|
Home > Temples of Kerala > Pranaala and Ambumaargga Pranaala and AmbumaarggaThe pranaala(water chute) also known as ovu or go-mukha is an important part of the sreekovil and it is for draining out lustral (abhisheka) water,particularly from the sanctum. It projects outside on the same distance of ambumaargga and has a length of 3/4, 1 % times the height of the basement, half of which is inside the wall of the sreekovil. The breadth at its base is 1/3, 1/4, 1/5 of its length and at its extremity the breadth is one-third of its base. Pranaala is also related to the position of idol. They are of different shapes viz circular, many faceted, square, rectangular etc. Apart from its ritualistic need it is an excellent architectural piece. The base of the spout often looks like vyaala (a ferocious fabulous animal) and at its extremity go-mukha (the face of a cow). In some temples the pranaalas have ornamentations such as pearl-strings, creepers and armlets encircling the sundu (shape of elephant trunk), and padma (shape of a flower or of a bud). Bhoothafigures have become complements to the go-mukha in some temples since 1300 A.D. In some other temples there are more than one such water-chutes from the sanctum (eg. Sree Thirumandhamkunnu Bhagavathi temple, Angadippuram in Malappu!:am district) Though the purpose of the pranaala is simple, it is an architectural piece in most temples. The ambumaargga (water course or mere drain) is at the end of prathi or gala along the madhya-soothra running generally 'north' with deviation of 1/8,1/9 or 1/10 or 1/11 of the length between Soma~ (north) and isaaga (NE). In some of the temples dedicated to Bhadrakaali facing north the water-chute is rarely seen projecting to west. Diagram 13 gives the various types of prannala from a channelled stone through sundu (elephant trunk), vyaala-mukha, go-mukha, simha-mukha and padma.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
