The Chera country and the Kongu area which was included in the kingdom of the Cheras reveal the influence of Pallava and Pandyan art. Chera rock-cut cave temples, like those at Kaviyur and Tiruvallara, recall the early Pallava temples at Mamandur, Pallavaram, Siyamangalam, Tiruchirapalli, Mahendravadi, etc. The beautiful face in classical style, which is nearly all that, is left of the painting which once adorned the cave temple at Tirunandikkarai of about the eighth-ninth centuries A.D, represents the early phase of Chera art. It is interesting to compare this with a fragment of paintingrepresenting a princely figure from one of the cells of the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchi to which it bears a striking resemblance.
Writer – C. Sivaramamurti