Madurai Meenakshi temple Yali in pillars in a mantab en.wikipedia.org |
Believed to be more powerful than the lion, the tiger or the elephant, depiction of Yali in south Indian sculpture has been around for several centuries and their presence increases the curiosity of the visitors to the temples. In the north it has been there the since the Gupta period.
The iconography and image of the Yali may be quite striking and impressive and one can see variations in its depiction. It has a cat-like graceful body, but the head of a lion with tusks of an elephant (gaja) and tail of a serpent. At some places, it is shown standing on the back of Makara, another mythical creature ( vehicle or mount of Budha (Mercury). To make it more impressive, some images of Yalis have three-dimensional representations.
Yali statues ; Kailasanatha temple.Kamchipuram, alamy.com |
Thanjavur big temple, Dvarabalas. Shunya |
Yali pillars at Krishna temple at Hampi, Karnatakaen.wikipedia.org |
Yali, Madurai temple, TN n.wikipedia.org |
The other reason is the image of Yali will ward off evil forces, implying that it will remove of all negative forces around us.
Sharabh to subdue Narasimha quora.com |
Church of Scotland, Scotland. Paisley Abbey pload.wikimedia.org/ |
Gargoyles of Siena Cathedral, Italy en.wikipedia.org |
carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof top and away from the side of a building. It is quite common among old Italian buildings. But unlike them, a Vyala is usually carved on a bracket supporting a cornice (a cornice is a decorative molding).
Yali Gupta period Quora |
Yali Gupta period.Quora |
Yali Gupta period..quora.com |
Chandikesvara Temple in Hampi (Vijayanagara empire.Lumen Learning |
Yali stone pillars in atemple. S.India.Pinterest |
Madurai Azhagar Kovil, Yali Pillars in the hall (mantab) tripadvisor.in |
Yali, it is true, may nicely fit into the pantheon of hybrid animals in Hindu mythology. We can take the weird and grotesque stone images as the pinnacle of human imagination, but the ability to give expression to such a strange concept in stones is something that makes all the difference. This kind of art form in hard stone is a difficult task that requires amazing skill and dexterity.
https://www.quora.com/What-does-Yali-found-in-the-pillars-of-many-South-Indian-temples-symbolize-Are-they-just-mythological-creatures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yali_(mythology)