Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.111

c2.111

Along the foot and sides of the same hill are four small unfinished rock-cut temples and a few crudely carved rock-sculptures. The largest of the four temples is a triple-celled shrine and the rest are single. They are all unfinished but on plan and in style they are similar to the shrines located in the big temple and belong to the same period. Their pillars, figures of doorkeepers and cornices, where they exist, are in the Mahendra style and appear to belong to that period. They contain no inscriptions. One little group of Saiva memorial shrines cut in the face of the rock are interesting and are illustrated in Plate XIII. They are similar in style to certain rock-cut representations of miniature temples occurring at Mahabalipuram which will be referred to again later on. The Undavalli temple is not a single rock-cut edifice dedicated to Vishnu but three distinct temples excavated one above the other in the same rock and similar in this respect to the group of Pallava temples at Bhairavakonda in the Nellore district to be described later on. The ground floor is unfinished, the first storey is a triple-celled temple originally dedicated to the Hindu Trinity, the second storey is a Siva temple similar on plan to the Trichinopoly temple only having a sanctuary at its northern end containing a large image of Anantasayana and the top storey would have been another triple-celled temple if it had been completed. On plan and in style they represent three temples of the Mahendra period excavated one above the other in the same rock.