Arjuneeya is used as a subject for koodiyattam performances even today. Religious affiliation As with most Indian monarchs, Simhavishnu was also religious. Great endowments were given to temples across the Tamil region. His father Simhavarma also may have entered the Tamil pantheon of Saivite saints who had gained mukti at the feet of the lord. Periyapuranam mentions a Pallava ruler, Aiyatikal Kaadavarkon, who at Chidambaram composed hymns in praise of the Lord in venpaa metre of Tamil and attained mukti. There is evidence that this could have been Simhavarman, as it is said that he had first gilded the temple with gold after bathing in the temple tank cured him of illness. In the Udayendiram copper plates of Nandivarman II, Simhavishnu was a devotee of Vishnu. This is a noteworthy point as his son Mahendravarman I was a Jaina who opposed all the Shaivite practices before being converted to Shaivism. Simhavishnu's portrait can be seen in the stone engraving at the Adivaraha Mandapam, an elegant shrine at Mahabalipuram. The monuments and temples in Mahabalipuram are achievements of the Pallava dynasty, and they still exist in Tamil Nadu. Simhavishnu was succeeded by his son Mahendravarman I. Notes References Hirsh, Marilyn "Mahendravarman I Pallava: Artist and Patron of Mamallapuram", Artibus Asiae, Vol. 48, No. 1/2. (1987), pp. 113 External links Simhavishnu portrait Pallava kings 6th-century Indian monarchs