The Pidari Rathas are two incomplete rathas and similar in style with Pancha Pandava Ratha group, hence could be assigned to the same period. One of these DSC00052faces east and another faces north. Both are two storeys design where the upper part of the ratha is complete but the lower portion is very little done. Both of them are carved in different profile, one has a square roof and another has an octagonal roof. On the ridges of the roofs is seen floral creepers, similar to Draupadi Ratha. Regular arrangement of mini shrines over the cornice is also found here. In one of the ratha we also see pilasters supporting the cornice, however the other one has not still reached to that state of completion.
The visit to this Valiyankuttai and Pidari Rathas was a Part of the “Mamallapuram Heritage Visit”, under the title – “Known Mamallapuram, Unknown places organized by SASTRA & Chithiram Pesuthadi Groups on 19th March 2023. This is one of the group of monuments of Mamallapuram, a UNESCO Heritage site of Tamil Nadu.
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| Valiyankuttai and Pidari Rathas veludharan.blogspot.com |
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| Valiyankuttai and Pidari Rathas veludharan.blogspot.com |
These monolithic Rathas are smaller in size compared to the Shore temples on the banks of the Buckingham canals. The Valayankuttai Ratha resembles the Arjuna Ratha, and close to this, two unfinished rock-cut shrines are facing east.
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| indiathatwas.com |
Above image: Two small monolithic temples are known as Pidari Amman Ratha.
These monolithic vimanas may belong to the late years of Pallava King Parameswaravarman-I (672 – 700 CE) reign. Their features are like those of Rajasimha (700 – 727 CE) structural temples. Both the vimanas are finished up to the prasada/prastara level only. These two monolithic rock-cut temples are called the Pidari Amman Rathas.
The triple-celled rock cut shrines dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, are the edifice of craftsmanship during Pallava rulers. Dated to the 6th to the 7th century, these rock-cut temples are recognized as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO and are protected by the ASI.
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| triple-celled rock cut shrines upload.wikimedia.org Image:Samrajclicks - Own work |
The northern most cell is dedicated to Brahma, the central, biggest one to Shiva and has a black stone ling, which seems to be a later addition and the last one is dedicated to Vishnu. In all cases there are attendants/devotees attending to/worshipping the four armed deities. The roof as well as the floor has well directed chisel marks, which appear as ornamentations. There is a pair of exquisitely carved dwarapalakas on both sides of the entrance to each cell shrine and the other ornamentations include hara elements.
On the extreme right side outside the caves, there is an ornate carving of Durga. A large water tank before the triple celled shrine is hewn out of another granite mound and is referred to as Krishna's butter bowl or Gopi's churn, but again has nothing to do with the avtar.
https://www.indiathatwas.com/2011/01/pidari-rathas-and-tiger-cave-mahabalipuram/
https://veludharan.blogspot.com/2023/04/valiyan-kuttai-pidari-rathas-unesco.html
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1562474290646745/posts/3616467921914028
K. N. Jayaraman
