Vettuvan Koil in

Kalugumalai Kalugumalai is a panchayat town in Kovilpatti Taluk of Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Kalugumalai is 21 km and 22 km from Kovilpatti and Sankarankovil respectively. The place houses the rockcut Kalugasalamoort ...

, a panchayat town in

Thoothukudi district Thoothukudi District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district was formed by bifurcation of Tirunelveli district on 20 October 1986. Thoothukudi is the district headquarters and largest city of the distric ...

in the South Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, is a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

dedicated to the Hindu god

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. Constructed in the Pandyan Architecture and rock cut architecture, the unfinished temple was built during the 8th century CE by the early Pandyas. The other portions of Kalugumalai hillock houses the 8th century

Kalugumalai Jain Beds Kalugumalai Jain beds in Kalugumalai, a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, are dedicated to the Jain religious figures. Constructed in rock cut architecture, the unfinished temple is believed to have b ...

and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple, a

Murugan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

temple. This rock-cut temple is notable for its architecture and construction method. While the early Pandya rulers helped build numerous cave and stone temples, it is the only known example of a Pandya era monolithic temple that was carved out in three dimensions, in-situ from the top of the hillock.G. Ezhil Adirai (2016), TECHNOLOGICAL METHODS IN MAKING SCULPTURES, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 77, pp. 84-85, The temple is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, lik ...

as a protected monument.

Location and Date

The Vettuvan Koil is in Kalugumalai, about 60 kilometers north of Tirunelveli and 20 kilometers west of

Kovilpatti Kovilpatti is an Industrial City and Special Grade Municipality in Thoothukudi District in the Indian States of India, state of Tamil Nadu. History The town already existed before 1876. Kovilpatti was a water stop for steam engines after the ...

. It is located in

in southern

. The temple sits on the top of a stone hillock on the eastern side. It opens and overlooks to the east, but shares the entrance and a walk path from the west side of the hillock with the Kalugumalai Jain Beds (Highway 187). The temple was built in the 8th century along with the Kalugumalai Jain Beds under the patronage of Parandhagan Netunjadaiyan of the early Pandyan era.

Architecture

The temple is carved out from a single rock in a rectangular portion measuring in depth. The carvings in the temple show the top portion of the temple, with an unfinished bottom. The sculptures and the carvings are indicative of Pandyan art during the period. The granite rock looks like a blooming lotus, with hills surrounding it on three sides. The

vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also mentio ...

(ceiling over the sanctum) has niches of Parsavadevatas, the attendant deities of Shiva, like ganas,

Dakshinamurthy Dakshinamurthy () is an aspect of the Hindu god Shiva as a guru (teacher) of all types of knowledge. This aspect of Shiva, as the original guru, is his personification as the supreme or the ultimate awareness, understanding and knowledge. Thi ...

depicted playing a

mridanga The khol is a terracotta two-sided drum used in northern and eastern India for accompaniment with devotional music (''bhakti''). It is also known as a mridanga (<

Uma Parvati ( sa, पार्वती, ), Uma ( sa, उमा, ) or Gauri ( sa, गौरी, ) is the Hindu goddess of power, energy, nourishment, harmony, love, beauty, devotion, and motherhood. She is a physical representation of Mahadevi in ...

, dancers, various niches of

Nandi Nandi may refer to: People * Nandy (surname), Indian surname * Nandi (mother of Shaka) (1760–1827), daughter of Bhebe of the Langeni tribe * Onandi Lowe (born 1974), Jamaican footballer nicknamed Nandi * Nandi Bushell (born 2010), South Afri ...

(the sacred bull of Shiva) and animals like monkeys and lions. Historian Sivaramamurti states that this is the only site where Dakshinamurthy is depicted playing the Mridanga (a percussion instrument), while in all other places, he is depicted playing

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...

. According to epigrapher V. Vedachalam, there is a spontaneity in the sculptures indicating of natural human movements like in the Shiva and Uma sculpture where they seem to be talking like common folks. The Vettuvan Koil is an unfinished Shiva temple. The other portions of Kalugumalai hillock houses the 8th century Jaina Abode (southwest of Vettuvan Koil) and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple to the south end of the hillock. Historians have equated the temple with similar temples across

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

based on the monolithic classification and being carved in-situ out of a pre-existing rock. Historian K.V. Soundara Rajan believes that the temple is similar in architecture to that of

Virupaksha Temple Virupaksha Raya (born 1365, reign 1404–1405 CE) was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire. With the death of Harihara II in 1404, the throne for the Vijayanagara Empire was disputed amongst his sons: Deva Raya I, Bukka Raya II, and Virupaksha ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

Vikramaditya II Vikramaditya II (reigned 733 – 744 CE) was the son of King Vijayaditya and ascended the Badami Chalukya throne following the death of his father. This information comes from the Lakshmeshwar inscriptions in Kannada dated 13 January 735 A.D. ...

during 734–44,

Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple The Kailasanathar temple (Kanchipuram), also referred to as the Kailasanatha temple, is a Pallava-era historic Hindu temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. Dedicated to Shiva, it is one of the oldest surviving monuments in Kanchipuram. It re ...

built by

Narasimhavarman II Narasimhavarman II, popularly known as Rajamalla, was a ruler of the Pallava kingdom. Narasimhavarman reigned from 690 CE to 725 CE. He is credited with the construction of the Shore Temple, Isvara and Mukunda Temples in Mahabalipuram, the Pan ...

during 685–705 AD and Kailasa temple, Ellora by

Krishna I Krishna I ( kn, ಅಕಾಲವರ್ಷ ಶುಭತುಂಗ ಕೃಷ್ಣ) (reign 756–774 CE), an uncle of Dantidurga, took charge of the growing Rashtrakuta Empire by defeating the last Badami Chalukya ruler Kirtivarman II in 757. This ...

during 756–77. Some historians suggest that the similarities in the architecture are indicative of the political relations between the

Pallavas The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahanas, Satavahana dynasty, with whom they ...

Rashtrakutas Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

and

Chalukyas The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

. This view has been disputed by other historians.

Preservation

Vettuvan Koil is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the

as a protected monument. Kalugumalai was chosen in the plan to be included as a rural tourism site in Incredible India campaign by the Tourism Ministry of the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

. As a part of the campaign the ministry allocated 10 million to develop the infrastructure around the region in 2008. The tourist inflow to the town increased to 3,000 persons per month during 2009 from 400 per month during the previous years.

Gallery

References

{{reflist Hindu temples in Thoothukudi district Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu Archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu Pandyan architecture