Sittanavasal Cave

Sittanavasalsakthivel is a 2nd Century Jain cave temple complex in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu. It is located at a distance of 58 km from Trichy and 20 km from Pudukkottai just before Annavasal village. The most famous monument is rock-cut monastery of the Jains which contains remnants of exquisite frescoes from 7th century. The murals have been painted with vegetable and mineral dyes. The colours used are black, green, yellow, orange, blue, and white. Paintings has been done by applying colours to a thin wet surface of lime plaster.

There is a Tamil-Brahmi inscription on a cave bed, and a 9th Century inscription on a rock nearby. The cave temple has simple pillars and sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras. The inner room of the temple has three relief sculptures as well. Though severely damaged due to vandalism, remaining Frescoes have been preserved on the top parts of columns and ceiling inside the temple. Many of them are typical of the 9th century Pandyan period and include exquisitely detailed pictures of elephants, buffaloes, fish, geese, Jains gathering lotuses from a pond and dancing girls. These frescoes are considered to be some of the best frescoes of medieval India next to frescoes of Ajanta Caves and Bagh Caves.