Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.119

c2.119

Temple No. 4 faces the east and is in the same early style as Nos. 1, 2 and 3, but inferior in workmanship and unfinished. The small rock-cut shrine cell measures only about 4½ feet square and contains a small black stone linga. Carved on the back wall of the cell, immediately behind the linga and facing the east is a large bas-relief representation of the head of Śiva with three faces. It is probably a later addition. The doorkeepers are inferior in workmanship but appear to belong to the same early period as those already described and the one on the north side of the entrance is portrayed wearing the horned headdress. In front of the shrine is the usual little roofless terrace also unfinished; it is 13 feet in length and 4 feet in width. As the facade has plenty of length, an attempt has been made to provide additional niches on each side of the doorkeepers. There are two niches on the north and one on the south side, but all are empty and obviously later additions. The temple contains no inscriptions. [Plate XVIII (a)].