The story of southern Indian stone architecture beings on the sandy beaches of Mahabalipuram and from here goes on to reach incredible heights in Kanchipuram, Thanjavur, and Madurai.

The location is very lovely: just outside Madras city amidst swaying palms and Casuarina trees on a long beach washed by the Bay of Bengal.

The 'Ratha' cave temples, commonly called the Pancha Pandava ratha (the five chariots of the Pandavas), are a stylistic anomaly marking the point of transition between the earlier tradition of rock-carved cave temples and the later tradition of freestanding stone structures, of the type seen at the nearby Shore Temple.

Carved in the 7th century by the Pallava kings, the Ratha temples are an attempt to imitate free-standing stone construction in the living rock, with not unsatisfactory results. The structural detailing of the Ratha temples carefully imitates wooden timber supports, pilasters, beams, and brackets, though of course none are necessary in stone.

Because each temple is carved from a single piece of living rock, the Rathas are in a suburb state of preservation and many of their carvings are as fresh today as they were 1,300 years ago.

Mahabalipuram Tourist Attractions

Shore Temple
North-east of the Rathas and east of the great bas relief of the Descent of the Ganges is the Shore Temple. This is a structural temple, built block by block rather than cut out of stone as in the case of the Rathas. The temple was built so close to the shore that its entrance is from the back, i.e. the west. The shrine was possibly built during the reign of the Pallava ruler Rajasimha (the king lion), which is possibly why it (and all Pallava architecture) have a profusion of rampant lions rearing their smiling heads from the base of the pillars. The temple has a compound wall with a charming line of seated Nandis, for this is a monument to Shiva. The temple actually has several shrines. The first has a figure of the lying Vishnu in the garbha griha. The east (the correct direction) to the garbha griha and its linga that looks out on to the rising sun each morning.

Kailashnatha Temple
The temple stands in an uncongested open space. A small Nandi mandap in front of the enclosure identifies the temple as Shiva's. The enclosure wall, to become a distinctive feature of later southern Indian temples, forms a high barrier but the shikhara of the temple is so beautifully proportioned that it rears its statuesque crown above it like a towering mountain of stone. Inside the temple, through a small gateway (a forerunner of the tall gopurams of later temples in the south), the enclosure wall becomes a backdrop for a whole colonnade of tiny shrines. Each one contains an image or manifestation of a deity and on the northern side are some remnants of paintings in original mineral hues of yellow-ochre and reds.

Pancha Rathas
South of the hill (some 200 meters away) is a complex of rock-cut shrines called the Pancha (five) Rathas (chariots) named after the heroes of the Mahabharata, which are, possibly, not their original names. It is here that one sees architecture in action and every crucial stage of its evolutionary process. A closer look at the shrines will enable to see how the artist carved each shrine out of the living rock, beginning from the top and working downwards. Chisel markings and unfinished parts of the shrine add much to our admiration of the Herculean task of cutting the hard granite rock, from top to bottom, chip by chip, to fashion an entire temple.

Descent of the Ganga
Sometimes called Arjuna's Penance is an enormous relief (29 meters by 13 meters) sculpted on two huge boulders. A cleft in the rock enabled rainwater to cascade down between the two boulders, simulating the descent of the mighty river Ganga. This cleft is the focus of the entire composition and every image seems to away towards it. The river has water serpent deities, the naga raja and his wife, and people bathing and playing beside its banks.

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