Pillared halls or mandapams are part of the Hindu temple architecture and are more poplar and visible in south Indian states than in the northern states. Some experts argue the concept of 1000 pillar hall has links with decimal numbers such as 1000,etc as such multiples are mentioned in the Vedic scriptures. I don' t want to dwell in to this controversial subject. Notwithstanding the roots of their origin or architectural evolution of huge halls, the big halls of Srirangam, Madurai, Thiruvannamalai, Rameswaram corridors highlight the heyday of architectural finesse in temple designs mostly using hard stones, The carved and ornate pillars with life size images of humans or animals bear testimony to the grandeur and glory of large Hindu temples that are part of ethos and culture of this country. Such amazing halls represent the sermons in stone, an epitome of artistry and workmanship.
Meenakshi temple in Madurai, Ramanatha swamy temple in Rameswaram, Ranganathar temple, Srirangam, Nellaiappar (Shiva) Tirunelveli, Arunachaleswar (Shiva) of Tiruvannamalai, Sri Natarajar temple Chidambaram and several other temples of Nayak period have got huge stone halls called 1000 pillar Mandapas. Of all them the Thousand pillared hall temple in Hanamakonda Warangal now part of Telangana built in 1163 during Chalukya period, is a good example of ingenious temple design and the credit goes to the Kakatiya artisans who were master stone sculptors. All these Hindu temples highlight cultural richness, artistic mastery in stone carving and design style that have blended to create a priceless tapestry. Unfortunately The Delhi sultanate army of Alauddin Khilji during their war expedition to southern India in early 1300s initially led by Malik Kaufer and later by Ulugh Khan in 1323 ransacked the remarkable temples beginning with Sri Rudreshwara Swamy Temple, in Hanamkonda, Telangana followed by Srirangam Ranganathar temple. Earlier Malik Kaufer raided Madurai temple and caused much damages. In the late years, the damaged temples were rebuilt by the rulers of Vijayanagara and the Nayak rulers of Tanjore and Madurai,
One thousand pillar mandap/hall in Meenakshi temple:
Madurai Meenakshi temple is the most popular one in this part of Tamil Nadu and has close links with Tamil Culture. An epitome of architectural finesse, the complex covers an area of 180,000 sq. meter. The temple attracts thousands of visitors a day. There are whooping 33,000 statues on the towers and inside this temple.
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| Madurai Meenakshi temple 1000 pillar hall, twitter.com |
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| 1000 pillar hall Meenakshi temple, Madurai, TN. tourismtamilnadu.blogspot.com |
Kuravan-Kurathi statue (nomads/gypsies) with a basket on Kurathi’s shoulders. She has a child on her back , one inside the basket and a third clinging on to her breasts. Kuravan has lots of jewels according to the custom of his clan. The stonework and the artistry in this theme is just amazing and is difficult to be replicated.
Some pillars carry episodes from the Puranas - Nicely carved on the pillar are images of the King Harichandra and queen Chandramathi, Rati-Manmatha, Kannappa and Pandava brothers.A striking feature is the inclusion of 22 musical pillars in a corner which produce different musical notes when struck with a piece of stone or metal.
Historian Ferguson in his “Indian and Eastern Architecture” says, “it is not the number of pillars but their marvellous elaboration that makes this hall the wonder of the place”. The hall is in the Sundareswarar shrine , north of flagstaff (Dwajasthambam).
The hall of 1000 pillars, Srirangam Sri Ranganathar temple,TN:
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| Srirangam 1000 pillar hall, TN.alamy.com |
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| Srirangam Sri Ranganathar temple,1000 pillar mandap in.pinterest.com |
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| Srirangam 1000 pillar hall, TN.heritageindiaonline.blogspot.com |
Srirangam Sri Ranganathar temple (dedicated to God Vishnu) , a foremost Divyadesam shrine and the largest functional temple in the world the most popular pilgrimage center in south India. one of the most frequently visited pilgrimage centres in southern India. The temple has seven rectangular corridors, one within the other, the outermost having a perimeter more than 2 miles (3 km) in length. The 1000 pillar mandap is an amazing architectural accomplishment and several parts of the temple and the 1,000-pillared hall were constructed in the Vijayanagar period (1336–1565) on the site of an older temple. The pillars are monolithic.
Earlier in 1323 the Islamic forces from The Delhi Sultanate under Alauddin Khalji led by his military Commanders Ulagh Khan ( (Alauddin's brother, not Muhamed-bin-Thuklug) and his powerful army raided many parts of South India and in 1323 AD attacked the famous Sri Ranganathar temple. He plundered the Perumal temple and its treasures. In the process the demonical army beheaded 12000 Sri Vaishnavas assembled at the temple to save the idols. The Kovil Olugu refers to this incident as “Pannirayiramtirumudi-tiruttina-kalabham” (the invasion which took 12000 heads)
It was the Vijayanagara rulers under Krishna Devaraya had the 1000 pillar hall built and at that point of time the temple was in a dilapidated state with no pujas to the main deity,
Thousand pillar mandap in Srirangam is larger than Madurai mandap. Measuring 152 metres by 48.8 metres, and having 953 granite pillars., the hall at Srirangam is larger than that of Madurai 1000 pillar hall and the sculptures on the pillars are awe-inspiring. A remarkable feature of the Hall is the colonnade of rearing horses. The UNESCO noted, ''The great hall is traversed by one wide aisle in the centre for the whole of its greater length, and intersected by transepts of like dimension running across at right angles. There still remain seven side aisles on each side, in which all the pillars are equally spaced out'
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| Alauddin Khilji Delhi Sultanateinsightsonindia.com |
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| Alauddin Khilji south war expedition. nsightsonindia.com |
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| Sri Rudreshwara Swamy Temple Telangana . sanskritimagazine.com |
https://whc.unesco.org/fr/listesindicatives/5894/
.https://asoulwindow.com/who-destroyed-sri-ranganathaswami-temple-srirangam/
. https://www.navrangindia.in/2023/05/the-1000-pillar-temple-hanamkonda.html
https://www.navrangindia.in/2015/03/srirangam-ranganathar-templetamil-nadu.html
 and Hanamkonda (AP) Hindu temples and destruction by Ulugh Khan of Delhi Sultanate?){kind=link}