Pillayarpatti is traced to (Early) - Pandya origin !
Means pre - Pallava.. pre- Thevaram ..
Pillayarpatti also to be viewed (REVIEWED ? ) in the backdrop of Mahendra I's claim - Mandagapattu inscriptions -that 'Here I create Stone Deities from the traditional ones of wood - mortar (Sudhai) etc. "
4TH TO 5TH AD is being accorded to Pillayarpatti ...
am sorry - the statement is not entirely true. The styles in Undavalli which predate Mahendra and the proximity of Mahendra's childhood areas to these - clearly point out that it was initially the other way around. Mogalrajapuram is a puzzle as well. ofcourse, Pallavas perfected this and then reverse flow happened.
Am not saying this just like that, please refer below posts. Even Badami work started late 5th C CE i think