Kirtimukha: India's Popular Evil Eye and its Symbolism in Art and Architecture
Kirtimukha, literally meaning "the face of glory" is a compound word in Sanskrit. Kirti means glory while mukha is face. It is represented as a menacing grinning lion, tiger or demon face with exaggerated traits such as sharp jutting fangs and goggle eyes and often devouring something. This Indian theme is adapted in Indonesian art as the kala-makara motif. It is considered an auspicious motif. The motif is seen in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain traditions and temples and it appears in south Asian and southeast Asian art and architecture. The first known representation of it dates to the third century CE and is found in Buddhist art. This indicates that the Shiva myth occurs later in Puranic literature (an extensive genre of Hindu literature) from the post-Gupta era.
Kirtimukha is traditionally connected to temples and other sacred sites. In temples, it can be seen on gopurams or entrance towers, prabhavalis, on pillars, and also on the walls of the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum).
However, it can be observed in everyday life outside of religious settings in a variety of ways. Truck drivers frequently use it because they believe that having kirtimukha as a protector will guarantee their safety while driving. To stave off bad forces, they can also be spotted at the entrance of a house or a shop. As a result, it's commonly used as a nazar battu or an evil eye.
Prabhavali:
In temples, prabhavali, or torana, is an ornamental arch in wood or stone, often elliptical in shape that that is positioned around the idols of gods and goddesses in temples and house shrines. It features stylized foliage motifs (flowers, creepers, etc.) along with birds, and snakes and with kirtimukha at its center. Decorating a temple's prabhavali with it is said to protect the presiding deity.
Prabhavali was often plain in the earlier period, with scallop or cable designs adorning the outer rim and totally rounded on top. Seldom did the entire thing take on the appearance of a rough oblong. Usually, the kirtimukha was not present. Prabhavali gradually takes on the shape of a torus, with a pointed peak in the center with the kirtimukha finial and a plethora of patterns crammed in by the early and late medieval period in northern and eastern India.
Puranic Interpretation:
The Puranic scriptures, which are thought to have been composed between the third and the tenth century CE and which emerged much later than the Vedic tradition, reflect the changes in religion, particularly the transition from an exclusive to a much more inclusive religion. Among the key components of Puranic tradition are temples, idol worship, pilgrimages, vrata (fasts), mantras, rituals, and bhakti. The Vishnu Purana provides the explanation for the origin of kirtimukha. Rahu, a demon, attempted to sip the divine nectar (amrita) during samudra manthan (the churning of the ocean), in an attempt to become immortal. The demon's head was quickly severed by Lord Vishnu, but not before it had ingested the nectar that gave it immortality. In temple architecture, this severed head was assigned a protective function, and it came to be known as kirtimukha.
On the other hand, the Shiva Purana and the Skanda Purana narrate stories to show that kirtimukha was the creation of Lord Shiva. It came into being as a consequence of Shiva's fury, which was sparked by Rahu, the demon, who said that Shiva was unfit to wed Parvati. Upon witnessing the beast pursuing him, Rahu collapsed at Shiva's feet, pleading for pardon. Rahu was spared and the merciful Shiva pardoned him, but the demon was ravenous. It started eating itself, helpless to contain its ravenous appetite. It began with its arms and feet and eventually just left its face. Lord Shiva bestowed the name Kirtimukha upon the creature after being impressed by its ability to endure suffering and self-sacrifice. He also bestowed a blessing upon it, declaring that his "Face of Glory" would be positioned at the entryway to Shiva's temples, ready to swallow the sins of everyone who entered the sacred space. He has since guarded Hindu shrines.
Kirtimukha and the Lion: A Correlation:
In his article titled Kirtimukha, the Serpentine Motif, and Garuda: The Story of a Lion that Turned into a Big Bird, Gautama V. Vajracharya emphasizes that the true meaning of kirtimukha and its related stylized foliage motif differs from the Puranic interpretation. Interestingly, the Sanskrit terms panchamukha and panchavaktra, which imply someone with five mouths or faces, are also occasionally used to allude to this grotesque creature, kirtimukha. And panchamukha and panchavaktra in Sanskrit also denote a lion. However, a lion does not possess five faces, and kirtimukha is similarly depicted with a single head. So, the question arises that if the depiction of kirtimukha was never with five heads, then why it is sometimes referred to as panchamukha or panchavaktra?
The explanation can be found in the traditional Indian understandings of kirti and mukha. Kirti was thought to be an atmospheric phenomenon intimately associated with the space-based dissemination of shabda, or "sound/voice or word." Occasionally, the word for glory or fame is not exactly kirti but rather kittisadda in Pali and kirtishabda in Sanskrit or simply sadda or shabda. This can be ascertained from the early Pali texts and Vedic literature and the Mahabharata. A Vedic text, Jaimniya Aranyaka stresses that sound travels through space.
The relationship between fame and light is expressed in classical Indian literature, and the sound of kirti became synonymous with fame and came to be perceived both by hearing and by seeing. Kirti is described as having a translucent white tint that occasionally resembles a white cloud. It moves like the wind, swiftly moving in all directions while floating softly in space. According to Pali literature, when a great entity such as the Buddha travels, either on earth or in heaven, his kirti departs for the destination long before he does. When a great human being's fame travels through the sky and up to heaven, divinities learn about their achievements. Because it is thought that a devotee's kirti will reach heaven long before their trip after death begins, religious monuments or works of art contributed by devout followers are also known as kirti. Although the doorway to heaven is normally closed, if someone arrives and contributes religious activities on earth, it is believed that the gods will open the gate for them if they are acquainted with their kirti. Therefore, the kirtimukha is included in the earthly portrayal of the celestial entryway (mukha) of temples and shrines.
As per ancient Indian belief system, five faces were thought to exist in the atmosphere: one in the center and four in each of the four directions. This perspective is consistent with the idea that the sky is the area where kirti, manifested as sound or voice, blows in all directions like wind. to express this idea, a lion motif is often used symbolically because when it roars, the four atmospheric directions answer with roars that sound like the roars of four lion heads. This is the reason why the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (c. 268-232 BCE) used lion theme sometimes for the diffusion of dhammaghosha (sound of dhamma/righteousness). This also explains why the Sanskrit term panchavaktra or panchamukha refers to a being with five faces and a lion's face or head signifies that kirti is not precisely glory but rather exalted words about one's accomplishments that echo throughout the four atmospheric directions like roaring lions or thundering voices. And for this reason as well, since cloud foliage represents the atmosphere, it is connected to kirtimukha.
Serpents: The transition from Symbolic to Real:
Occasionally, the serpentine pattern appears as a garland or chains of jewel garland at times and like a fancy, voluminous rope at other times which is shown protruding from the corners of the gaping mouth of kirtimukha. The ancient Indian myth that a serpent's crawling body materializes in the sky as a monsoon cloud has a connection to the origins of the kirtimukha image. The association of cloud-foliage motif with kirtimukha is also seen in the same context. Later, these motifs underwent some significant transformations, and the figurative use of the serpentine motif was replaced with the actual serpent motif with their erect hoods. This new explanation suggests that the kirtimukha eventually changed into Garuda that devoured nagas. This was particularly adopted in Nepalese and Tibetan art and architecture.
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