Mahabalipuram is a Tamil Nadu village on the Bay of Bengal, some thirty miles south of Madras.
Despite its current popularity as a beach resort, Mahabalipuram
was a prominent port during the Pallava empire (6th–9th centuries), second only
to Kanchipuram as the capital.
Narasimhavarman I (630–668 C.E.) and Narasimhavarman II
(700–728 C.E.) constructed numerous remarkable religious structures at
Mahabalipuram.
A rock-cut sculpture representing the tale of the Ganges
Descent, utilizing a natural vertical fissure to draw out the river's passage,
is one of the monuments.
The "Rathas," a succession of free-standing
temples cut from a single massive rock dedicated to the Pandavas, the
protagonists in the epic Mahabharata, are another famous structure.
The temple along the sea, erected during Rajasimhavarman's
reign, is the most recent attraction (early 8th C.).
The god Shiva is the main deity of the temple, although
there is also a shrine dedicated to the god Vishnu.
Despite the fact that they have all been weathered by time
and the elements, they remain among the most popular tourist destinations in
southern India.
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