Sittanavasal’s Jain monuments: weathering the elements and public apathy

This ancient heritage site marks nearly 10 centuries of Jain influence in Tamil Nadu and is in need of better preservation

A small village in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu was a major centre of Jain influence for 1,000 years just before the Christian era.

Sittanavasal is the name used synonymously for the hamlet and the hillock that houses the Arivar Kovil (temple of Arihats - Jains who conquered their senses), 'Ezhadipattam' (a cavern with 17 polished rock beds), megalithic burial sites and the Navachunai tarn (small mountain lake) with a submerged shrine.

This Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-administered site, popular with youngsters and school excursion groups, is in need of better upkeep.

Sittanavasal is considered by historians to be one of the oldest inhabited areas in the district, and a major centre of Jain influence. “This is the only place in Tamil Nadu where we can see Pandya paintings. At least three-fourths of the art is already damaged, so it is important to protect Sittanavasal for future generations,” R. Kalaikovan, founder of the Tiruchi-based Dr. M. Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research Centre, told The Hindu.

Sittanavasal’s site and art was first mentioned by local historian S. Radhakrishnan Iyer in his 1916 book General History of Pudukottai State. Subsequent research by French archaeologist Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreil along with iconographer T.A. Gopinatha Rao in 1920 further highlighted the importance of the monuments.

The artwork on the ceiling of the sanctum and the ardha mandapam of Arivar Kovil is an early example of post-Ajanta cave paintings of the fourth to sixth centuries, done using the fresco-secco technique (a process that dispenses with preparation of the wall with wet plaster).

The ceiling paintings show ‘bhavyas’ (exalted souls who work to achieve moksha or spiritual liberation) enjoying themselves in a pool, full of blooming lotuses; today much of it is obscured by patchy plastering. Faint outlines linger of dancing girls on the ‘ ardha mandapam’ pillars. The pillars of the verandah (added by the Maharaja of Pudukottai at the instance of then Diwan Alexander Tottenham in the 1900s), were brought from Kudumiyanmalai. The colours are a mixture of plant dyes and mineral elements such as lime, lamp black, and clay pigments such as ochre for yellow and terre verte for the greyish-green tints.