Ситтаннавасал Үңгірі: Көне ғибадатхана және суреттер галереясы

Sittanavasal Cave (also, Arivar Koil) is a 2nd century Tamil Śramaṇa complex of caves in Sittanavasal village in Pudukottai district of Tamil Nadu, India. Its name is a distorted form of Sit tan na va yil, a Tamil word which means "the abode of great saints" (Tamil: சித்தன்னவாசல்). The monument is a rock cut monastery or temple. Created by Tamil Śramaṇa, it is called the Arivar Koil, and is a rock cut cave temple of the Arihants. It contains remnants of notable frescoes from the 7th century. The murals have been painted with vegetable and mineral dyes in black, green, yellow, orange, blue, and white. Paintings have been created by applying colours over a thin wet surface of lime plaster. Ancient structures such as Gol Gumbaz, Talagirisvara temple and this one are claimed to be relatively unappreciated. Archaeological Survey of India has listed Sittanavasal Cave in the list of "Must See" Indian Heritage. The Sittanavasal Cave are listed as one of the Adarsh Smarak Monument by Archaeological Survey of India.

While the Sittanavasal village is dated from 1st century BC to 10th century AD when Jainism flourished here, the Temple cave was initially dated to Pallava King Mahendravarman I (580–630 AD) prior to his conversion from Jainism to Hinduism as a Shaivite. However, an inscription attributes its renovation to a Pandyan king probably Maran Sendan (654–670 AD) or Arikesari Maravarman (670–700 AD). The Śramaṇa beds on the hill top is attributed to the Jain era pilgrimage centre which lasted till the 9th century AD. However, in the Pudukkottai region, where the monuments are located, there are many archaeological finds of the megalithic burial sites from much earlier.

Sittanavasal is a rock cut cave, situated on the western side of central part of a hill, which runs in a north–south direction. The hill measures approximately in height, and sits above the surrounding plain which has some archaeological monuments. The Jain natural caverns, called Ezhadippattam are approached from the foothills. The cave is approached by climbing a few 100 steps. Archaeological Survey of India is responsible for the maintenance of the cave and the Jain beds. Mulk Raj Anand said of the paintings, "Pallava craftsmen used greens and browns and puqiles, with a genuine ability and a lyrical flow of line. Lotuses spring up from imaginary ponds amid variegated greenery, under a bluish sheen." In addition, inscriptions of the 9th and 10th century are also seen. The ceiling of the Ardhamandapam is decorated with murals from the 7th century. The cave temple has simple pillars and sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras. However, most of the frescoes which were covered fully in plaster have been severely defaced or not clearly visible due to inadequate security and maintenance resulting in vandalism in the past five or six decades. Originally, the entire cave temple, including the sculptures, was covered with plaster and painted. The paintings are with theme of Jain Samavasarana, the "most attractive heavenly pavilion" (it means the attainment of nirvana), and Khatika bhumi. A door way of 5.5 feet (2 m) height and 2.5 feet (1 m) width from the ardhamantapa leads to the sanctum sanctorum (through a flight of steps), which has three bas relief sculptures. The entrance has surul vyalis (balustrades sculptured with the mythical form of vyalis with twisted trunks). The sanctum sanctorum has a square plan of 2.89 feet (1 m) wide and height of 7.5 feet (2 m), and at the back wall there are three bas reliefs, two are of Jain Tirthankaras (as evidenced by the triple umbrellas (chatris) over them) and the third relief is of an acharya (teacher). The ceiling of the garbha griha which is painted shows a carved wheel with hub and axle that denotes the Dharma chakra ("Wheel of the Law"). Above the three images in Lotus position (seated posture), paintings are also seen which are surmised to represent a canopy which is carved with carpet designs with striped borders and squares and circles of different sizes with louts flower designs inscribed within the squares. The circles depict crosses with bulbous ends; the horizontal arm of the cross has depictions of human and lion figures. In the other areas, the ceiling has similar paintings as the lotus pond in the ardhamantapam. Plastered walls of the Sittanavasal Cave have varying thickness of The pigmentation used for the paintings is over 1000 years old. Echo effect is clearly heard, if "om" is recited, only if inaudibly, in the small shrine. These frescoes are considered to be some of the best frescoes of medieval India next to frescoes of Ajanta Caves and Bagh Caves. Painting of the Sittanvasal Caves were analysed to establish the technique and the material used to make the. Analysing a painting of a lotus pond in the ardhamantpam, it has been inferred that they are made with Fresco secco, techniques made over rough stone using rough plaster of thickness made of lime mortar and sand with minor impurities, applying thick lime wash of fine lime water when the rough lime plaster is still rough. The pigments used are composed of white made from lime, black made from wood charcoal or lamp black, yellow from yellow ochre, red from red ochre, blue from ultramarine\lapis lazuli, and green from terre verte. Pigments of permanent mineral colours (not vegetable colours as reported on the display plaque at the site by ASI) were applied over dry plaster surfaces without any adhesive grove; the process involved a chemical reaction of lime water which absorbed oxygenin the air and getting converted by a carbonisation process into insoluble calcium carbonate, which enabled the pigments to adhere to the surface. At the initiative of Pudukkottai State, during 1937–39, the paintings were cleaned, and then given a preservative coating. Also, the damaged portions of the plastering were injected with cementing material and the paintings were also retouched.