It is a known fact that iconometry is a much neglected area in India art historical research. It is mainly because it involves analysis of the data by statistics and computation. Such scientific techniques are beyond the reach of art historians. Gopalakrishnan is trained in all these disciplines and so was able to take up the challenge. Very few Indian scholars (staff of the statistics department in the Madras Christian College), an American and a Japanese scholar have done research in the field. The present book is the only one available on early Pandyan iconometry. It compliments the research of another scholar of the above Department who has worked on the iconography of the early Pandyan cave temples. A normsetting area in art historical research, its scientific results are commendable. It gives life to the proposition that there is a school of Pandyan art, earlier proposed by Susan L. Huntington.

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