Vettuvan Koil

{{Infobox Hindu temple

| image = Vettuvan Kovil (11).jpg

| image_upright = 1.2

| alt =

| caption =

| map_type = India Tamil Nadu

| map_caption = Location in Tamil Nadu

| coordinates = {{coord|9.1529512|77.7043968|format=dms|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}

| country = India

| state = Tamil Nadu

| district = Thoothukudi

| location = Kalugumalai

| elevation_m =

| deity = Vettuvan Koil(Shiva)

| creator = Early Pandya dynasty

| year_completed = 8th century CE

| architecture = Tamil architecture, Rock cut

| website = {{url|kalugumalaitemple.tnhrce.in/}}

}}

Vettuvan Koil in Kalugumalai, a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed in the Pandyan Architecture and rock cut architecture, the unfinished temple was built during the 8th century CE by the early Pandyas. The other portions of Kalugumalai hillock houses the 8th century Kalugumalai Jain Beds and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple, a Murugan temple.{{Cite web |url=http://www.thoothukudi.tn.nic.in/Kazhugumalai_tour.html |title=Kazhugumalai –Jain Temple |access-date=25 December 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304045419/http://www.thoothukudi.tn.nic.in/Kazhugumalai_tour.html |url-status=dead }}

This rock-cut temple is notable for its architecture and construction method. While the early Pandya rulers helped build numerous cave and stone temples, it is the only known example of a Pandya era monolithic temple that was carved out in three dimensions, in-situ from the top of the hillock.G. Ezhil Adirai (2016), TECHNOLOGICAL METHODS IN MAKING SCULPTURES, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 77, pp. 84-85, {{JSTOR|26552626}}

The temple is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the Government of Tamil Nadu as a protected monument.

Location and date

File:S-TN-71 Vettuvan Koil Tuticorin.jpg

The Vettuvan Koil is in Kalugumalai, about 60 kilometers north of Tirunelveli and 20 kilometers west of Kovilpatti. It is located in Thoothukudi district in southern Tamil Nadu. The temple sits on the top of a stone hillock on the eastern side. It opens and overlooks to the east, but shares the entrance and a walk path from the west side of the hillock with the Kalugumalai Jain Beds (Highway 187). The temple was built in the 8th century along with the Kalugumalai Jain Beds under the patronage of Parandhagan Netunjadaiyan of the early Pandyan era.{{cite web|title=Sthala Varalaru|url=http://www.kalugumalaitemple.tnhrce.in/kalakumalai_history.html|publisher= Hindu Religious and Endowment Board, Government of Tamil Nadu|year=2015|access-date=4 November 2015}}

Architecture

File:Sculpture at the mandapa of vettuvan koil.jpg

The temple is carved out from a single rock in a rectangular portion measuring {{convert|7.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} in depth. The carvings in the temple show the top portion of the temple, with an unfinished bottom. The sculptures and the carvings are indicative of Pandyan art during the period. The granite rock looks like a blooming lotus, with hills surrounding it on three sides. The vimana (ceiling over the sanctum) has niches of Parsavadevatas, the attendant deities of Shiva, like ganas, Dakshinamurthy depicted playing a mridanga, Siva with his consort Uma, dancers, various niches of Nandi (the sacred bull of Shiva) and animals like monkeys and lions. Historian Sivaramamurti states that this is the only site where Dakshinamurthy is depicted playing the Mridanga (a percussion instrument), while in all other places, he is depicted playing Veena. According to epigrapher V. Vedachalam, there is a spontaneity in the sculptures indicating of natural human movements like in the Shiva and Uma sculpture where they seem to be talking like common folks.{{cite journal|title=Opulent sculptures|url=http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl2521/stories/20081024252107000.htm|publisher=Frontline|volume=22|issue=25|date=24 August 2008|location=Tuticorin|access-date=4 November 2015}} The Vettuvan Koil is an unfinished Shiva temple.

The other portions of Kalugumalai hillock houses the 8th-century-CE Jaina Abode (southwest of Vettuvan Koil) and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple to the south end of the hillock.{{cite news|title=Kazhugumalai deserves universal recognition|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/kazhugumalai-deserves-universal-recognition/article3740232.ece|newspaper=The Hindu|date=8 August 2012|location=Tuticorin|access-date=4 November 2015}}{{cite book|title=பல்நோக்குப் பார்வையில் முருகத் தத்துவம் II: Proceedings of the International Conference on Murugabhakthi 2014|publisher=Thirumurugan Thiruvakku Thirupeedam|year=2014|editor1-last=Virupa|editor1-first=Kumaresan|page=1047}}

Historians have equated the temple with similar temples across India based on the monolithic classification and being carved in-situ out of a pre-existing rock. Historian K. V. Soundara Rajan believes that the temple is similar in architecture to that of Virupaksha Temple at Pattadakal in Karnataka by Vikramaditya II during 734–44 CE, Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple built by Narasimhavarman II during 685–705 CE and Kailasa temple, Ellora by Krishna I during 756–77 CE.{{cite journal|title=Southern connection|url=http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-culture/heritage/southern-connection/article6189615.ece|journal=Frontline|date=25 July 2014|access-date=4 November 2015}} Some historians suggest that the similarities in the architecture are indicative of the political relations between the Pallavas, Rashtrakutas and Chalukyas. This view has been disputed by other historians.{{cite journal|title=Observations Upon Ancient Sites in the Neighbourhood of Kalugumalai, Madras Presidency|jstor=2790466|publisher= Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland|last=Cammiade|first=L.A.|journal=Man|volume=30|date=October 1930|pages=187–89|doi=10.2307/2790466}}

Preservation

Vettuvan Koil is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the Government of Tamil Nadu as a protected monument.{{cite web|title=Protected Monuments under the control of the Department |url=http://www.tnarch.gov.in/cons/monument-list.htm#TUTICORIN_DISTRICT-_(4)|publisher=Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu|year=2011|access-date=4 November 2015}} Kalugumalai was chosen in the plan to be included as a rural tourism site in Incredible India campaign by the Tourism Ministry of the Government of India.{{cite news|title=14 more rural tourism sites to be ready|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1486464911.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409234949/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1486464911.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 April 2016|newspaper=Hindustan Times|location=New Delhi, India|date=29 May 2008|access-date=4 November 2015|via=|url-access=}} As a part of the campaign the ministry allocated {{INR}}10 million to develop the infrastructure around the region in 2008. The tourist inflow to the town increased to 3,000 persons per month during 2009 from 400 per month during the previous years.{{cite news|title=Tourism shoots up in picturesque Tamil temple town|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1620483881.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018231131/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1620483881.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 October 2016|newspaper=Hindustan Times|location=New Delhi, India|date=1 January 2009|access-date=4 November 2015|url-access= }}