That's not all. There
are other famous shrines in Tirupati town -
Govindarajaswamy. Kodanda ramaswamy, Tiruchanur
(Goddess Padmavathi), Kapila Theertham (Lord
Shiva) and Srinivasa Mangapuram (Sri Venkateshwara).
Swarga
Brahma Temple :
This important shrine
seems to have been constructed towards the
end of the 7th century A.D. There is an inscription
above the dwarapalika image, which states that
the shrine was constructed by Lokaditya-Ela-Arasa,
in honor of the queen of Vinayaditya, called
Mahadevi.
Like all other temples
except the Taraka Brahma, the Swarga Brahma
is a hall temple. The shrine is at the end
of the rectangular hall, which is divided into
a nave and side aisles by the use of pillars
connecting the passage. Like the Kumara Brahma,
the Swarga Brahma also has a porch. The panels
on the outer walls carry relief figures of
the Krishna Lila, Animals, Garuda-nose faces
and Matrumurti.
The pattern of carving
is the same as on the Vishva Brahma temple.
Although there had
been relief carvings in Aihole and Pattadakal,
the pantheism here shows a passionate enthusiasm
for exaltation of human form to divine status.
There are Pauranic scenes, loving couples and
flying spirits. And in the midst of these are
the independent realizations of the gods, by
the release into a certain innocence and freer
interpretation of the icon beyond the manner
of the Chalukyas in the west.
One of the new dhyana
mantras is a wall sculpture entitled Lingodbhavamurti
of Shiva, inset into a tall phallus, with worshipping
figures in a rectangular panel from which the
lingam is carved.
And a truncated figure
shows the remains of a dynamic sculpture of
shiva as Tripurasuramharamurti. The mobility
of the carving skillfully releases energies
into the universe with terrifying violence.
Another broken figure
is a relief of Gangavatarana, again as a demonstration
of the Alampur sculptor's genius for release
of potential power of the gods. A similar sculpture
of Shiva involved in the Tandava dance is a
heroic image. The frenzy of the movement is
caught in the ecstatic moment, by some Viswakarma,
realizing himself through the expression of
muscular energies into the universal image
of dance incarnate.
Shiva is shown in
another mood as he stands, pensively, with
the gracious bend of his body, almost supplicating
Parvati. The Mithuna couples show the sculptor's
sensitiveness to tenderness between the male
and the female, through the evocation of desire
lurking below the surface of life and evoked
here through the woman's shy withdrawal and
the man dragging her by the arm from the natural
urge of seduction.
The Swarga Brahma
temple has a six pillar porch on the east,
the Puranghata pillars being decorated with
amalkas. There are horned dwarpals by the doorway.
Ganga and Jamuna are symbolically carved on
the door-frame with the GarudaNaga motif above.
The temple has a curvilinear
sikhara of the northern style, with a figure
of dancing Shiva carved in the Chaitya window
of the Sukanasi.
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