5000-year-old single rock structure in India (PHOTO)? Find out the facts…

Social media users often share details of beautiful creations without cross checking the veracity of the claims these photos are associated with. We came across such a recurring post of an unbelievable construction claimed to be from India and over five thousand years old.

Social Media Posts

We noticed a viral Facebook post from 2021, with over 19K shares as of now, along with a photo of a structure claiming to be “Found in India, 5000 years old, made from a single rock...”

Facebook | Archived

Here is another more recent post of the same claim from 9^th of September. Archived

Many users had commented in awe of this magnificent creation requesting further detail and where such a creation could have been made over 5000 years ago as seen here

Fact Check

We did a Google reverse image search and were able to find facts about this building complex.

We found details about this structure from a blog site, dedicated for travelers and travelling related information.

The structure is named as Vettuvan Koil and located in Tamil Nādu, India. The temple was built around 8^th century AD, during the reign of the Pandya dynasty. It was entirely carved out from one solid rock. More details can be taken from this blog site. Archived

This temple is dedicated to the God Shiva, and it is protected and maintained by the department of archaeology of Tamil Nādu state government. Vettuvan Koil is famous for its unique archaeological structure and has many resemblances to the famous Kailasa Temple in Ellora Caves.

And since this masterpiece was abandoned without completion and due to their striking similarities, many experts are of the view that Vettuvan Koil could have been built as a small-scale prototype for Kailasa Temple.

Short video about this temple with this narration can be watched below.

R H Kulkarni a Professor from the Department of Art History at the College of Fine Arts, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath had provided a detailed narration about this less spoken sculptor’s paradise. He also clarifies that Vettuvan Koil was built around 760-800 AD, that is around 1200 years ago. Archived

This unfinished rock-cut temple’s name has a couple of literal meanings in Tamil, one is the Heaven of Sculptors and the other is Temple of the Slayer. Details about this can be taken from here | Archived.

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, we were able to find out that the image shown in the viral posts is Vettuvan Koil, an unfinished monolithic temple, located in Tamil Nadu, India dedicated to God Shiva.

Experts confirm that Vettuvan Koil was built around 8^th century AD, that is around 1200 years ago during the reign of the Pandya dynasty and is not 5000 years old as claimed