| Vettuvan Koil | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Hinduism |
| District | Thoothukudi |
| Deity | Vettuvan Koil(Shiva) |
| Location | |
| Location | Kalugumalai |
| State | Tamil Nadu |
| Country | India |
  Location in Tamil Nadu | |
| Geographic coordinates | 9°09′11″N 77°42′16″E / 9.1529512°N 77.7043968°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Tamil architecture, Rock cut |
| Creator | Early Pandya dynasty |
| Completed | 8th century CE |
| Website | |
| kalugumalaitemple | |
Vettuvan Koil in Kalugumalai, a panchayat town in Thoothukudi district in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. Constructed in the Pandyan Architecture and rock cut architecture, the unfinished temple was built during the 8th century CE by the early Pandyas. The other portions of Kalugumalai hillock houses the 8th century Kalugumalai Jain Beds and Kalugasalamoorthy Temple, a Murugan temple.[1]
This rock-cut temple is notable for its architecture and construction method. While the early Pandya rulers helped build numerous cave and stone temples, it is the only known example of a Pandya era monolithic temple that was carved out in three dimensions, in-situ from the top of the hillock.[2]
The temple is maintained and administered by Department of Archaeology of the Government of Tamil Nadu as a protected monument.
- ^ "Kazhugumalai –Jain Temple". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2015.
- ^ G. Ezhil Adirai (2016), TECHNOLOGICAL METHODS IN MAKING SCULPTURES, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, Vol. 77, pp. 84-85, JSTOR 26552626