Mahabalipuram Pallava Shore Temple Kanchipuram Tamil Nadu

Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu, on the Coromandel Coast south of Chennai, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1984) containing the largest concentration of early medieval rock-cut and structural temples in south India, built by the Pallava kings Narasimhavarman I (Mamalla, 630-668 CE) and his successors in a burst of architectural creativity that established the Dravidian architectural tradition. The site contains five rathas (monolithic rock-cut temple-chariots) carved from single granite outcrops, each named for a Pandava hero, with the Arjuna Ratha and Dharmaraja Ratha being the most complete. The Descent of the Ganges bas-relief, 27 meters wide and 9 meters tall, is the world's largest open-air bas-relief, carved on the face of two massive natural boulders with over 150 figures of gods, humans, animals, and nagas arranged around a central natural cleft representing the Ganges. The Shore Temple (700-728 CE), built directly on the Bay of Bengal, is the oldest structural temple complex on the Coromandel Coast, severely eroded by sea spray but preserving its five-story vimana tower. The sculptural workshops of Mahabalipuram maintained an unbroken tradition of Tamil stone carving from the Pallava period, with the stonecutter families (sculptor community, called Sthapathis) of the town continuing traditional Chola-period sculpture techniques.