Ankura Architrave

General Introduction

The Ankura Architrave is a special part of the moon temple Okta Tsumol Si in Inarikudad, the most important place for moon worship of all of the Messellat Mdûlûn states. It is positioned directly above the main entrance to the temple and works as an apotropaic device. The architrave is made from Emniyama black granite and is probably the only item made from that material in all of Erana.

Description

The architrave is a granite beam, about three metres in length and about fourty centimetres in diameter. Its edges are sharply cut and are followed by an undecorated lace, that frames the pictorial parts of the stone on all three visible sides.

On the part of the architrave facing outside, is a menagerie of monsters, real or imaginary, which are believed to ward off evil and thus to keep evil out of this sacred place. On the downward facing part, the eight avatars of the cardinal directions are shown, each holding his of her respecting weapon, vanquishing an evil being. The inside part of the architrave shows wells, stars and the moons, which are all symbols of health, luck and prosperity.

The stone is a dark, matte black, that stands in a stark contrast to the rest of the temple, which is made of local greyish shist or other kinds of similarly grey stones. This makes the architrave stand out, symbolising the night and also the pitch black night-time ocean, both things cherished by all Mdûlûn.

The history and meaning of the Ankura Architrave

The origins of the Ankura Architrave are as dark as its stone. It is indeed the only Emniyama granite in all of Erana. No Messellat Mdûlûn sources speak about its origins, not even the documentation of the erection of the Okta Tsumol Si. It was just there, built in and worked the way it looks now by the famous stone masin and artisan Tamakkad Tosukar. The design was divined by the first head priest of the temple, Sonpakksan Yaliko.

The outward facing side shows twelve animals, five of which are mythologically connected to the smaller moon and seven of which are connected to the bigger moon. These animals are in part real, like the octopus, the horse or the pimaito dragon, while others, like the togên lizard or the kiro dragon are mythological. The animals guard the temple and are shown in an imposing or threatening display.

The eight avatars of the cardinal directions are shown on the underside. Evil that was not driven away by the guardian animals gets figuratively destroyed by the avatars. Each one has his or her attribute weapon, for example Sammu, guardian of the Westc carries her spiked club and is about to strike an undescribed evil spirit she is standing on on its head. Wugasa, who guards the North, drives his spear down the throat of another evil spirit, lieing on the ground already.

The inside carries a depiction of a paradisiacal landscape, with wells flooding water into endless seas and the moons and the stars in the sky as well as reflected on the waters surface. The imagery alone is enough to evoke all-positive feelings in a Mdûlûns heart, but in addition small cornflowers also float on the waters, auspicious land-dwellers due to their oceany colouration.

Item type

Furniture