Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.108

c2.108

The principal image in the temple is the huge image of Vishnu lying on the serpent illustrated in Plate XII. This drawing was made many years ago when the figure was not so decayed or maltreated as it now is. It was no doubt originally covered with plaster and the details executed in that material. A similar figure exists in the shrine attached to the big Siva temple at Mahabalipuram known as the Shore temple and it also occurs in a large bas-relief panel in a Siva temple close to the Lighthouse at the same place. This big image of Anantasayana and the Vaishnava bas-reliefs have led some authors to believe that the temple was originally dedicated to Vishnu. But in Pallava monuments it is not uncommon to find an image of Vishnu, particularly in the form of Anantasayana, located in a Siva temple. The style of the doorkeepers, panels and niches containing Saiva figures, and the group of rock-cut miniature Siva temples containing lingas on the hill close by all indicate that Undavalli was a stronghold of the linga cult in the seventh century in spite of the presence of Vaishnava figures in the big temple.