Cave 1 and 2
Cave 2
Shivalinga in Cave 2
Cave 4
Cave 3
Cave pillar
Pallava Inscriptions
Small things start us in new ways of thinking.
“Just a couple of more months down south and I am done with Chennai,” I have been telling this to myself for the past couple of weeks. But as I say it, I feel like filling it up with all the places in and around Tamil Nadu I have not seen so far; the lesser known with more priority so that I could pacify the wander lust me with greater cups of adventure, thrill and magic. After all what good did Bibhutibhushan Bandhopadhyay, Ruskin Bond, Sunil Gangopadhyay and of course the National Geographic Channel do then!
My mission ‘Complete Down South’ began with a small village which was once a hub of royal patronage and the Capital of the Pallavas, Mamandur located on the Kanchipuram-Vandavasi road in Tiruvanamalai district in Tamil Nadu. A 7th century fiesta, it has 4 rock-cut cave temples which is considered by the Archeological Survey of India as monuments of national importance. The cave contain Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and cave paintings.
An exceedingly tapering muddy pathway guides one to the caves which are located one after the other and overlooks the rising sun. The caves have a typical Mahendravarman attire with a cubical top and bottom and an octagonal middle. The top and the bottom have lotus medallions. Behind the first row of pillars is another row of pillars and pilasters which gives it an ardha mandapa and mukha mandapa structure. The cell inside is empty. The platform constructed for the deity is empty and has a square cavity suggesting its work remains unfinished.
A flight of rocky boulders and stones coupled with bunches of brown and dry grasses take one to the second cave marked as the Rudravalisvaram, owing its name from the shrine of Shiva (shiva linga) that remain seated even after 1300 years. Since there are two other chambers, with distinct characteristics of the trinity, archeologists believe they might have been of Brahma and Vishnu. Limited traces of painting have been found in these chambers.
One in the afternoon, I was sitting on the cool volcanic basaltic stones with not a single human soul around me. About 200 metres were two cows oblivious of my presence. I started climbing the boulders hoping to figure out the entrance of the other two caves. Solitude gives rise to thoughts; unstoppable and infinite. “What if a snake glided its way through the rocks? As a consequence, what if I rolled down? How would anyone trace me up here or would I be found by someone who like me would want to flip through the pages of history some day and reach Mamandur?” I drew abeyance from all these thoughts and continued climbing looking back and forth the ground and the cows. When I reached a considerable height I saw a cave like structure to my right below which was not visible from Cave 2. This meant I would have to go down again and the climb was futile. The calm and serene atmosphere superseded the debilitating heat of the sun and I chose to sit back for a while before I headed down again for cave 3.
The largest of the four is cave 3 which stands on five pillars and two pilasters. Staircases in front of the platforms lead one to the paintings on the back wall of the cave. All the cells are empty and asymmetrical works suggest its incomplete nature. A well-defined boulder staircase leads to Cave 4 which is the southern-most cave on the hill and the smallest. The pillars are left unfinished. The front façade was cut almost 3 feet deep inside. Perhaps the plan was to excavate a three shrine cave as the left cubical blocks on back wall reflects such ideas. But cracks on the roof gives evidence to the heavy load and why the work might had been stopped.
The charm of the site is that the caves are unfinished and therefore gives ample scope for imagination. One is free to be a part of the 7th century architectural labour cutting stones and carving out figures that will be embedded over time. I thought of king Mahendravarman on his horse chariot passing by with his minister reporting him of the progress of the work. I pictured the labourers being rewarded of their work. I questioned myself what is it really love to do.
Too many thoughts might have bound me but I felt unbounded. Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves. But I am free.
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