South-Indian Images of Gods and Goddesses c6.s2.1

c6.s2.1

Temples must have existed in this part of the country from time immemorial. But the earliest inscriptional evidence of the existence of temples takes us back only to the age of the Pallava kings, which is supposed to be between the fourth and the ninth centuries of the Christian era.¹ The more ancient temples were probably made of wood and other such perishable material, as we find to this day in parts of Malabar. Perhaps the Pallavas were among the very first in Southern India to build temples of durable material. In fact one of the most famous of these Pallava kings, Mahēndravarman I, who reigned about the beginning of the seventh century A.D., was known by the title *Chetthakāri*, i.e., the maker of *chaityas* or temples.²