In March 1996 the Department of Sculpture, Tamil University of Thanjavur, conducted a regional seminar on the subject, 'Gopuras in South Indian Art: Structural Alignment and Iconographic Programme.' More than twenty-five papers were presented on the multifarious aspects of South Indian gopuras (temple gateways). I was directed to contribute an article pertaining to the polycephalous stucco images on the gopuras of the Minaksl-Sundaresvara temple, Maturai. The paper was presented on the basis of a pilot study and the monuments repeatedly surveyed in view of their iconographical potentiality. The Maturai gopuras are studded with a bewildering variety of polycephalous images and deserve to be considered in the art historical context. In March 1996 the temple was revisited for photographic documentation. It was indeed a delightful experience because a very rare image of Sadasivl, seated on five corpses was discovered. The result is this brief communication.
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