The Talinatha temple at Tirupattur is among the more perfect and larger temples of Varaguna’s time. Two inscriptions (868 CE and 878 CE) refer to the regnal years of Maranjadaiyan who is Varaguna II. According to one of the scholars, this temple is sufficiently evolved in plan and form so that the Maranjadiyan inscription on the temple could be of Parantaka Viranaryayana’s time; if so, the temple may be coeval with the earliest Cola temples of Chola Aditya I’s time. However, certain details and the wooden feeling of the low relief work on the niches (panjara-kosthas) and on the gateways (toranas), could warrant a date slightly earlier than that of the oldest Chola buildings. The temple anticipates some of the elements of Chola buildings, but is otherwise fully rendered in Pandyan idiom. Reference: M.W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky, 1963, pp.115 – 117.

Temple Group, Narttamalai, Tamil Nadu

Temples in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu

Sembiyan Mahadevi rebuilt the Tirukkotisvara temple at Tirukkodikaval in stone during her son Uttama Chola's reign (971 – 988 CE). An earlier temple in brick existed at least from the days of Ko-Ilango Muttaraiyar. Sembiyan Mahadevi got all twenty-six old inscriptions to be re-inscribed and the earliest one belongs to the days of Nandipottaraiyar (III) of the Pallava dynasty. The temple is a single-storeyed structure with a bulbous crowning cupola (sikhara). There are nine divinity niche (devakoshtha) figures in typical Sembiyan Mahadevi fashion. References: M.W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky, 1963, pp.184-185, S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1971, pp. 174-176.

The Tirutantonisvara temple at Tiruci can tentatively be assigned to Aditya I's reign (871 - 907 CE) though it could as well be assigned to Vijayalaya's time (850-871 CE). The displaced inscriptions on the temple suggest rebuilding of the temple. While the inscriptions do not date before the late tenth century, the temple architecture and associated sculpture belong to earlier time period. For example, the door guardians (dvarapalas) inside seem archaic and their hand gestures do not commonly occur in early Chola examples. However, the figures in the divinity niches (devakosthas) are somewhat of a later period. References: M.W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky, 1963, p. 153.

Tirunavalur holds an honoured place in Saivite hagiology, as it is the birthplace of Tamil saint Sundaramurti Nyanar. There were once three Siva temples and a Vishnu temple here. One of the Siva temples was an old Pallava temple called Kalinarisvaram. The principal deities of the other two Siva temples were Rajaditta Isvarrattu Mahadevar and Tiru Agastyesvarattu Mahadevar however the Agastyesvaram temple cannot be traced now. The Rajaditta Isvaram temple that is commonly known as Bhaktajanesvaram or Tiruttondisvaram is extant. There are twenty-nine inscriptions relating to Parantaka I (907-954 CE). These are inscriptions mention donation of gifts to the temple and also reflect the political anarchy that prevailed in the region consequent on the Rashtrakuta invasion by Krishna III (953 – 954 CE). The temple received the devoted homage and munificence of kings and nobles throughout the period of Chola rule. This temple houses bronzes of Natraja and Bhikshatanar and metals of Sundaramurti and his two consorts and of his patron Munaiyadaraiyan. References: S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1971, pp. 64-67.