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In News
- Recently, the Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken conservation measures and also introduced digital checks to track public access in Sittanavasal.
About
- Sittanavasal Cave (also, Arivar Koil) is a 2nd-century Tamil ?rama?a complex of caves in Sittanavasal village in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, India.
- Its name is a distorted form of Sit-tan-na-va-yil, a Tamil word which means “the abode of great saints”.
- This is the only place in Tamil Nadu where we can see Pandya paintings.
- The monument is a rock-cut monastery or temple created by Tamil ?rama?a, it is called the Arivar Koil, and is a rock cut cave temple of the Arihants.
- It contains remnants of notable frescoes from the 7th century.
- The murals have been painted with vegetable and mineral dyes in black, green, yellow, orange, blue, and white.
- It is considered by historians to be one of the oldest inhabited areas in the district, and a major centre of Jain influence.
- The artwork on the ceiling of the sanctum and the ardha mandapa of Arivar Kovil is an early example of post-Ajanta cave paintings of the fourth to sixth centuries, done using the fresco-secco technique (a process that dispenses with preparation of the wall with wet plaster).
- Faint outlines linger of dancing girls on the ‘ Ardha mandapam’ pillars.
- The Sittanavasal Cave is listed as one of the Adarsh Smarak Monuments by the Archaeological Survey of India.
- The site and art was first mentioned by local historian S. Radhakrishnan Iyer in his 1916 book General History of Pudukottai State.
Source:TH
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