Ever since K.V. Soundararajan, K.R. Srinivasan and H. Sarkar wrote about the cave temples of "Deccan", "the Pallavas" and "Kerala", the cave temples in the Pandinadu sub-region of Tamilnadu have remained neglected. A number of western and Indian scholars have written about individual centers like Tirupparahkunram (R.K.K. Rajarajan), Narttamalai (Gary J. Schwidler) and Malaiyatippatti (Raju Kalidos). A connected account of the Pandyan caves is still a desideratum. The present book partly fulfills the expectations of art historians. Its new dimension is that the book deals with the later expansion of the rock-cut caves with structural additions under the Colas, later Pandyas and Vijayanagara Nayaka rulers.