Ancient chola frescoes unearthed at Kanchipuram shrine

Ancient Chola frescoes were discovered by a team commissioned by the Archaeological Survey of India while working on a mural at Varadarajaswami temple here.
The team for restoring antiques was engaged in cleaning the inner periphery walls of the ancient shrine and for restoring the murals attributed to the 16th century Nayak period, since the last one month.
Yesterday, while cleaning a panel of Lord Vishnu with His Consorts, the technicians came upon an inner layer of painting work. A team of conservationists from the Museum Department worked on the panel in the presence of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department Additional Chief Secretary, Dr Kannan.

The outer visible layer was removed onto a cotton cloth, to reveal an older wall painting underneath.
Seeing that it was a fresco-secco painting, it was tentatively placed as a painting of Chola period. During a similar exercise at Thanjavur temple some years back, some Vijayanagar paintings were found to be superimposed on Chola murals.
Kannan said today that the exact period of the painting would be known only after the tests.
As per historical records, the temple was expanded during AD 848. Epigraphs also disclose that expansion work was carried out by Chola Kings Kulothunga and Vikrama Chola during 1053.