When we talked of the tiger caves in saluvankuppam, had mentioned that there are two more beauties in that cluster. They are the amazing bas relief sculpture of mahishasuramardhini and the Atiranachanda mandabam ( rock cut cave of Rajasimha having his lovely inscription) – we will visit the bas relief first.
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Even seasoned visitors to Mahabalipuram would mostly miss the attractions of saluvankuppam. Even those that do venture, would miss this seemingly innocuous looking stone. Just in front of the rock cut madabam is this piece of living rock.
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You got to go around to see the handiwork of the pallava sculpture, who has transformed this insignificant piece of rock outcrop into a work of art. These pictures would give you an idea to its location and ensure you don’t miss this pint size masterpiece on future visits.
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The large mahisha panel in mallai serves as a nice comparison for us to view this piece. Lets look at the main characters side by side in order to infer more. In the mallai panel the devi is in all her glory on her lion vehicle engaged in battle with her 8 hands.
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The demon too is standing up and giving fight with his massive mace. Whereas in the saluvankuppam panel – he is down on his knees, the devi too is in the process of dismounting from her vehicle, with one leg gracefully off the saddle. The demon looks wasted, with nostrils flayed and hands raised in a kind of let me go pose.
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Thus this is the sequel to the mallai panel.