Soma Skanda and Ganesha

Walk up to the first aisle in this gallery. Look for a set of sculptures named Somaskanda. This is the subject of our next story.

The statue in front of you is a 15th century sculpture from Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. It depicts Shiva, the God of destruction, his wife Parvati, and their son Muruga. This little domestic group of father, mother and son became a popular icon during the Pallava period. The Pallavas ruled parts of present-day Tamil Nadu between the 4th and 9th centuries CE. Their capital was Kancheepuram.

This icon is called Somaskanda. ‘So’ in Soma Skanda refers to Shiva, Uma is Parvati and Skanda is another name for Muruga as a child. If you are familiar with Indian Gods, you will notice that someone is missing from this family portrait - Shiva’s other son, Ganesha, the elephant-headed god.

You can see many sculptures of Ganesha in this gallery. He finds a place at the entrance of almost every Hindu temple today. Even as far back as the 4th century CE, he was a popular god in the kingdom of Pandyas, further down south.

So why is he missing from the Soma Skanda icon? Because, during the Pallava period, when this icon became popular, Ganesha was relatively unknown in their lands. Ganesha started appearing in Pallava temples only by the 6th or 7th century CE.

How do archaeologists know this? Some historical evidence, and some conjecture. Ancient Tamil literature dating to the 3rd century BCE talks of only 5 major Gods - Vishnu, Indra, Varuna, the goddess Kottravai and the most popular of them all, Muruga. Shiva himself was conspicuously absent. In fact, the earliest reference to Shiva in South Indian literature comes only around the 5th century CE.

Then, between the 6th and 8th centuries, a group of religious poets called the Nayanmars wrote prolific literature and poems in praise of Shiva. This was exactly the time when the Pallavas were at their peak. The Pallava kings accepted Shiva as their main god and built stately temples dedicated to him. Many of these temples still stand today.

It was only by the 7th century CE that Ganesha started appearing in Pallava temples. A popular devotional song called the ‘Vatapi Ganapatim’ hints at the story.

In 642 CE, the Pallava king Narasimhavarman the first defeated the Chalukya king, Pulakesi the second. He invaded the Chalukya capital Vatapi, now called Badami in modern day Karnataka. Story goes that his brave commander brought back an image of Ganesha from Vatapi, and installed it in his hometown, Tiruchenkattankudi, in Tamil Nadu. It is believed that the statues there could be the oldest evidence of Ganesha worship under the Pallavas.

Gradually, Ganesha got absorbed into Shiva’s family as another son of Shiva in Pallava territories too.