184 



DESCRIPTIVE REMARKS ON 



jewels, &c. Tlie left foot lies on the seat, and the right foot 

 hangs down bnt without any footstool. As in the last case, the 

 left hand rests on the left thigh and the right is raised. On his 

 left is the figure of a woman (?) standing with a breast band on, 

 and a tall topi with necklace, jewels, and right hand similarly 

 raised. On his right stands a man similarly attired. In front 

 of this niche there appears to be a platform or bench abont 

 8' long 3' wide and 1' 8" high, the height of the bottom of all 

 the niches and of the central shrine-cell above the floor of the 

 chamber. 



Can this the only seated figure be the Alvar, still worshipped 

 under the name of Bhtita (see Carr, p. 133), for whom the grants 

 of land inscribed on the rock adjoining the north wall of this 

 temple were made " in the ninth year of Koppara-kesari-varma, 

 also called Udaiyar Sri Eajendra Devar "? (This king has been 

 identified with Vira Eajendra Cola, also called Vira Cola alias 

 Kulottunga-C. alias Eajarajendra or Rajaraja, who became king 

 in 1064 A.D. Burnell, S. I. P., p. 40.) 



35-d. The next tableau is the Oaja Lakshmi, seated on her 

 lotus throne, occupying the northernmost niche of the east (or 

 back) wall of the chamber, 6 feet wide. It is a copy or very 

 nearly identical with (25-b) that in the corresponding position 

 in the Varahasvami Mandapa, delineated in Carr's, pi. VIII. 



The north and south end compartments of the back or east 

 wall stand back. The pair, one on each side of the central 

 shrine projection, stand a little more forward intermediately, and 

 are not so far advanced as the entrance to the shrine. 



35-e. The next compartment is one of three niches, the prin- 

 cipal and centre of which contains a four-armed goddess (?) 

 standing on a (? lotus) pedestal with a pair of half- kneeling 

 little tall-capped human figures at her feet, one on each side with 

 hands joined as if in devotion. The goddess bears emblems in 

 her upper (extra) hands, and wears all her jewels, and has her 

 principal (lower) hands exactly as in 35-b, c and f. This niche 

 is flanked by two very narrow niches containing a single tall- 

 capped standing human figure each. 



35-f. Passing by the projecting entrance of the shrine-cell, 



