Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.21

c2.21

Mr. Jouveau-Dubreuil is of opinion that the Bezwada and Undavalli temples were excavated by the Vishnukundins (The Pallavas, pages 33, 35), who seem to have ruled on the banks of the Krishna and Godavari towards the end of the sixth century, and at a time when the Pallavas reigned over the adjacent districts of Nellore and Guntur. Thus they were neighbours, and it is possible that the Pallavas may have learned the art of excavating temples out of the rock from the Vishnukundins, but there is no proof at present that this was the case, and until we know more about the Vishnukundins and their monuments, we may assume, on purely architectural grounds, that the Bezwada cave-temples are Pallava monuments of the early part of the seventh century.