉ, a certain Rājāditya erected a memorial to his diseased father, where he was laid to rest. The inscription reads, “in the place where his father was laid to rest, Rājāditya erected a īsvarālayā and atīta-gṛha (E. I. VII, p. 122-123). It is evident that the temple was erected in smaśāna, in the cemetery. In the temple itself there were two parts, one the main temple dedicated to Śiva and the atīta-gṛha probably a temple bearing a figure sculpture of the dead enshrined as a secondary temple. This is a very striking example of such memorial temples, mentioned in the epigraph. A number of paḷḷip-paṭai temples mentioned both in the Cōḻa and the Pāṇḍyā records are memorial temples. The images of the bhaktas including that of the Śaivaite Nāyanmārs and Vaiṣnavaite Ālvārs installed in temples and worshipped is probably after this tradition. A number of liṅgas to be seen in the enclosures of the temples, like the great temple of Tanjore, were probably the edifices installed in memory of those who were once intimately connected with the temple.
