Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.101

c2.101

Temple No. 4 is situated about a quarter of a mile to the west of the Dūrga temple and excavated in the northern face of another small hill that is now being used as a stone quarry. This temple is the largest and finest of the Mogalrājapuram group and contains some interesting sculptural figures and ornament. It faces the north and on plan consists of a hall or portico measuring 31′ 4″ × 15′ 3″ and 8″ in height. [Plate VII (b)]. Excavated in the back wall and facing the north are three small shrine chambers, the largest being in the centre and measuring 6′ square. The two smaller shrines flanking the central one contain raised rock-cut pedestals with socket holes for the reception of detached stone images. The central shrine has no pedestal projecting from the back wall and must have originally contained a stone linga mounted on a yoni pedestal of the usual kind. The shrine chambers are now empty and free from all ornament. In the centre of the hall are four cubical pillars supporting the ceiling. The facade has two cubical pillars with corbel capitals dividing the front into three openings of equal size. These pillars are in the typical Mahēndra style and have the roll ornament on the underside of their capitals similar to those found in the Trichinopoly temple. The innerside of the upper cubical portions of the two front pillars are decorated with circular medallions filled with bas-relief ornament. One contains a figure of Vishnu and a recumbent elephant and the other Krishna being suckled by a rākshasi. A medallion on another pillar inside the hall contains a small figure of a gandharva surrounded by floral ornament. The latter is similar in style to one decorating a medallion on one of the cubical pillars in the Trichinopoly temple. The most interesting portion of the temple is its ornamental facade which resembles that of the Dalavānūr temple referred to above. On each side of the facade is a large niche containing a life-size figure of a doorkeeper. They face the front and are portrayed with one arm resting on a huge club and the other on the hip. Their lofty headdresses are decorated with bull's horns like those appearing in the figures of doorkeepers in the Vallam temple and certain monuments at the Seven Pagodas. Above the corbel capitals of the facade is a boldly projecting convex cornice decorated with three large simulated dormer windows. The central one contains a representation of the heads of Siva and his consort Pārvāti, the one on the western side has the heads of Vishnu and Lakshmi and the one on the eastern side the head of Brahmā with three faces. Above the cornice is a kind of frieze decorated with small figures of lions and elephants. The former are portrayed with lashing tails and in the act of attacking the elephants which have the trunks raised and extended as though trumpeting defiance at the lions. Carved on the face of the rock above this frieze is a life size bas-relief figure of Siva dancing, presumably in the form of Natarāja or as Kālika Tandava. The figure is very decayed and the middle portion is missing. It originally had four arms and one foot is portrayed standing on the prostrate body of a demon dwarf. The presence of this indicates that the chief deity enshrined within the central shrine chamber was Siva, apparently in the form of a linga, while the two side cells contained detached stone images of Vishnu and Brahmā, respectively, representing the Hindu Trinity.