Cave Temples of Pandya Country - Art and Ritual (With Special Reference to Putukkottai Region)

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The Tamil University of Thanjavur is an institution, dedicated to research pursuits. As originally designed by the makers of this University the plan was to conduct original projects by qualified staff and not to have any teaching programme. With the lapse of time, it was thought better to introduce courses of research and programmes in Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy were introduced. I was No. 1 to join the Master of Philosophy course under the guidance of Professor Raju Kalidos. Having completed a thesis on the Tirumeyyam temples, I opted to further continue for the Doctor of Philosophy. Busy with his own schedule, my tutor, Dr. Raju Kalidos, found time to allow me to be his doctoral candidate. The problems found in the Tirumeyyam temples were an eye-opener to see the tradition of a temple within its own gubernatorial circle. Naturally my choice for the doctoral thesis fell on the rock-cut caves of the region if they offer more clues to confirm my earlier thesis. My earlier thesis was that the caves and their later growth were interlinked with an everlasting process of development to the present day. Coupled with the evolution of the temples was the ritual which continued to foster. These add a living image to the Cave Temples of Putukkōṭṭai Region, my subject for the doctoral study.

"The thesis submitted by Celvi V. Latha is certainly a nice example of serious research work in the field of both architecture and iconography. The candidate is well informed, methodologically rigorous, and able to express her ideas in a clear and straightforward way. It is also refreshing to see that the candidate never takes traditional opinions for granted and is always ready to discuss them anew."

Prof. Taddei, formerly Editor of the East and West, Rome was an external examiner for the doctoral thesis of V. Latha. He has passed the above remarks in his report.

The monograph on "Cave Temples of the Putukkōṭṭai Region : Art and Ritual", published with a slight modification of the title was the outcome of the research done by Celvi Velu Latha at the Tamil University of Thanjavur during the years 1994-1997. Earlier she did her M. Phil. under my guidance and selected the cave temples of Tirumeyyam. We visited the caves several times and were impressed by the development of the caves' complex through the ages. Though dated in the 8th century by most art historians we were able to discern an early origin of the caves that may date back posterior to the Gupta time. We thought that this process may not be peculiar to Tirumeyyam and may apply to other caves. Therefore, Mrs. Latha selected the entire gamut of caves in the Putukkōṭṭai circle butting into the core Maturai zone. She has included Pirānmalai in her range of caves that more closely gets into the Pandyan metropolitan circle.

**Contents and Sample Pages**