Pages

Pages

Hinduism - Where Is Mahabalipuram In India?

 


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.


You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.