Temple of Chola era found in Pudukottai

The ancient temple was found by a team from Pudukkottai Heritage Research Centre during a field visit to the region recently. 

“When we visited the spot, we were surprised to see the partially buried temple. Subsequently, we verified the portions and found that the temple belonged to 9th century Chola regime”, said, Manikandan, founder of Pudukkottai Heritage Research Centre and teacher of government boys school, Gandharvakkottai, who led the team, which included Ramesh Muthaiyan, heritage photographer, during its field visit. 

Manikandan, said that the sculptures belonged to 9th century Chola era, especially Raja Raja Chola period. The team also found the Vimana (tower) of the temple, pillars, idols of Dwarapalakas, Mootha Devi, and Lord Muruga in a sitting posture on Iravatham (white elephant) and many damaged parts of the temple partially buried. “Lord Muruga sitting on an elephant is a rare pose”, Manikandan said. 

Similarly, idols like Lord Narasimhar in yoga mudra state, Lord Brahma, Chandikeshwarar, Dakshinamoorthi and broken head of Nandhi idols were also found. “Through this we can arrive at a decision that the temple could have been a Siva-Vishnu temple. Going by the materials, the temple should have been built using lime mortar,” the team leader said.