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Kudumiyanmalai has a very old Shiva temple, which is currently being maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The presiding deities of this temple are Shikhagireeshwarar and Akhilandeshwari.

Sthala puranam (The story behind the name Kudumiyanmalai)
Before this place was called Kudumiyanmalai, its name was Thirunalankunram. Legend goes that the king used to visit the temple everyday in the evening and it was customary for the priest to give the prasAd to the king after the evening pUja. One evening, it was getting late and King Sundarapandian had still not come. Since the closing time of the temple was nearing, the priest gave the prasad to the Dasis who danced everyday at the temple.

Seeing the king enter the temple just as the Dasis were leaving, the priest got worried and took the flowers from them who had already worn it on their hair and gave it to the king. Seeing a strand of hair on the flower, the king became suspicious and questioned the priest about the presence of hair in the flowers. Overcome by fear, the priest lied that it was from Lord Shiva?s head. Angered by the priest?s reply, the king locked him inside the temple, telling him that he would come the next day and check if the Lord did really have hair. Worried, the priest prayed to the Lord. The next day when the king came, there was indeed a kudumi/shikha (tuft) on the Shiva linga! Becoming suspicious, the king tried to pull it from the Shiva linga, only to see blood coming from the lingam! That?s how the Shiva here got the name ShikhagirIshwarar & the place got the name, Kudumiyanmalai. Sculptures galore!

Just as you enter the temple, you will be greeted by lots of monkeys playing freely on all the pillars. On both sides of the corridor from the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum housing ShikhagirIshwarar are pillars having huge, beautiful sculptures.

There are lots of inscriptions on the temple walls.Outside the temple is a mandapam having pillars. After the mandapam there are rows of pillars. Maybe there was a long mandapam which is now gone?

After the pillars is Nandi in a small mandapam. After that is the road, on the other side of which is the Ratham [Ther] broken into pieces and lying in ruins!

Time for some History While the sanctum was built by the Cholas, the outer portions were architecturally expanded by the Pandyas and the Vijayanagara kings. Thanks to attending Chithra Madhavan's lectures, I was able to correctly identify that there must have been Vijayanagar's contribution to the temple. The sculptures of some of the dasAvatArs of Vishnu was one of the things that made me think Vijayanagaras might have added to the temple, since it was during their time that sculptures of Dasavatars became popular. Temple on the hill There is a cave temple in the hill. Some time back, there was an article on Kudumiyanmalai in The Hindu's Friday Review which has lots of information about the temple. I didn't read it at that time and remembered it only after I visited the temple and read it later. Quoting the lines relevant to this post, from the article, The Kuduminatha temple came a few centuries after the cave temple, sometime in the 10th century. Built by the Cholas, it was renovated by the Pandyas in the 13th century and by the Vijayanagar Kings in the 15th. There is what is called a 1,000-pillared mandapam at the entrance, which, however, has only 645 pillars. The sculptures here are of Vijayanagar style. Here one finds figures of Hanuman, Sugreeva and Vali. Completely smeared with butter and vermilion, it is not possible to take in the beauty of the sculpture. In the Vasantha mandapam, the sculpture of Nrisimha tearing out the entrails of Hiranayakasipu, captures attention with its expression. The agony of a terrified Hiranyakasipu, whose hands and legs are held in vice like grip by the ferocious man-animal. The Rati and Manmadha figures are noteworthy for their attention to detail. The Siva in Urdhva tandava pose is a masterpiece. There are also two sculptures of soldiers on horseback, trampling down their enemies here.

The panel of Siva-Parvathi with the Nayanmars Above the Melakkoil is a rare bas-relief of Siva and Parvati on rishaba vahanam, flanked by the 63 Nayanmars. When the temple property was auctioned in the 13th century, Thiru-k-kaariyaan Magal Umaiyal Nachiar, a temple dancer, bought it and transferred ownership back to the temple. She later built the Soundaravalli Amman temple, near the cave temple. King Sadayavarman Veerapandian II gave the Goddess the name Thirukkaama Kottathu Aruvudai Malai Mangai Nachiar.

Built by the Cholas
The Kuduminatha temple came a few centuries after the cave temple, sometime in the 10th century. Built by the Cholas, it was renovated by the Pandyas in the 13th century and by the Vijayanagar Kings in the 15th. There is what is called a 1,000-pillared mandapam at the entrance, which, however, has only 645 pillars. The sculptures here are of Vijayanagar style. Here one finds figures of Hanuman, Sugreeva and Vali. Completely smeared with butter and vermilion, it is not possible to take in the beauty of the sculpture.

Nrisimha tearing out Hiranayakasipu In the Vasantha mandapam, the sculpture of Nrisimha tearing out the entrails of Hiranayakasipu, captures attention with its expression. The agony of a terrified Hiranyakasipu, whose hands and legs are held in vice like grip by the ferocious man-animal. The Rati and Manmadha figures are noteworthy for their attention to detail. The Siva in Urdhva tandava pose is a masterpiece. There are also two sculptures of soldiers on horseback, trampling down their enemies.

PUDUKOTTAI: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has speeded up the renovation of the 1,000-pillar mandapam at the rock-cut temple of Sri Kuduminathar at Kudumiyanmalai, in Tamil Nadu's Pudukottai district.
1,000-pillar mandapam The 9th century temple is a store-house of rare inscriptions and carvings, and an engineering marvel. Although popularly referred to as the 1,000-pillar mandapam, it has 644 pillars ? 322 on the northern side and an equal number on the south of the main prakara leading to the sanctum sanctorum. Over the years, the structure has been weakened, and three years ago the ASI barred the entry of devotees while renovation work is undertaken. "We took care to retain the original order of every stone structure and its beauty. At the time of removal, the pillars and beams were numbered in rows and columns, and the seriatim was maintained in all perfection while re-constructing it," said Senior Conservation Assistant P. Vasudevan. In all, 29 pillars were replaced. The work is being done in three stages. In the initial phase, the base stones, pillars, capital, beam and ceiling slabs were removed. Then the structures were re-arranged in the same order and reinforced using `brijally'? comprising powdered brick and `jally'. Finally, the ceiling slabs are reinforced with powdered lime and `brijally.' The ceiling has been newly provided with a series of brick ventilators to allow sunlight in, adding to the beauty. "Water-tightening will be followed by fixing of two layers of tiles and the entire ceiling will be plastered using lime and cement," Mr. Vasudevan said.

Cave Temple ? Excavated on the eastern slope of low rising hillock, this cave temple would have been excavated in early seventh century. Originally this cave temple was attributed to Pallavas, however now it has been seen as an early Pandya shrine. As per K R Srinivasan, Pallavas were never in this region hence it is hard to assign this to them. However though Pallavas were not directly ruling this area, but it was withMuthariyars who were vassals of the Pallavas. The original cave temple is 12 feet by 13 feet hall. The ardha-mandapa inside, measuring 23 feet by 8 feet. In front of the cave, is a maha-mandapa, which was built in the reign of Kulottunga Chola I (1070-1120). The mandapa in front is built during the reign of Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1686-1730) and his minister Kurundha Pillai. Later Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1730-1769) built the steps to this mandapa. The pillars of the ardha-mandapa are very different from Pallava pillar style as they resemble more to Chalukyan style of Badami. Inside the main sanctum is a Shiva linga, carved out in situ from the original rock of the cave. Above the sanctum door lintel are four dwarf figures. Two figures are in opposite direction just above the sanctum door, while two figures are shown moving away are placed at the corners of the door lintel. All the four are shown in flying profile. There is a Ganesha, valamburi(referred if the trunk is curled to right), figure carved on the inner wall of this temple. He is shown with two hands, left hand is holding a rosary while the left hand is holding some unidentifiable object. He is wearing akaranda-makuta on his head and a yajnopavita across his waist. There are two free standing images inside this cave, one is of Chandikesvara and another is of Somaskanda. On south of the mandapa of this cave, on prepared wall of the rock, is carved the celebrated musical inscription. There is a five feet high Ganesha, this time idampuri (if the trunk is turned to left), image carved in relief to the right of this inscription. This musical inscription is a topic of controversy. Inscribed in Pallava Grantha script in Sanskrit language. Now, we know that Pallava Grantha script was started during Pallavas. This Grantha script evolved in style during its usage in later times. In the evolution of this script, we find four stages, archaic & ornamental, transitional, medieval and modern. The initial archaic and ornamental Granthascript is known as Pallava Grantha script. Being archaic and ornamental, this script was perhaps only used to inscribe inscriptions but not in regular daily usage. Transitional Grantha script is seen in later Pallava times and Pandyan times. As stated earlier this musical inscription is written in Pallava Grantha, hence the common understanding would be that it was done by some Pallava king. Among Mahendravarman I, Mamalla and Rajasimha, this Pallava Grantha script is also used by Mutharaiyar chiefs. Many scholars, like of K R Srinivasan, are in opinion that this region was not under Pallava reign so this inscription could not be related to that dynasty. We will talk about it in details while dealing with the inscriptions of this monument. Out of the cave, on little north of the cave, on the hill above are carved figures of sixty-three nayanars with Shiva with Parvati and Nandi standing in the middle.

Shikanatha Temple ? This is the main structural temple of the complex. The current temple is the result of continuous growth and extensions with time. This temple consists a garbha-griha (sanctum sanctorum),ardha-mandapa, maha-mandapa, sabha-mandapa, anivetti-kal-mandapa and ayirakkal mandapa. The original sanctum and ardha-mandapa would have been built during tenth century during the Chola reign, however the current sanctum and ardha-mandapa are recent structure, even later than of other four mandapas. When you enter into the temple, you first pass through ayirakkal mandpa (thousand pillars mandapa) supported on 645 pillars. The pillars have sculptures of Vishnu incarnations and various scenes and figures from epicRamayana. From the style and architecture, this would have been executed during Vijayanagara period. We also see similar thousand pillar mandapa at other locations, which were also executed during Vijayanagaraperiod. From this mandapa, you will pass through anivetti-kal mandapa (vasanta mandapa). This hall has life size sculptures of various gods, including Kama (Manmatha), Rati, Ganesha, Ravana, Narasimha, Shiva asurdhva-tandava-murti, Rama, Vishnu, Subramanya, Mohini. There are two figures of Nayaka rulers as well in this mandapa. At the end of this hall, entrance into sabha-mandapa, are two dvarpalas in portrait sculptures. They are shown with four hands holding a massive club which is entwined with a serpent. One feet of thedvarpala is resting above the hood of the serpent. Passing through these dvarpalas, you enter into sabha-mandapa. This mandapa is built in Pandya style and has exquisite bronze collection. There is a stone image of Nataraja which is about 6 feet high. In the bronze collection, you will find Chandkeshvara andSomaskanda. Next you enter into maha-mandapa where more bronze statues are enshrined. You will findGanesha, Subramanya, Subramanya as Shashta, Sapta-matrikas, Shiva as Bhikshatanamurti. There are twonayanars, Sambandar and Manikka-vachakar as well among the bronzes. After this you pass through ardha-mandapam which is remodeled recently. Though it is remodeled, it preserves the old sculptures, in which you will find a Ganesha sculptures and dvarpalas of ninth century. There is a covered pradakshina-path around the main shrine. On the inner walls of this path you will see Lingodbhavar, Sapta-matrikas, Jyestha,Subramanya, Gaja-Lakshmi and Saiva saints (nayanars). These images are from various periods. The niche of the main shrine house Dakshinamurti on south, Vishnu on west and Brahma on north. The arrangement of deities in niche are as per shilpa-sastra and this arrangement is very common in the temples of Chola period.

Subsidiary Shrines ? In this temple complex, two more shrines are constructed, Akhilandesvari Shrine andSoundara-nayaki Amman shrine. The first one is located in the pradakshina-path of the maha-mandapa of main temple. There is a rashi-mandapa in front of this shrine, where on the roof are carved twelve zodiac signs. Soundara-nayaki Amman shrine is located south of the cave temple and was built by danseuse ofKudumiyamalai. As per an inscription, a deva-dasi Umaiyalvi-Nachchi, referred to as the daughter of Durgai-aandar, bought some of the temple?s lands for 73,300 gold coins. She also built Amman shrine dedicated to the goddess Malaiya-mangai or Soundara-Nayaki. This shrine is consisted of garbha-griha, ardha-mandapaand mukha-mandapa. Above the hill is located a Murugan shrine which seems to be Pandya construction of thirteenth century. Inscriptions of the Cave Temple ? There are about 120 inscriptions found in the cave temple and in the temple. Most of the inscriptions are of the nature of some grant or endowment towards the temple in various periods. These inscriptions have helped a lot to trace the history of the town and the temple. However the most important inscription of the cave temple is the musical inscription carved on the living rock on south of the cave temple. This inscription is carved on 13 by 14 feet wall and is in good state of preservation. This inscription is written in Pallava Grantha script and is in Sanskrit language. The Pallava Grantha script used in this inscription is of archaic and ornamental style which was in use during seventh century among the various Pallava inscriptions. This inscription was discovered in 1904 by Rao Saheb H Krishna Sastri and was edited by Rao Bahadur P R Bhandarkar in Epigraphia Indica volume XII. He states that the characters of the inscription resemble closely to early Chalukyan period and belong to seventh century. He edited the inscription with relation to the musical notes but not on the epigraphy comparisons. The earliest music treatise of India is Natyasastra of Bharata Muni. However the chapters of this work are handled and re-handled and all parts of it are not from same period. This text can be assigned to fourth century. The next treatise on music is Samgita-ratnakara by Sarngadeva, which is written between CE 1210 and 1247. Hence the discovery of a music inscription, dated in between these two works, is of great importance. It is divided into seven sections corresponding to the seven classical ragas of the time. These seven sections are 1)Madhyamagrama, 2) Sadjagramah, 3) Shadava, 4) Sadharita, 5) Panchama, 6) Kaishikimadhyama, and 7)Kaishika. Each section consists of a collection of groups of four notes, arranged in sub-sections of sixteen, each sub-section taking up one line of the inscription. The music in the inscription appears to be intended for the vina, since it has been given the title chatushprahaarasvaragamah or authoritative texts of notes produced by four striking (of the string). It is clear that the seven ragas of the inscription do not appear in theNatyasastra of Bharata, but they appear in Samgita-ratnakar. Hence this inscription is the earliest record of these seven ragas however when they came into existence is not very clear. Let?s have a look at the inscription first,

Authorship of this inscription ? Who authored this inscription is a topic of controversy. Let's go through various aspects of this topic in details. Sankiranjati is a well known biruda (title) of Mahendravarman I, as seen from inscription of his from Trichy. This Sankirnajati has two meaning, one could be the mixed-race and second could be a new kind of tala (musical notes). Pallavas claimed to be born of Brahmana-Kshatriya race so they should be treated as mixed-race descendants. Also if this inscription is from Pallavas then they were right in assuming this biruda as they showed their expertise in music notes here. Dr C Minakshi interprets this biruda with musical expertise of Mahendravarman I. Professor Sambamurthi agrees with Dr Minakshi?sassociation of this biruda, sankirna-jati, of Mahendravarman I with music. Hence these two scholars assign this inscription to the Pallava king Mahendravarman I (CE 600-630). G Jouveau Dubreuil though did not say anything about this particular biruda, however based upon the script of this inscription, he assigns this to Mahendravarman I.
T V Mahalingam also assigns this to Mahendravarman I based upon the script used. However K R Srinivasan states that as the Pallava rule was not till this region hence it is not possible to assign this inscription to any Pallava king.

These are few of the statements from eminent scholars about the authorship of the inscription. Now we will look into few observations which can be made from the above article:

1. First point to ponder is that we should not try to relate the author of the inscription with the creator of the cave temple. Both can be different people from different period. So we will first deal with the characteristic features of the cave temple and then will move to the inscription.
2. The cave temple does not have characteristic pillars of Mahendravarman I, which are seen in all his other cave temples. Hence this can be easily said that this cave temple was perhaps not excavated by him or other immediate Pallava kings.
3. To support the above statement, is the absence of inscriptions in this cave. In other Pallava caves, either we find no inscription or inscriptions of their birudas. Now if we say that this musical inscription was ofMahendravarman I then as no inscription is present in the cave so the cave temple cannot be attributed to him. If he could take up the effort to inscribe such a long inscription on external wall of the cave then he would surely have inscribed his titles inside the cave as he did in other cave temples.
4. The rock-cut Shiva lingam inside the sanctum is carved in situ. Such a Shiva lingam was not found in any other cave of Mahendravarman I or other immediate Pallava kings. Also there are disputes whetherShiva lingam was under worship during the rule of early Pallavas. In such a case, it does not seem to been excavated by Pallava rulers.
5. It is mostly accepted that Pallava rule did not extend further south of Kaveri. In that case, Pallavas were not ruling on this part of land hence shrines of this land cannot be assigned to the Pallavas.
6. From point 2, 3, 4 and 5 it can be stated that this cave temple was not excavated in the reign ofMahendravarman I or better we say that it was not excavated by him or under his orders.
7. Now about the inscription, the inscription is written in Pallava Grantha script which was in use during seventh century. This script was mostly used by the Pallavas
only hence termed as Pallava Grantha script. This clearly suggests that this inscription would have been executed by the Pallavas of seventh century.
8. However we have seen the usage of this script by the vassals of the Pallavas, such as Muthariyars. In that case some Muthariyars chief can also be the author of this inscription.
9. The acharya, Rudracharya, mentioned in the inscription is not known by any other inscription. Hence his identity is also very doubtful which makes our task tougher.
10. There is no name mentioned for the disciple of this acharya, the only thing known is that disciple was ?paramamaheshvara?. Some scholars took this as a biruda of Mahendravarman I, howeverparamamahesvhara means an ardent devotee of Shiva, which could be stated for any king or chief who was a devotee of Shiva. Hence this should not be taken as an exclusive title of some king. Also as this cave temple is dedicated to Shiva so it is natural that the person inscribing this inscription would have been a devotee of Shiva.
11. What if we say that Pallavas did inscribe this, however the cave temple was built by someone else. We accepted earlier that the first cave temple in this part of country (Tamilnadu) was excavated byMahendravarman I. Now we are trying to say that within his reign, another cave temple was excavated which differs in style and architecture. This seems very confusing. Either Mahendravarman I was not the first to start the cave temple architecture, or this inscription was not inscribed during the reign ofMahendravarman I. Mahendravarman I ruled from CE 600 to 630, if we take dates from K R Srinivasan then it is CE 580-630. In the course of 30 years, he excavated the first cave temple of the country and in his reign only, someone else excavated another cave temple in different style, seems possible? I will say no as 30 years are very short for such a change in style.
12. Many of the Mahendravarman I cave temples are located near a tank. Though this temple also has a tank nearby but that tank was dug by Raghunatha Servaikar, son of Lingappa Servaikar, a military officer under Vijaya Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman (1730-1769).
13. Another fact about Mahendra caves is that these are located very near to Jaina sites. Kudumiyamalaialso has Jaina vestiges around the hill. However these kind of Jaina vestiges are found in most of the parts of the country as it was under Jaina influence for quite a time before the rise of Brahmanism. And most of the Jaina sites are located on secluded hills. However Kudumiyamalai does not look like secluded hill, so it appears that Jaina would have left these sites as soon as the town started shaping up. The town was already in place during the seventh century as seen from endowments to the temple.
14. We need to check up the usage of Pallava Grantha script among the Pandya rulers, then only we can say anything about the author of the inscription. However it seem ok to state that the cave temple is not a creation of the Pallava rulers. Checking this script with Pandyas is pending on my side, will update this article as soon as I get information on this part.

There is another inscription, above the Ganesha relief image on north side of the musical inscription, which is also written in Pallava Grantha script, and it refers to some stringed musical instrument. This consists of a single label which gives the name of the musical instrument called Parivadinida. It seems that the notes in the musical inscription would have been meant to be played on this musical instrument. Apart from this celebrated inscription, there are many other inscriptions of interest. Four of them are published in South Indian Inscription Vol. 19, number 413-416. The text, cited from this volume, of the inscription is given below:
No. 413 On the east wall of the rock-cut shrine, right of entrance Melaikoyil temple This records an endowment of a village Marudangudi for conducting the tiruchchennadai (service) of god Tirumulattanattu-Perumanadiga at Tirunalakkunram by Madirantakan Irukkuvelar alias Achchan Vikramakesari. It has been suggested in the M.E.R for 1908, para 90, that this donar might be same as the chief Bhuti Vikramakesari the builder of the Muvarkoyil at Kodumbalur. This is evidently an inscription of Parantaka I.
No. 414 On the east wall of the rock-cut shrine, right of entrance Melaikoyil temple This gives details of the endowment (recorded in No. 413 above) of the village Munainariyar Marudangudi, and states that the income was to be utilized for offerings and worship to Paramesvara and for the maintenance of the yogis performing worship the deity.
No. 415 On the east wall of the rock-cut shrine, right of entrance Melaikoyil temple This records a gift of 7? kalanju of gold and a lamp-stand for burning a perpetual lamp in the temple of Tirumulattanattu-Perumanadigal by one Seruvidai Arinjigai. This is probably a record of Parantaka I.
No. 416 On the east wall of the rock-cut shrine, right of entrance Melaikoyil temple This also records a gift of 7 kalanju of gold for burning a perpetual lamp in the temple of Tirumulattanattu-Perumanadigal at Tirunalakkunram by Kadangi a resident of Pambaiyur in Kunriyur-nadu. This may be assigned to Parantaka I.

Food and Accommodation

This is a small village with no proper accommodation facility. You may either stay at Trichy or Puddukkotai and visit this place. Food will be available from small village restaurants however if you are very specific to hygiene and preparations then use your own discretion. I ate food at small stall there and I should accept that food was really delicious. How to Reach ? Kudumiyamalai is 20 km from Puddukkotai on Puddukkotai-Kodambalur road. Bus facility is available from Puddukkotai to Kudumiyamalai, however frequency is not very good. You can also arrange a taxi as this is not very far from Puddukkotai town. Link to Yahoo Map for Kudumiyamalai
References:

1. Epigraphia Indica Vol. XII, Archaeological Survey of India
2. South Indian Inscriptions Vol XIX, Archaeological Survey of India
3. Inscriptions of the Pallavas (1988) by T V Mahalingam, Agam Prakashan, Delhi

1. The Creation of Pallava Grantha Tamil Script by Michael Lockwood
2. Virtual tour of Kudumiyamalai by S Sumitha
3. Poetry in Stone
4. Melaikkoil ? Kudumiyanmalai Cave Temple
5. Aparna?s article on Kudumiyamalai
6. Evolution of Grantha Script
7. Kudumiyamalai in www.pudukkottai.org