Not far away from the town of Pudukottai is Sittanavasal ,
abode of Jain saints .
Uneven rock cut steps, up a small hill leads
one to the monastery. The monastery is
quite small, it has a small sanctum with
idols of 3 Jain Tirthankars. Just outside the sanctum too, there are two
statues of Tirthankars. The ceiling
outside the sanctum has 7 th century frescoes.
Though we cannot identify the painting on our own, a good effort was made
by the guide who is posted there.
Frescoes as mentioned by the guide are - Fish floating in a pond, a lady adorned
with jewellery ; jewellery was very much in use in 7th century
too :) ,beautiful maidens plucking
lotuses , a saint clad in saffron robes
and elephants playing in the pond. Some have started peeling off.
The monastery is in a rock cut cave . The unique thing about
this place is- if one enters the sanctum and concentrates on one’s breath,
inhales and exhales slowly then we can hear a humming sound something like
vibrations reflecting from the wall. The
sanctum is a very small room with no windows. What baffles me a lot is, when we
talk, it does not resonate. That small room might have been used by the sages
living there. This looked as if abandoned and neglected for a few years and it
has come under the Archaeological
department of India now. Have a look at pictures I could capture. Photography
inside the monastery is prohibited.
Visiting time is 10 Am -6 Pm. A small fee of Rs. 5 charged
per head, if one wants to enter the sanctum. We visited this in May and
found it was not the right time to visit as the scorching Sun made the climb
difficult.
Sittanavasal is about 15Kms frm Pudukottai town.
Sittanavasal is about 15Kms frm Pudukottai town.
