The Colas c23.62

c23.62

Kulōttunga III was a great builder and his reign is a noteworthy epoch in the annals of Cōḻa architecture. The public buildings, mostly religious structures, undertaken and completed in the reign are enumerated in the Pudukkottah inscriptions cited earlier and in a Sanskrit inscription¹³³ engraved round the central shrine of the temple of Kampaharēśvara (called Tribhuvanavīrēśvara in the inscription) at Tribhuvanam, the most magnificent monument of the reign. Though its general design recalls in many ways that of the Tanjore temple, it has still several significant features that distinguish it from the earlier model and mark the growing desire to fill the entire wall space with sculpture panels and decorative designs. The temple contains also an excellent series of Rāmāyaṇa reliefs that await detailed study. It was consecrated by the king's spiritual guru, Īśvaraśiva, the son of Śrīkaṇṭha Sambhu and the author of a theological treatise, the *Siddhāntaratnākara*.¹³⁴