Annual Reports

GENERAL

  hundred years ago, and some sculptures in cave No. 3 have been disfigured by a thick coating of stucco laid over them. Besides these, the maṇḍapa in front of the third cave temple is filled up with useless lumber belonging to the temple, thus blocking easy access to the cave inside. The Trustee has been addressed to remedy these defects as soon as possible, so that these caves may be maintained in a manner worthy of their importance and studied in fuller detail.

  Photographs were taken in Cave No. 2, of two images sculptured in panels on the proper right side of the double verandah in front of the central shrine (App. D, Nos. 1483 and 1484). One of themis that of a Dvārapālaka resting his right hand gracefully on a club entwined by a serpent and his left hand akimbo on his left hip. The other is a standing representation of Vishṇu with four arms and a lofty head-dress and holding a small flower by the right hand. This is evidently meant to show that the god is wielding the padma in the hand. The back pair of hands wield the usual chakra and śaṅkha, of which the former is now broken off. His left elbow is leaning on the shoulder of a dwarfish male attendant, probably Garuḍa, whose arms are folded on his breast crosswise. The earliest inscription found in this cave is a Vaṭṭeluttu label of about the 8th century A.D. (No. 37 of 1909) giving the name of the shrine as Machilīchchuram (Māśilīśvaram ?). From the archaic nature of the two sculptures mentioned above they may also be attributed to the same period. The third cave also consists of a rock-cut central shrine with two verandahs in front. These latter contain, in order, the following nine sculptures in separate panels beginning from the proper right, viz., (1) Subrahmaṇya, (2) Dvārapāla, (3) Vishṇu, leaning on an attendant, (4) Liṅgōdbhava with Śiva represented in a human form instead of as a liṅga, (5) Durgā, (6) Harihara, (7) Naṭarāja, (8) Dvārapāla and (9) Gaṇēśa. Of these the sculpture of Liṅgōdbhava has been already described in the Epigraphical Report for 1910, Part II, para. 5. Of the two Dvārapālas and Naṭarāja now photographed (App. D, Nos. 1485-87), the Naṭarāja image in panel 7 is represented with 8 arms and standing in a pose of dance with two dwarfish attendants, one playing on the kuḍamulā drum and the other marking time with a pair of cymbals. Owing to the stucco with which the whole figure is covered, it is not possible to identify all the attributes the god is carrying in his several hands. Images of Naṭarāja have not been met with in the early Pallava cave temples. The two Dvārapālas are each over six feet in height and one of them is represented with horn-like appendages on either side of the head. They are cut in graceful postures and are good specimens of sculpture of about the 9th century A.D. The earliest inscription however in this cave is that of the time of Rājarāja I.

Cave temple at Piḷḷaiyārpaṭṭi.
  6. The plan of the cave temple at Piḷḷaiyārpaṭṭi which is about 2 miles from Kunnakkuḍi and from where an early inscription attributable to the 7th century A.D. was secured last year, is rather peculiar and differs from that of the generality of rock-cut shrines of these parts. While the original main shrine containing the rock-cut liṅga faces the east, a wing is also cut of the rock in front of this shrine so as to face the north. On the south wall of this wing or verandah is cut a figure of Gaṇēśa locally known as Karpage-Piḷḷaiyār which has now become the principal deity of the place, subordinating the original Śiva of the cave shrine. On the north wall of this shrine is a panel containing an unfinished image of an unidentifiable deity (?) with two arms. This seems to have been left incomplete for some unknown reason, and the same figure is completely sculptured in detail in another panel to the south of the entrance into the shrine. It consists of a tall well-knit standing figure, probably of god Śiva, with two arms, the left in the kaṭyavalambita pose and the right in the varada pose. The folds of the lower garment and the yajñōpavīta passing over the right elbow proclaim the archaic nature of the sculpture. The coiffure is in the jaṭāmakuṭa style. On either side of the god is a devotee with palms joined in worship. The identity or sex of these two attendants is not possible to decide owing to the damaged condition of the figures. Popularly they are understood to represent a certain mythical king called Nandarāja and his queens, to whom is attributed the excavation of several other caves in this region, such as Pirānmalai, Tirukkaḷākkuḍi, Śittaṇṇavāśal, etc.

Natural cavern and rock-cut temple at Tiruk-kaḷākkuḍi.
  7. Tirukkaḷākkuḍi about 17 miles from Tirupputtūr which was visited by the Second Assistant is another famous place noted for its rock-cut temple, picturesquely situated on the eminence of a hill. This is one of the five temples under the management of the Paṇḍārasannidhi who has his headquarters at Kunnakkuḍi. On the southern slope of the hill there are several