The Colas c35.s2.5

c35.s2.5

The paintings in the Tanjore temple in the walls and ceilings of the *pradakṣiṇa* underneath the *vimāna* were originally lighted by three doorways in the middle of the exterior walls of the *garbhagṛha* on the south, west and north; these openings were closed by Vijayarāghava Nayak between 1653 and 1659 by rubble walls which have now been demolished by the archaeological department. The openings correspond in position to the *devagoṣṭhas* (niches) in the central bay on each side on the inner walls enshrining large sculptures appropriate to them. Vertical pilasters corresponding to the system of bays and recesses of the outer wall divide the *pradakṣiṇa* passage into fifteen chambers each separated from its neighbour by a constriction which is really an opening composed of joists, lintel and sill. There are two chambers on either side of the main entrance on the east, five each on the north and south, three behind on the west. The first three chambers, starting in *pradakṣiṇa* order from the south of the main entrance, are entirely covered, walls and ceilings, with the Nāyak series of paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which do not seem to cover any Cōḷa paintings underneath. The fourth, eighth and twelfth chambers, those with the openings on the outer wall, are dominated by the large sculptures on the inner wall, and the last three chambers (13-15) have again only Nāyak paintings with no Cōḷa layer underneath. The remaining six chambers have excellent Cōḷa paintings, visible where the Nāyak layer overlaying them has pealed off, and the biggest problem facing the archaeologist is to find a successful way of stripping the Nāyak layer elsewhere without damaging the underlying Cōḷa paintings.⁶²