The Colas c35.25

c35.25

The Mahāliṅgasvāmi temple of Tiruvidaimarudūr (Tanjore district) must have been built of stone about 910. An inscription in the temple of the fourth year of Parāntaka I¹⁸ states that at a meeting held in the *nāṭakaśālā* of the temple it was resolved to have the old inscriptions copied and re-engraved in the *garbhagṛha* and *vimāna*, and one of the old recorded gifts related to the reign of Kāḍupaṭṭigaḷ Nandipōttaraiyar, i.e. Nandivarman II or III. The basement of the temple has an octagonally moulded *kumuda* and a short *kaṇṭha* studded with pilasters supporting a straight *kapota*, over which is a dado much like the *kaṇṭha* below adorned by sculptured panels and surmounted by a thick projecting cornice scalloped underneath in the form of lotus petals. Such variations of architectural motifs which attest the artistic freedom and initiative of the school cannot be traced in any detail in this general account of Cōḷa art. The early inscriptions of the temple mention a shrine of Purāṇa Gaṇapati, implying the presence at one time of subshrines round the main one, and of a *maṇḍapa* called after the famous merchant-guild Tiśaiāyirattu-aiññūṟṟuvar.