A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s5.t1.14

c13.s5.t1.14

¹ Hindus believe that the gods are powerless to resist the prayers of a penitent who performs exceptional acts of austerity. The correct name of the place is Māmalla-puram, 'the town of Mahāmalla,' or Narasimha-varman I. The forms Mahābalipur, Mahavellipore, &c., in common use are corruptions based on a false etymology. No modern scientific account of the ruins exists. The Madras Government issued in 1869 an atlas folio illustrated volume containing reprints of several old descriptions, and the same documents were also printed in octavo without the plates. A Hindu author in the book gives the mythological key to the various sculptures. The story of the penance is in *Mahābh*., *Vana parva*, Calcutta ed., p. 463. The whole relief is reproduced in Pl. I of the Madras compilation from a careful drawing made some years prior to 1828. The only trustworthy authority for the history is Mr. Venkayya's article 'The Pallavas' in *Ann. Rep. A. S., India*, 1906-7, pp. 217-43.