Oriental Scenery/Part 5/Plate 1
No. I.
SCULPTURED ROCKS AT MAUVELEPORAM, ON THE COAST OF COROMANDEL.
Mauveleporam lies about thirty miles southward of Madras, on the sea coast, and is known to mariners by the name of the Seven Pagodas.
This view is a representation of several Rocks, which have been wrought by the Hindoos into curious architectural forms on the outside, and in the lower part excavated for the purpose of religious worship. These Rocks are of very hard, coarse granite; nevertheless the ornamental parts appear to have been executed with a considerable degree of skill, which is very evident on the western side, being there sheltered from the corroding effect of the sea air. A Lion and an Elephant appear in the centre; the former is much larger than nature, but of inferior art to some others to be met with in the neighbourhood: the latter is about the natural size: it is well designed, and the character of the animal strongly expressed.
Sculptured Rocks at Mauveleporam, on the Coast of Coromandel.