5/5 Sakthi C. 5 months ago on Google
Chitharal
is
located
about
45
kilometers
away
from
kanniyakumari.
It
is
famous
for
the
Rock-cut
temple.
Hillock
at
Chitharal
has
a
cave
containing
Rock-cut
sculptures
of
Thirthankaras
and
attendent
deities
carved
inside
and
outside
dating
back
to
9th
Century
A.D.
King
Mahendra
Varman
I
was
responsible
for
the
Jainism
influence
in
this
region.
It
was
converted
into
Bagavathy
Temple
in
the
13th
Century
A.D.
Cars
and
Vans
can
go
upto
the
foot
of
the
hill.
One
has
to
walk
for
about
10
minutes
to
reach
the
temple.
The
Jain
images
have
been
preserved
by
the
Central
Archeological
Survey
of
India.
It
comes
under
Vellankode
panchayat.general
condition
was
in
ruins
as
attested
by
the
archived
19th-century
photographs
of
the
site
taken
by
Gopinath
Rao.
He
remarked
that
the
outside
was
ruined,
but
the
cave
temple
was
mostly
intact.
The
exception
being
the
murals
and
plastered
images
which
had
been
damaged
along
with
the
Padmavati
Devi
image.
Gopinath
Rao
states
that
these
were
"destroyed
by
[art]
thieves"
in
late
19th-century
or
early
20th-century.
The
original
statues
of
Mahavira
and
Parswanatha
remain
in
good
condition.[5][9]
The
monument
has
been
cleaned
up,
many
parts
of
it
rebuilt
and
restored,
particularly
the
partial
Vimana
on
top
of
the
cave
temple.[5]
The
site
has
a
natural
"heart
shaped"
pond
below
the
temple
and
provides
a
picturesque
view
of
the
farmlands
and
valley
villages
By
Air
Nearest
Airport
:
Thiruvananthapuram
Airport.
Chitharal
Jain
Rock
Cut
Temple
can
be
reached
by
bus
or
train
from
Thiruvananthapuram
By
Train
Nearest
Railway
Station
:
Kuzhithurai
.
The
Chitharal
Jain
Monuments
are
located
in
a
small
village
situated
9
km
from
Kuzhithurai
station
By
Road
By
road
it
is
64
Kms
from
Thiruvananthapuram
and
42
Kms
from
Kanniyakumari
