Sittanavasal heritage site

Why in news?

• With much of the art in Sittanavasal either damaged or vandalised, Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken conservation measures and also introduced digital checks to track public access

About Sittanavasal:

• It is located in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu
• It is considered to be one of the oldest inhabited areas in the district and 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
  • (a) Arivar Kovil (temple of Arihats – Jains who conquered their senses)
  • (b) ‘Ezhadipattam’ (a cavern with 17 polished rock beds)
  • (c) Megalithic burial sites and
  • (d) The Navachunai tarn (small mountain lake) with a submerged shrine.
• This is the only place in Tamil Nadu where one can see Pandya paintings.
• The site is administered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

About Sittanavasal’s painting works

• 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.
• It is done using the fresco-secco technique
  • A process that dispenses with the 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.
• The colors 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.

About Sittanavasal’s inscriptions

• The Sittanavasal has inscriptions from Brahmi and ‘vattaezhuthu’, from the third century AD.
• Early Tamil inscriptions from the ninth century AD of the Jain monk Ilan-Gautaman were also present here.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Consider the following statements regarding ancient inscriptions at Arivar Kovil, Sittanavasal:

1. The script used in the inscriptions were Brahmi and Vattaezhuthu

2. Tamil inscriptions of the Jain monk Ilan-Gautaman were present here

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer