Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.73

c2.73

(5) *Mahēndravadi* is situated 3 miles to the south-east of Sholinghur railway station in the Wālājāpet taluk of the North Arcot district. The village is inhabited by Vaishnava Brāhmans and possesses a fine tank. Close to the tank are traces of fort walls and within the enclosures is a large granite rock in the eastern face of which a rock-cut temple has been excavated. The facade faces the east and is plain in design and without the large panels containing bas-relief figures of doorkeepers at the ends of the facade, as at Dalavānūr and Mandagapattu [Plate IV (*a*)]. It has no carved projecting cornice, and this portion of the facade has been left unfinished. In the centre of the facade are two square pillars with side pilasters, the cubical portions of which are ornamented with conventional lotus flowers similar to those at Dalavānūr.