Sittannavasal is the most renowned site in the district. Most of the
monuments of this place are in and around a rocky hill. On the western side
of the hill is the celebrated
Jain rock temple with relics of
paintings,
which have an important place in the Indian art history.
On the eastern side is the
natural cavern with rock beds where Jain
ascetics practiced severest penance, over more than a thousand years since
3rd century BC. There are innumerable Tamil inscriptions here.
To the north
of this natural cavern, on the eastern slop of the rock is a small rock-cut
temple submerged in a tarn, called
Navach-chunai (நவச்சுனை). There are
megalithic monuments like burial urns, stone circles, cairns, dolmens and
cists in plenty, near to the hillock.
|
