Erotic Sculptures in the Vijayanagar Nayak Temples of Tamil Nadu

Abstract

Vijayanagara-Nāyaka temple's erotica is a much-coveted theme; this may be due to the rituals center on erotica or the need for śāstras and the fancy of the sculpture. There are no statistics on the Vijayanagara-Nāyaka temples in Tamilnadu. The temples have been selected on a random sampling basis from the four integral units of the Tamil country such as Toṇṭaināṭu, Koṅkunātu, Cōḻanāṭu and Pāṇḍināṭu. The temples are dedicated to gods and goddesses of different sectarian lineages, such as Śiva, Viṣṇu, Śākti and so on. The study involves a more comprehensive field study, random survey, and intensive analysis of the available erotic sculptures, which are made to study the sculptures available in different research conducted from time to time in the study area. The historic Andal Temple, Srivilliputtur, Annamalaiyar Temple, Tiruvannamalai, Avinashi Lingeswarar Temple, Avinashi, AnnurManneshwarar Temple, Annur, Azhakar Temple, Madurai, Ekambaranathar Temple, Gangaikonda Cholaeswarar Temple, Gangaikonda Cholaeswarm, Kamakshi Amman temple, Kanchipuram, KoodalAzhagar Temple Madurai, KasiViswanathar Temple, Thenkasi, Kuduminathar Temple Kudumiyanmalai, Masilamaninathar Temple Thirumullaivoyal, Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, Nellaiappar Temple, Tirunelveli, Sokkeshwarar Temple, Kanchipuram, Sri Sundra Varadaraja Perumal Temple, Uttiramerur, Thyagaraja Temple, Tiruvottiyur, ThirumuruganathaTemple, Thirumuruganpoondi, Thirukutralanadhar Temple, Kutralam, VaradharajaPerumal Temple, Kanchipuram.