A dais as big as earth, a canopy as wide as sky
The mantapa, in front of the same vedi, contains many pillars with numerous panels showing various themes from Indian epics, mythologies and even a few genre ones.
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(L) The dais in the Kalyana Mantapa of the Jalakhanteswara Temple in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore; (M) a ceiling panel of the Jalakhanteswara Kalyana Mantapa showing Asta Dikpalakas in a procession and a circ
If a person’s life is flourishing, say, like a flower perpetually in full bloom, others would say about the person, “Nitya Kalyanam, Pacha Toranam”, which in English may not sound great; but the idiom means ‘eternal wedding, green streamers’. These days, most weddings occur in marriage halls where wedding planners take care of the dais, its decoration, etc. But in earlier times, a family would set a modest dais (arugu in Telugu) for the bride, bridegroom and a few others, and also a spacious canopy (pandiri in Telugu) in front of the dais for guests. Before setting them, the family head would say a fine idiom, “Aakasa-manta pandiri, Bhoodevi-anta arugu”, which means that the wedding would be conducted on a dais as big as the Earth-Goddess in front of a canopy as wide as the sky. This particular expression reminds me of the Kalyana Mantapa of Sri Jalakhanteswara Temple in the Vellore Fort (late 16th century), which was built by Chinna Bomma Nayanka and Timma Nayaka. The exquisitely carved Kalyana Mantapa, which appears to date earlier than the surrounding fort, presents a visual version of the same idiom in its architectural and sculptural layout, and also adds many more nuances to the expression, quite fascinatingly.