Vettuvan Koil, Kalugumalai, Thoothukudi
Vettuvan
Koil in Kalugumalai, a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture and rock cut architecture, the unfinished temple
is believed to have been built during the 8th century by Pandyas. The rock-cut architecture exemplary of early Pandyan
Art. The other portions of Kalugumalai houses the 8th century Kalugumalai Jain Complex and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple, a Murugan temple. Vettuvan Koil is the only one of the
monolithic Pandya Temple that still survives.
As per
local legend, a rivalry between a father and son resulted in son finishing the
sculpture first at the lower hills, while the father was slow to respond. In
his angst, the father killed the son and thus the shrine remains unfinished. The
temple is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the Government of Tamil Nadu as a protected monument. It was excavated in 8th C
CE by Pandyan Maran Sadaiyan Varaguna I, according to the inscriptions available
here. The inscriptions also mention Parantaka Nedunchezian & Parantaka
Veera Narayanan.
Vettuvan
Koil (English: a Sculptor’s paradise) is a Hindu temple built between the 8th
and 9th century. Kalugumalai is a priceless unfinished Pandyan monolith cave
temple, part of the iconographic richness that helped chronicle the burgeoning
richness of the Tamil culture, traditions, and sacred centres containing
religious art. About 7.5 meter of the mountain is excavated in a
rectangular fashion and in the middle the temple is sculpted from a single
piece of rock. The carvings reflect the southern temple style of the Pandya
era.
Only the
top portion of the temple is completed. The temple has an entrance and centre
hall for the main deity. In the later days Ganesha’s idol is kept and
worshipped. At the top of the temple beautiful sculpture of Uma Maheswara,
Dakshinamoorthy, Vishnu and Brahma can be found. There are around 122
sculptures in the rock cut temple. The intricately carved statues are from fine
granite.
It is an
unfinished pandyan monolithic cave temple.7.5 mts of the mountain is excavated
in rectangular shape and in the middle the temple is carved from a single
stone. Unfortunately it is incomplete. Only the top portion is complete. The
temple has an entrance and a main hall. The temple is surrounded by the walls
of the hills from which it had been cut.
From
Vettuvan koil it is hardly around 20-40 steps to reach Jain abode. A pillayar
koil is located at the summit of the hill and there is a flight of steps to the
temple. First when we reach the Vettuvan Koil we first we had a glimpse from
top of the rocks protected with parapet walls. State Archaeological Department
has constructed parapet wall on all three sides of the rock surrounding the
Vettuvankoil.
Legends
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History
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Architecture
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