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While in Vellore a few weeks ago, one of us visited the fort in which the famous kalyana mandapa is located. On each of the facade pillars of the mandapa is a rearing animal, usually a horse or some mythological creature like the yali. One finds portrait sculpture of chieftains seated on horses with their long swords and ornamented quivers fitted to the saddle.

On one of the yali was noticed  a rider with bells on the ankles, a string of bells around the waist, and some other jewellery, but otherwise having no clothes. The realization dawned that it was a representation of Balakrishna with his characteristic hair style. In fact, of the ten outer pillars of the mandapa, five of them have Balakrishna riding a yali or a simha.

This representation on the kalyana mandapa pillars of the young Krishna as a rider seems not to have been noted before. Balakrishna is depicted here as a young child, though the yali which he rides is of the same size as the other yalis or horses on which adult riders are represented. This fact may explain why the scholars have not so far noted the riding Balakrishna.

Not long after the Vellore trip we both visited Kanchipuram and had a look at the kalyana mandapa of the Varadaraja temple there. We found that in this mandapa Balakrishna is represented as riding the rearing animals on many of the outer pillars. On one corner pillar, Balakrishna is even shown dancing on a yali's back. 

There are no kalyana mandapas from the days of the Pallavas or Cholas. The practice of building them seems to have begun during the Vijayanagar and Nayak periods. The kalyana mandapas of Kanchi and Vellore belong to the second half of the sixteenth century. Many of the late Vijayanagar and Nayak rulers were fervent followers of Vaishnavism. Therefore whether in a Vishnu temple as at Kanchi, or in a Siva Temple as at Vellore, Krishna was given a prominent place in the kalyana mandapa. Our latest trip took us to Srirangam and Tiruchi where we found more examples of Balakrishna riding rampant animals. At the front mandapa of the Ranganatha temple, there are such examples. And while climbing the steps up the Rock Fort Hill at Tiruchi, we noted that two of the pillars which flank one of the landings have Balakrishna riding a yali. 

Thus this pillar motif of Balakrishna as a rider would seem to have been widespread during the Vijayanagar and Nayak days.