Dome

Overall front view; Manikkavachakar was a 9th-century Tamil poet who wrote Tiruvasakam, a book of Shaiva hymns. He is one of the four main Saivite saints; his work forms one volume of the Tirumurai, the key religious text of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. This statue represents him with the kesabandha (gathering of hair) in circular form at the back of the head. There are two necklaces, the lower one being of rudraksha beads. From Chettippulam, Tirutturaippoondi Taluk, Tiruvarur District. Source: Sridhar, T.S., editor; Exhibition on Chola Bronzes, Chennai: State Department of Archaeology, 2011 ([online at http://210.212.62.26/pdf_files/books/Chola%20Bronzes%20part%20001.pdf]) (accessed 5/12/2015)