It seems that the thirteen Trivandrum plays owe their survival to a kind of Sanskrit or Hindu renaissance in the South during the reign of the Pallava dynasty (see Tieken 1993:33). In this light the spread of Hindu temple architecture and the preference for epic plays are in line with the Vishnu/Krshna-plays. In fact, all the later plays, or the plays of the latter two groups (see above), begin with a nândî worshipping Vishnu, or Râma (Abhisheka). Only Ûrubhanga and Pancarâtra (both no nândî, but still a prarocanâ, which only in the case of Ûrubhanga invokes Vishnu) are exceptions.