Pancha Pandava Malai – Vilapakkam

Travel for 30 km from Vellore o reaches Pancha Pandava Malai or Pancha Pandava hill. The hill makes its place in a small town of Vilapakkam, between the towns of Arcot and Kannamangalam. The hills hold the great past. The inscriptions and the sites proves it be a flourished Jain centre around 9th & 11th centuries. The hills might have seen thousands of Jain devotees and the saints of the time and was a renowned Jain pilgrimage. The place now holds rock cut cave temple, natural caves with Jain figures and many ancient inscriptions. Other than being the centre for Jainis, the place has stories relating to Mahabharata too. The name Pancha Pandava Malai proves its associated with Pandavas from Mahabharata. The hill is also known as Tiruppanmalai, meaning Scared Milk Hill. The rock cut cave temple is huge and shows Pallava style of architecture. The cave makes its place in the foot of a mighty hillock. The cave encloses large mukhamandapa, with 12 pillars on either sides, supporting the roof of the Mandapa. The back walls sees seven carved out niches with empty cells, while the side walls have square un-carved blocks. One can appreciate the carved out images of Yakshi, Naganadi and a Jain Thirthankara over the rocks. The inscriptions pertaining to Pallava king Nandivarman and the Chola king Rajaraja I are also found here.