Pallava era Cave Temples

In a small village called Vallam near Chengalpet in South India, there are three rock-cut shrines that belong to the Pallavan Era. These caves have some brilliant sculptures but remain unknown to most people. The three shrines are part of one hillock. The cave is to be reached by climbing around 100 or more steps. The First Cave: This cave shrine has Lord Shiva as its presiding deity. The Lord is referred to as Vedanteeswarar in this temple. The main Goddess at this temple is Gnanambikai who is facing the eastern direction. The other deities in the temple include Selva Vinayak (Ganesh), Muthukumaraswami along with his consorts Valli and Devasena, Dakshinamurthy, Chandikeswarar, Nagaraja and Bhuvaneswari. A Nandi idol faces the main shrine. However, these aforementioned idols were installed later and don't relate to the period when the shrine was created. The Second Cave: Below the upper cave on the same boulder there is a second cave shrine. This temple has no pillars or mandapams. Since the shrine is poorly maintained, it is not being used for worship. It has two relief images of Dwarapalakas or gatekeepers. The sanctum sanctorum has a Shiva Linga which is damaged. There are also relief images of Jyestha and Ganesha. The Third Cave: The third cave shrine is on the way to the other two shrines. This shrine is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This particular shrine also doesn't have pillars or mandapams. It is basically a small cell that has been carved into the rock. Lord Vishnu appears here along with his consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. Cave 3: This is the northern most cave and is found en route to the other two caves. This cave shrine is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This shrine also doesn't have any pillar or mandap. It is a small cell that has been carved vertically on the rock. The shrine also has Vishnu along with his two consorts, Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi.