The Vaidiswara temple here referred to is the Vaidiswara kovil near Shiyali. Mr. Stuart adds that "this tradition alludes to the destruction of the city of Vapi by Narasimha Varma, king of the Pallis or Pallavas." Vapi, or Va-api, was the ancient name of Vatapi or Badami in the Bombay Presidency. It was the capital of the Chalukyas, who, during the seventh century, were at feud with the Pallavas of the south. "The son of Mahendra Varman I," writes Rai Bahadur V. Venkayya, "was Narasimha Varman I, who retrieved the fortunes of the family by repeatedly defeating the Cholas, Keralas, Kalabhras, and Pandyas. He also claims to have written the word victory as on a plate on Pulikesin's [2] back, which was caused to be visible (i.e., which was turned in flight after defeat) at several battles. Narasimha Varman carried the war into Chalukyan territory, and actually captured Vatapi their capital. This claim of his is established by an inscription found at Badami, from which it appears that Narasimha Varman bore the title Mahamalla. In later times, too, this Pallava king was known as Vatapi Konda Narasingapottaraiyan. Dr. Fleet assigns the capture of the Chalukya capital to about A.D. 642. The war of Narasimha Varman with Pulikesin is mentioned in the Sinhalese chronicle Mahavamsa. It is also hinted at in the Tamil Periyapuranam. The well-known saint Siruttonda, who had his only son cut up and cooked in order to satisfy the appetite of the god Siva disguised as a devotee, is said to have reduced to dust the city of Vatapi for his royal master, who could be no other than the Pallava king Narasimha Varman." I gather, from a note by Mr. F. R. Hemingway, that the Pallis "tell a long story of how they are descendants of one Vira Vanniyan, who was created by a sage named Sambuha when he was destroying the two demons named Vatapi and Enatapi. This Vira Vanniyan married a daughter of the god Indra, and had five sons, named Rudra, Brahma, Krishna, Sambuha, and Kai, whose descendants now live respectively in the country north of the Palar in the Cauvery delta, between the Palar and Pennar. They have written a Puranam and a drama bearing on this tale. They declare that they are superior to Brahmans, since, while the latter must be invested with the sacred thread after birth, they bring their sacred thread with them at birth itself."