Malayadipatti Thirumal Cave Temple, Pudukkottai

Address

Malayadipatti Thirumal Cave Temple, Malayadipatti, Kulathur Circle, Pudukkottai District – 622502

Diety

Thirumal

Introduction

From 33 km from Pudukkottai in the Lower Panchayat. It is located at a distance of 15 km from Keeranur. Located near the Malayadipatti Village in Pudukkottai district, Tamil Nadu the Malayadipatti Rock Cut Temples consist of two prominent temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. Vishnu cave temple is locally known as Olipathivishnu-griham and Shiva cave temple is known as Alathurthali cave. Both the caves are living temples and under worship. Both the caves face north and have been carved on the same rock running from east to west. The rock-cut temple contains huge amount of artwork – beautiful reliefs and sculptures, often covered with painted stucco. Paintings cover walls and ceiling. The presiding deity of this temple is Perumal, popular another name of Vishnu in Tamil Nadu. Temple though contains many more shrines for Vishnu, Shiva and other deities. Rock-cut temple itself consists of mukha-mandapa (verandah), ardha-mandapa (entrance chamber) and sanctum sanctorum (the main shrine). The ancient temple is entered through a row of two square pillars and pilasters at each side. Nearly whole surface inside the temple is covered with sculptures and reliefs, stucco and paintings. Here the sculptures of Narasimhamoorthy, Thirumal, Anantha Sayanamoothy and Adisesan are carved on the hill. On the upper floor of the hall of the Thirumal Cave Temple, there are paintings of Dasavatara paintings (ten incarnations of the Lord). Ancient elders are also found buried in the area. The tomb was taken up for Vishnu. 1100 years old. The tomb was excavated by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement during the Pallava period in the late eighth century. There are Pallava period Granth inscriptions, Pandiyar, Chola Tamil inscriptions, Vijayanagara inscriptions.