The First Cave Temple In Mandagapattu

The Lakshitayatana of Mandagapattu is the first cave temple excavated by King Mahendravarman from the granite rocks of his country. It is here his famous inscription is found, saying that he made a temple without using the materials common for contemporary shrines— brick, timber, metal or mortar. The Sanskrit inscription on the western pilaster reads:
1. Etad-an-ishtakam-a-druma (m-a-lo)
2. ham-a-sudham (Vichitrachi) ttena
3. nirmmapitan-nipe (na) Brahm-E
                                                      4. svara- Vishnu-Lakshit qyatanam
“This brickless, timberless, metalless and mortarless mansion of Lakshita was caused to be made by King Vichitrachitta for Brahma, Isvara and Vishnu.”
‘Lakshita’ or the ‘distinguished one’ is one of king Mahendra’s birudas; Lakshit-ayatana means the ‘temple of Lakshita’.

The cave temple on the outskirts of the village Mandagapattu, situated 15 km from Villupuram in South Arcot, is carved into one of those piledup agglomerations of boulders which are scattered all over the flat landscape—picturesque spurs of the nearby Gingee range. A small irrigation tank in front of it with a banyan tree by its side enhances the charm of the secluded place and at the same time fulfills the traditional demand that a place of worship should be associated with water (tirtha) and a particular tree (vrksa). The first impression on entering the temple is that of the all-pervading presence of the rock, the breathing stone, its severity, its unyieldingness. There is no ornamentation anywhere on which the eye can dwell. One feels the concentrated effort of the craftsman to become familiar with this new material, stone, with which he was suddenly confronted and to rise to the task to carve a temple out of it.

The facade of the temple consists of two heavy pillars and two pilasters at either end.Pillars, as well as pilasters, are shaped in the typical Mahendra style—two cubical parts on top and bottom (saduram) with the octagonal part, the kattu, in between. In the interior, a second row of pillars separates the hall into the mukha and ardha mandapa which is further stressed by a small level difference of the floor. In imitation of wooden structures the curved corbels on top of the pillars and pilasters carry a beam. Four plain pilasters were carved from the back wall of the temple and in between them three shrine-cells excavated. According to the inscription they were dedicated to Brahma, Isvara and Vishnu. All three shrines are empty now; each one has a socket hole into which the image of the deity was placed at a certain period. Traces of plaster and paint on the shrine walls indicate that at another period, perhaps when the temple was inaugurated, the images of the deities were painted on the back walls of the shrines. The floor level of these three shrines is only slightly raised above that of the hall as opposed to later excavations where the shrine-cell is entered by rock-steps.

The dvarapalas in niches beyond the pilasters, at either end of the facade, are not fully completed and it seems that they were added at a later time. Both are similar to each other in dress and ornament and both face the temple facade. The eastern one wearing a high and elaborate crown and large ear ornaments leans relaxed on his club, his rich garment folded in a sophisticated way around his thighs. Elaborate dresses and ornaments of Pallava dvarapalas were to become a characteristic of the Mamalla period. The second dvarapala is less relaxed and looks more like a determined guard. Out of his slightly different crown, emerge masses of thick hair; a cobra is coiled around his club and another one is seen near his shoulder, both with their hoods raised. The figures of the dvarapalas show high sculptural maturity which would again suggest that they are a later addition.

It feels good to sometimes come back to Mandagapattu; to sit under the banyan tree, to drink in the serenity of the place and contemplate therock temple in its plain nobility the first attempt of a restless royal mind in its quest for new and unconventional ways and the beginning of an era of outstanding achievements in South Indian rock architecture and sculpture.