Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.20

c2.20

It would appear that Mahendra got his taste for rock-cut temples from the Buddhists who lived in the Telugu country at the beginning of his reign, when he himself appears to have lived for a while in that part of his dominions. The rock-cut temples at Bezwada, Mogalrajapuram, and Undavalli, all belong to this same period and are similar in style to some of the rock-cut temples in the Tamil country, which we know for certain were excavated by Mahendra's orders. The Bezwada temples possess no ancient inscriptions, but their architectural style proclaims them to be Pallava monuments of the seventh century, and it is just possible that they may have been started by Mahendra himself before he was forced to retire to the south, as mentioned above.