Hello Emanuel,
Interesting! I guess I'll have to add Mamallapuram to my list of destinations the next time my wife and I return to India... Those reliefs you reference would predate the temple at Halebidu by half a millennium. Do you happen to recall if those friezes also depicted a kink in the spine as well, or was the forward curve / convex / recurve limited to the cutting edge?
It just goes to show how thin my reference library is... thank you for the reference to the text, as well as for the better enlargement.
Regarding the katar in Nidhi's photo, if I mimic the angle of the knee (approximating stirrup position based on that depicted in the frieze), I measure approximately 7-8 inches / 17.8-20.3 cm in vertical drop from my belt line to the bottom of my thigh. I guess as per my exposure to the weapon, a 7 inch katar blade still seems rather diminutive to me...
Cheers,
Chris