Kirtimukha - The Face of Glory

KIRTIMUKHA

For educational purpose Not for commercial use CREDITS Illustrations by- Srushti Dhobley Content- By different blogs and research gates https://medium.com/@Kalpavriksha/ kirtimukha-the-face-of-glory-9ba093dafea1 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Upperpart-of-a-torana-Yatkha-Baha-Kathmanduc-12th-century-CE_fig14_283515953

PREFACE A

ll art in ancient India was spiritual in natural and catered to the

religious needs of the people. Every motif used, every sculpture carved had a deep spiritual meaning, as all art was seen as a divine creation.

This close relationship between art and religion manifested itself into all aspects of artistic creation.

This is the reason why you see the same motifs recurring across art forms, from literature to temple sculptures to folk culture. Nowhere is this fusion of art and spirituality more evident than in the figure of the Kirtimukha or ‘face of glory’ that you find in temple architecture all over India and Asia.

Ananda Coomaraswamy has described the nature of Hindu art -

“There is no hard line drawn between the secular and the religious in life; religion

is not so much a formula, as a way of looking at things, and so all the work of life may be done as it were unto the Lord”.

The Kirtimukha first appeared in the Indian art scene as a sacred Shaivite symbol and transformed itself into a decorative element that is seen in all temples everywhere from the threshold of the garbhgriha to the top of the lofty Gopurams.

भोगा न भुक्ता वयमेव भुक्ताः, तपो न तप्तं वयमेव तप्ताः। कालो न यातो वयमेव याताः, तृष्णा न जीर्णा वयमेव जीणार्ः ॥

The pleasures of life are not consumed by us, it is we that are consumed by the pleasures.

A penance is not performed by us, we merely suffer the pain of the penance.

Time has not gone by, We have been carried away by time (without our consent and away from our goal).

Our longings have not been fulfilled or exhausted, we have been wasted by our longings.

Splendid of Self Reflection...........................................................................................................................................1

CHAPTER- 2 Description of Kirtimukha...............................................................................................................................................8

CHAPTER- 3 Impact on Architecture....................................................................................................................................................15

CHAPTER- 4 Metamorphosis................................................................................................................................................................................22

CHAPTER- 5 Contemporary Influences...........................................................................................................................................31

CONTENT

CHAPTER- 1

SPLENDID OF SELF REFLECTION

CHAPTER 1

1

O

nce upon a time, a certain yogi who was a little too proud of

himself arrived to see Shiva simply sitting there.

2

He stared at him, attempting to irritate him. Shiva refused to answer by merely sitting there, so he abused him. When Shiva didn’t react, he prodded him in the chest and added, “You’re merely sitting there because you’re terrified of me.” You have no idea what I know, and you lack my abilities.

3

This irritated Shiva to the point where he pulled a hair from his head and created a monster out of it, telling the demon, “eat eat up this yogi. He has no right to be on this world.” Within minutes, the demon had grown to enormous proportions and was following the yogi.

4

Yogi was afraid, so he ran up to Shiva and cried out, “Please, help me, don’t let this creature eat me.” Then Shiva changed his mind and replied, “All right, just leave and let him go.” The yogi then fled, horrified.

5

But the demon stood there, starving because he was made solely to feed, and he asked, “Now that you’ve released that yogi, what am I supposed to do?” Shiva had already slowed down and ordered, “Eat yourself.”

6

The demon then began to gobble himself up before Shiva could turn around and gaze at him. When he glanced at him, he saw that his entire body had vanished, leaving only his face and two arms.

7

“How quickly did you eat yourself up? You are the most glorious face, you are above all gods” Shiva asked, looking at him. Shiva and other adi yogi recongnised that the one who eats himself up or the one who makes nothing out of himself.

He is the most glorious face of the planet because you do not carry this life as a burden.

DESCRIPTION OF KIRTIMUKHA CHAPTER 2

8

K

irti is derived from the Sanskrit root krit, meaning ‘celebrating, praising’.

Mukha means ‘face’. Kirti in Sanskrit also means ‘temple’.

The Kirtimukha or ‘Face of Glory’, is a ferocious monster face with protruding eye-balls, huge fangs and gaping mouth found in temple architecture allover Asia. The Kirthimukha is a protector deity, a guardian warding the edifices off all evils.

‘The body of the monster was lean and emaciated, symbolising its insatiable hunger, yet its strength was resilient and irresistible.

The Vapparition’s throat roared like thunder; eyes burnt like fire; the mane, dishevelled, spread far and wide into space.’

9

The Kirtimukha is symbolic of our thoughtless

Esoteric meaning

pursuit

of

worldly

possessions and pleasures, and has been placed prominently in places of worship to remind us: “Until you recognize the existence

of this avaricious nature in you and conquer over it, your spiritual quest can not even begin.”

The Kirtimukha is a personification of ‘glory’ aka pride, arrogance, in short, ego. It serves as a reminder to everybody that ego is essentially self destructive. Ego sustains itself by consuming everything in the person it whom it resides.

10

It has been said To represent the cosmic fire that periodically cleanses the world, or to be the emblem of Sun and Death, the pair that generates and destroys everything in the world. The name Kala-Makara indicates that it may be Time, the great destroyer.

The Kirtimukha mask is present in all of us. Spiritual aspirants are reminded of this stark reality and warned about its hidden power by the Kirtimukha image present everywhere in the temples. Kirtimukha is thus a threshold guardian to maturity, to the deepening of wisdom.

In Dharmic cosmology, the asuras (demons) are cousins of the gods, and are created from the same cosmic material. They are demonic however,

“

I shall call you Face of Glory, ‘Kirttimukha’, and you shall shine above the doors to all my temples. No one who refuses to honor and worship you will come ever to knowledge of me.

because they identify the Self with the body. All their power is perverted in finding ways to satisfy their material consciousness.

”

11

Oldest Myth The

oldest is the myth of Rahu. Like

Long ago, the gods arranged with their

Grasa, Rahu means “devourer,” and

enemies, the demons, for their help

both names are identified with the

in churning the oceans.

great devourer, Time. This story is

The churning of the waters would

told in the Mahabharata and in the

produce the nectar of the gods, amrita,

Brhatsamhita.

which would make whomever drank it immortal.

This was to be divided between the gods and the demons. After the churning, however, the demons carried off the amrita themselves.

12

They quarreled among themselves, each wanting more than the others.

Finally, they entrusted it to the god Vishnu for division, but Vishnu took the cup of amrita and gave it all to the gods. The demon Rahu assumed the

beyond Rahu’s neck, so the moon soon passes through and reappears in the night sky The head of Rahu then chases after it again, causing an

endless

cycle

of

eclipses.

Shiva. Shiva extended his protection,

through his throat.

but this left a problem, for the new

Having drunk the nectar of immortality,

monster had nothing to devour.

however, the head of Rahu could it

has

flown

through the sky, trying to drink again from the cup of immortality This cup is the moon. Every now and then Rahu catches up to the cup and devours it.

It is then that we have an eclipse of the moon. But

there

is nothing

lightning,” hair standing on end, and

Rahu threw himself upon the mercy of

head before the amrita could pass

since,

monster with a lolling tongue, “eyes like

to devour Rahu.

him, however, and struck off Rahu’s

Ever

manifested itself as a lion-headed

hunger, which immediately threatened

and he succeeded. Vishnu recognized

die.

of color or a third eye. The energy

an emaciated body, the very spirit of

shape of a god in order to get a drink,

not

that is so often marked with a daub

In

other

story,

the

demon

king

Jalandhara wished to humiliate the god Shiva and sent Rahu to demand that Shiva send Jalandhara his bride, Parvati. Shiva’s answer was to emit a burst of energy from his ajna chakra that power spot between his eyebrows

What, it asked the Lord Shiva, should it now eat? Shivas solution—since he could not annihilate what he had created—was to tell it to eat itself. This the monster readily did, devouring as much of itself as it could reach, all the way to its neck, so that only the face remained.

13

Rahu the eclipse demon of India.

Detail of a painting by Indoneian artist I.M Sidigriya. According to one set of myth, rahu drank the amrita, the liquire of immortality. His head was struck off, but because it had drunk of amrita he could not die. Ever since, it circles the sky trying to drink from cup of amrita, which is the moon. When it catches up with the moon, there is a linar eclipse. But the eclipse soon ends, because the moon passes out through the neck. The head of Rahu became the kirtimukha. In other legends Rahu was the catalyst by which kirtimukha

was

formed.

Photograph

Donald F.Trombino, F.R.A.S, Davis Memorial Solar Observatory.

14

“

Shiva named the Hunger Kirtimukha, the immortal face of glory. Shiva, who is Constant Awareness, wants you to be aware of the real nature of the universe, to accept it. To live in the world, is to be aware of that constant hunger, and as always, Shiva or Awakended Consciousness is the only way in which you can transcend it.

In Sanskrit the spread of a word is

designated

as

mukha-karna-

parampara, “succession from mouth to ear,” and the expression mukhara, literally “having a face/mouth,” is used to describe resonant thunder or a loud voice because it was believed that the atmosphere has five faces: four faces in the four directions surrounding a face in the center. This view correlates with the concept that the sky is the region where kirti, in the form of the sound voice, blows like wind in all directions.

”

IMPACT ON ARCHITECTURE CHAPTER 3

15

Impressed by the creature’s ability to endure pain and to sacrifice itself, Lord Shiva addressed the creature as Kirtimukha, and blessed him with the boon that the ‘Face Of Glory’ would be present on the threshold and lintels of all Shiva temples to devour the sins of the devotees who visit the temples.

Hence the Kirtimukha began to be carved on the lintel of doorways to Shiva temples and on the threshold of the door leading to the Garbhgriha.

16

Kirtimukha in Temple Architecture Initially meant to adorn the threshold and lintel of temples dedicated to Lord Shiva, the Kirtimukha soon became a popular decorative motif in temples dedicated to all deities. The kirtimukha is depicted as a fierce lion like face with stylised horns, a gaping mouth with protruding fangs, frowning eyebrows, bulbous eyes, matted hair flowing in all directions and fan-shaped ears.

17

The Kirtimukha is also known as Kalamukha, as it symbolises time that devours everything. According to O. C. Ganguly, in iconography, the Kirtimukha began

to

appear

first

in

Siva’s

jatamukuta or crown of matted hair as a protective motif. By sixth century CE, the motif became so popular for its perceived power to bestow protection and ward of evil-eye that it began to be carved on the top of the aureole or prabhavali of sculptures of all deities.

18

In śilpaśāstra texts like the Mānāsara, the Kirtimukha is described as a protective motif that can be carved on all parts of the temple like the pillars, the Shuknasi and the layers of the jagati. Sometimes, the Kirtimukha is

associated

with

the

makara

(crocodile) motif, especially in SouthEast Asia and Odisha.

Before entering, worshipers always pay their respects first to the Face of Glory by sprinkling it with water. If it is located on the floor, they are careful not to step on it.

19

In

Dravida

temple

architecture, the Kirtimukha is found on the door-lintel of the main shrine, on the vimana,

at

the

base

of

the pillars as well as on a separate layer of Kirtimukhas at the base of the outer walls of the temple.

20

In Kalinga architecture, the Kirtimukha

In Hoysala temples particularly, you

motif is known as vajra-mastaka and

see

is depicted on the gandi or spire of

everywhere, from the base of the outer

the temple. In Kalinga architecture

layer of the temple to the Shuknasi, or

as seen in the temples of Odisha, the

beak like projection at the base of the

Kirtimukha motif is depicted with pearl

Shikhara of the temple.

or Rudraksha strings dripping from its mouth, a symbolic representation of the wealth and devotion of the king who is building the temple.

the

Kirtimukha

motif

carved

21

The motif is often found on the lintels of the gates, at the corners of the pillars, surmounting the pinnacle of a temple tower or in the iconography of a deity.

It is present in all forms of Asian art.

METAMORPHOSIS CHAPTER 4

22

As a result, we no longer witness a cloudscape but an image of a real snake or snakes with erect hoods.

In

accordance

with

this

new interpretation, the kirtimukha gradually

turned

devouring snakes.

A

s discussed the serpentine motif at length because understanding

its significance is closely related to the

metamorphic

development

of

kirtimukha in medieval Nepal.

A wooden work from Yatkha Baha, Kathmandu shows both the cloudfoliage motif and the serpentine motif emerging from the pair of makaras’ mouths and linking to kirtimukha at the apex of the arch.

Although

this

is

not

the

earliest

example, it clearly shows that the serpentine motif (actually a real snake with a scaly exterior) has now become part

of

kiritmukha’s

iconography.

This development paved the way for the next step of evolution, in which the original concept related to the serpentine

cloudscape

forgotten or ignored.

was

either

into

Garuda

23

Just a few decades later the snakes

It shows kirtimukha with wings and a

Most important, the cloud foliage

began to appear as a naga and

beak like nose, which indicate that

seen in the seventh and eighthcentury

nagini, personified male and female

kirtimukha is now in the process of being

Nepalese stone sculptures representing

serpents.

artistic

interpreted as Garuda. This sculpture

an arch can still be seen here, albeit

development was in harmony with

can be dated stylistically to either

on a diminutive scale,immediately

the preexisting popular concept that

the ninth or tenth century because

below the serpentine motif. We can

a snake devouring Garuda appears

the serpentine motif, emerging from

detect the birdlike development of

in the clouds. A transitional stage of

the mouth of the makaras, does not

kirtimukha not only in Nepalese works

development is a rare stone sculpture

curve like a crawling snake as it does

but also in the contemporaneous art

found in the vicinity of Bhuvaneshwar

in later periods, but retains the original

of the Tibetan tradition. An example is

temple, about two blocks west of the

undulating, voluminous shape.

a ninth or tenth-century wooden book

famous

Incidentally,

Pashupatinath

Kathmandu.

this

temple

in

cover showing horned Garuda with outstretched wings holding the stems of lotus vines that turn into the tail of the outward-facing makaras.

24

The face of Garuda distantly echoes

Buddha

on

This becomes evident if we juxtapose

kirtimukha, but the crescent moon of

kirtimukha/vanaspati with a prominent

two Nepalese works separated by a

the Nepalese kirtimukha is interpreted

beak

The

millennium. In the seventh-century

by the Tibetan artist as the horns of

identification of the subject of these

Nepali example of kirtimukha described

the bird known to followers of the Bon

sculptures has been controversial for

above , we see cloud foliage emerging

religion as khyung. Indian and Nepali

many decades.

from the face and mingling with the

Shakyamuni

and

extended

standing wings.

foliated tails of the outward-facing pair

Garuda is devoid of horns. In contrast, horns,

Cultural and artistic changes in South

of lions. Compare this stone sculpture

frequently appears in early Tibetan art.

Asian art quite often take place without

with a late seventeenth-century Nepali

Thus, one can argue that the transition

replacing earlier elements, Garuda did

painting in which we find the continuity

from kirtimukha to the big bird may

not supersede kirtimukha at a particular

of iconographic elements such as the

have taken place in the art of the

point in time. Rather, the multiple

grotesque face with crescent moon on

Tibetan tradition.

Phases

the head, the cloud foliage, and the

khyung,

with

its

prominent

of

the

kirtimukha/Garuda

motif’s transitional development were We should not, however, insist on this

retained in overlapping fashion for

point because we find kirtimukha

many centuries.

changing into Garuda not only in the Himalayan region but also in Southeast Asia, an early example being a series of well-known stone sculptures showing

lions.

25

new

The metamorphic development of

With careful observation, one can

features are the outstretched wings of

kirtimukha is reflected in the etymology

detect in some examples the eyes,

the birdlike kirtimukha and the green

of certain ancient Newari words. As

nose, and mouth of kirtimukha hidden

snakes. Such images of kirtimukha/

mentioned

thecloud-foliage

in the cloud foliage of the “head pouch”

Garuda cannot be found earlier than

motif (meghapatra or abhrapatra)

motif. This may be the reason that

the ninth century.

was known to the Newars of the valley

the Buddhist author preferred to call

as

Likewise,

kramasirsa “the culminating head.”

in

their

Even after kirtimukha metamorphosed

chyampvo,

into a bird, the Newar artists kept the

The

immediately

noticeable

lapvo,

earlier,

“water

kirtimukhawas artistic

pouch.”

designated

terminology

as

“head pouch.”

Newari nomenclature with a different

A Buddhist author, perhaps a Newar,

spelling: chempu or chepu. The original

translated the Newari word into Sanskrit

meaning and etymology of chyampvo

as kramasirsa, “the culminating head.”

was forgotten, and in art kirtimukha

At the apex of a torana, or niches of the

had already turned into a bird.

Nepali chaityas, in multiple examples, we find a cloud motif that looks like a lotus rather than kirtimukha. It is this apex cloud motif which is known to Newars as “head pouch.”

26

Therefore, in modern Newari, Chempu

In a seventeenth- to nineteenth-

mythical bird.

century drawing depicting Buddha’s

According to one story, Chempu is

related to the story, is represented as

not exactly Garuda but his brother.

an auspicious phenomenon of the

I have found that this story is more

atmosphere, and a label inscription

popular among the Newar family

given in the latter identifies the bird

of artisans and artists than among

as Garuda.

or Chepu became the name of a

regular Newar households, perhaps because both lapvo and chyampvo derive from artistic technical terms.

Newar mothers and grandmothers try to divert the attention of crying children by directing them to watch Garuda rather than chempu fighting with snakes in the cloud formations.

century painting and a nineteenthlife, a flying Garuda, although not

27

• In Bali, the motif is today called Bhoma and has has the same function as the Javanese Kāla as a guardian spirit of the temple. In Bali, the head of Bhoma is carved both at the temple gate which marks the entrance to the holiest part of the shrine (paduraksa) and at the base of the padmasana, the holiest and most central shrine in Balinese temples.

When located at the bottom of the sacred padmasana, Karang Bhoma is a guardian spirit of the shrine, which also symbolizes the forest at the foot of the mountain.

• In China it is a dragon form with a python’s body and a demon head, known as taotie (‘Monster of Greed’).

28

• In Java, Sumatra and Cambodia, it is called Kāla or sometimes Banaspati (‘King of the Woods’). The Kāla with the Makara-Torana sprouting from it is found in Java and Sumatra as the Kalamakara Torana. Many gates in Javanese traditional buildings feature Kāla. In Borobodur, the gate to the stairs is adorned with a giant head, making the gate look like the open mouth of the giant.

• In Tibetan Buddhism, the Kirtimukha are the Buddha’s guardians.

29

• In Javanese mysticism, Kāla is the

In

cause of the solar and lunar eclipses

(Vanaspati) is the king of the plant

and is the consort of Durga.

kingdom. The name Bhoma came

In temples, the passage to the most

from the Sanskrit word bhauma, which

holy courts is only possible through

means “something that grows” or “is

the open mouth of the Kāla. This step

born from earth”.

is meant as symbolic death and as cleansing for anyone wishing to get closer to the gods and to Shiva.

Java

and

Bali,

Banaspati

30

Kirtimukha is described in the Skanda

• In India the Kirtimukha is generally a

Purana, where Shiva ordered it to be

lion form, sometimes known as Simha-

represented at the lintel of the sanctum.

mukha. In Orissa, they are called

It is thus prescribed in famous manuals

Rahur-Mukher-Mala. In Gujarat, the

of architecture such as the Manasara.

Kirtimukha is often called Graspati.

Kirtimukha

is

also

found

above

sculptures of deities, forming an arch of vegetation erupting from his mouth and from his crown chakra. It is then interpreted as the deity of vegetation and of forest which grows in the soil and obtaining water.

CONTEMPORARY INFLUENCES

CHAPTER 5

31

Kirtimukha in Indian Art and Crafts Because of its perceived powers as a guardian deity that wards off evil, the Kirtimukha is a very popular motif in jewellery as well as in paintings of a religious character like the pattachitra of Odisha and the Thangka scroll paintings of Tibet, Sikkim and Ladakh.

32

Kirtimukha in Literature There are many references to the Kirtimukha According

in to

Sanskrit V.S.

literature.

Agrawala,

the

Kirtimukha was believed to be the motif that makes the temple structure stable, and its destruction in any manner would cause the collapse of the whole edifice. In the PadmaPurana, Prabhu Shri Ram is advised to break the Kirtimukha that crowns Ravana’s palace in Lanka with his bow in order to bring down the whole edifice.

33

Kirtimukha as trend In recent years, the Kirtimukha has proved to be a very popular motif in body tattoos as it is believed that the Kirtimukha tattoo will protect the person from any harm and keep him/ her safe and healthy. Kirtimukha motif has also been used in Kosa sarees woven in Chattisgarh state.

34

CONCLUSION Ancient Indians believed that words are sounds.

Kirti

is

not

“mysterious or

glorious

exactly

“glory”

but

regarding

the

atmospheric

words

sound

achievement of a person” that spread through space like a resounding voice.

Kirtimukha

was

also

known

as

pancavaktra, “a creature with five faces or mouths.”

Pancavaktra is also a word for a

lion because the creature, due to its resonant roar, is believed to have five

roaring mouths, thus symbolizing the atmospheric phenomenon of sound.

In Indic art, atmosphere is regularly

The cloudscape looks sometimes like

or head, preferably that of a lion,

serpent.

represented by a grotesque face which tallies with literary statements

a lotus vine, sometimes like a crawling

regarding atmosphere.

The significance of the serpentine

The symbolic identity of kirtimukha

motif became a real serpent;

with

the

atmosphere

is

always

indicated by a stylized cloudscape

emerging from either a face or a mouth.

Kirtimukha began to appear at the

apex of Gupta/Vakataka and postGupta-period makara toranas

because the entrances represent the cloud gate of heaven.

motif was quickly forgotten and the thus kirtimukha turned into Garuda.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author takes great pleasure in expressing his gratitude to the authorities of the government and to Dr. Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Director, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Samgrahalaya. I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to them, because of their wisdom on such topics encouraged me to work on Kirtimukha. It was a great opportunity to spread awareness on defunct indian motif.

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