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APPENDIX III
499
As stated above, the early Cola king Koccenganān is said to have built many Siva temples; while the Tevăram saints celebrate a very large number of them in their hymns. But, so far as existing examples are concerned, South Indian architecture may be said to begin with the Pallavas, or more precisely, with the reign of Mahendravarman I in the first quarter of the seventh century A. D. The shrines, before his time, appear to have been built of perishable materials, but he introduced the art of excavating temples in the natural rock in the Tamil country. Almost the first cave temple, 'caused to be built by King Curious-minded, without bricks, without timber and without mortar,' is the one at Māņdagappattu in the South Arcot district; and it was dedicated to Brahmā, Vişnu and Siva.' Most of the remaining caves, with one exception, were excavated for the worship of Siva under the form of the linga; and they are found in the North Arcot, Chingleput, and South Arcot districts of the Madras Presidency. The name Mahendra occurs in inscriptions on the caves at Trichinopoly, Pallāvaram, Mahendravādi and Vallam ; while one or other of his birudas is mentioned in those on the caves at Dalavānūr and Siyamangalam. Mahendravarman's comic play Mattavilāsaprahasana is mentioned in a mutilated inscription on one of the caves at Māmaņdūr* in the North Arcot district.
One of the inscriptions on the upper cave cut in the rock at Trichinopoly contains a verse, which has been taken to refer to Mahendravarman's former hostility to the Saiva religion. The verse in question seems to express the hope that, while king Guņabhara (one of the birudas of Mahendravarman I) is a worshipper of the linga emblem, the linga enshrined in the temple will proclaim the fact that he has desisted from 'hostile action', that is, his former persecution of the Saiva faith.
Mahendravarman's conversion gave a new impetus to Saivism in the Tamil land. Only one of his caves, that at Mahendravādi, is dedicated to Vişnu. The rock-cut temple at Singavaram in the South Arcot district contains a very large image of Vişnu sleeping on the serpent Ananta, and is thought to belong to the epoch of Mahendravarman on architectural grounds. Of the three caves at Vallam (near Chingleput) two are dedicated to Śiva, one of which contains an inscription of Mahendravarman: the third cave is dedicated to Vişņu. Reference may be made in this connection to the great rock-cut temple at Undavalli in the Guntur district, situated on the
1 Tamilian Antiquary, No 4, p. 30. 2 'gara FESTEHT FRA and Thaa fasofala' See Jouveau-Dubreuil :
Conjesvaram Inscription of Mahendravarman I. Trichinopoly, 1919, 3 Jouveau-Dubreuil: Pallava Antiquities, Vol. 1, p. 39.
Ibid.: The Pallavas, p. 39. South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I, 1890, p. 29. The temple is excavated half way up the Triohinopoly rock, and consists of a rock-cut hall measuring 30 feet in length and 15 feet in width. A remarkable soulptural panel, carved in the west wall of the hall, and measuring about seven feet square, represents Śiva with four arms, the right
upper arm holding the Ganges issuing from his hair. 6 Jouveau-Dabrouil: Pallava Antiquities, Vol. I, pp. 49 83.
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