The Colas c35.24

c35.24

The Agastīśvara of Kiḻiyanūr (South Arcot) dates from the time of Parāntaka I also;¹⁴ here the lowest course of the square basement comprising a series of plinth stones (*upāna* or *jagatip-paḍai*) scalloped on top in the form of lotus petals, the idea being that the entire *vimāna* from the *kumuda* upwards stands within a blossoming lotus forming a *padmakośa* (pistil inside the lotus). The *kumuda* moulding has semi-circular cross section as at Śrinivāsanallūr. The Tiruttiṇḍīśvara of Tiṇḍivanam¹⁵ (S. Arcot) dating from before A.D. 961; the Pipilīkeśvara of Tiruverumbiyūr (Trichinopoly) built by about the same time by Śembiyan Vēdivēḷān, a feudatory of Sundara CōḶa,¹⁶ and notable for the sculptures of *purāṇic* scenes in panels below the pilasters in the exterior as in the Nāgeśvara of Kumbakonam, are other temples in the same class. The Tiruvālīśvaram near Brahmadēśam (Tinnevelly district) is almost unique for its fine workmanship and its wealth of iconographic sculpture on the upper tiers of the *vimāna*, and dates from some time before the accession of Rājarāja I whose inscriptions, however, are the earliest traced on the walls of the extant structure, later additions being the *mahāmaṇḍapa* of the period of CōḶa-Pāṇḍya viceroys and the *amman* shrine of the thirteenth century. The Brahmapurīśvara of Puḷḷamaṅgai (Tanjore district) built in the early years of Parāntaka I¹⁷ resembles the Nāgeśvara of Kumbakonam in many ways, and is notable for its corbels bearing the *taraṅga* ornament—one of the earliest instances in this period, and for the excellence of its niches and their sculptures to be considered later in some detail.