Mahabalipuram
City Information
An small temple town of Tamil
Nadu, Mahabalipuram is situated along
the shores of the Bay of Bengal. Mahabalipuram,
or Mamallapuram, was the chief seaport
of the Pallavas who ruled over much
of South India from as early as the
first century B.C to the eighth century
A.D., and it is now recognized as the
site of some of the greatest architectural
and sculptural achievements in India
The sheer sculptural extravaganza of
the rock-cut temples is not only reflective
of the artistic tastes of the erstwhile
Pallava rulers: the temples are also
regarded as the birthplace of an entirely
new style of architecture, which came
to be known as the South Indian temple
architecture.
Mahabalipuram art can be divided into
four categories : open air bas - relief,
structured temples, man-made caves and
rathas ('chariots' carved from single
boulders, to resemble temples or chariots
used in temple processions). The famous
Arjuna's Penance and the Krishna Mandapa,
adorn massive rocks near the centre
of the village. The beautiful Shore
Temple towers over the waves, behind
a protective breakwater. Sixteen man-made
caves in different stages of completion
are also seen, scattered through the
area..
Main
Sightseeing of Mahabalipuram
Cave Temples were
excavated by scooping out the scarp
of the hill. The scooping work starts
from front to back. The cave temple
is usually divided into inner &
outer mandapas, distinguished by the
difference in levels. The front mandapa
will have pillars & plasters numbering
4,6,8,10. The inner mandapa contains
single, triple or five cells. The
cave temple with little modification
is categorized as Mamalla style. The
pillars under this style are slender
& taller with squatting lion at
their base. The pillar is divided
into distinct parts known as kalasa,
tadi, kumba, padma etc.
Monolithic Temples
are locally known as Rathas. They
were executed by chiseling out the
exterior face of the boulder. Work
started from top to bottom. The pyramidal
vimana with sikhara at the top is
an important feature of this style.
It can be rightly said that these
monolithic temples must have paved
the way for the structural temples
with elaborate architectural &
sculptural details in the subsequent
stage. There a total number of 8 monolithic
temples found in Mamallapuram. The
five rathas in one place, Ganesha
Ratha, Valayankuttai Ratha & Pidari
Rathas.
Five Rathas, a small
hill sloping from south to north has
been segmented into five divisions
& converted into monolithic temples.
The heights of the segments have been
cleverly used for temples with single
tier to three-tiered vimana. Each
monolithic temples shows different
kind of sikhara. The five rathas are
Dharmaraja Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Arjuna
Ratha, Draupadi Ratha and Nakul Sahadev
Ratha.
Shore Temple, The
Shore Temple on the Bay of Bengal
was constructed in the 7th century
during the rule of King Narsimha-Varman
II Rajasimha (c. 690-728).The Shore
temples is a temple complex consisting
of two Siva temples and a carving
of Anantasayana Vishnu. The temple
facing east is entered by a small
gopura. On plan, it consists of a
small sanctum & a front mandapa
& is a two-tired vimana. The sanctum
is housing a linga. The Somaskanda
panel consisting of Siva & Parvati
with baby Skanda is on the back wall
of the sanctum. The dhara linga &
Somaskanda panel on the back wall
of the sanctum are the features of
the Pallava temples only.
The temple facing west is also dedicated
to Lord Shiva. The temple is large
in plan comprising sanctum, mahamandapa,
front mandapa, balipitha and dvajastamba.
The temple’s vimana is four
tiered with octagonal sikhara. It
is important to note that stupis of
both these temples are not covered
by kalasa (copper finials).
The carving on Lord Vishnu on a boulder
in Anantasayana form is lying in between
these two temples. It belongs to the
period of Narasimhavarman I and thus
earlier than the Siva temples. .
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Excursions
from Mahabalipuram
Tiger Cave this shady
and beautiful place is four km north
of Mamallapuram and signposted off to
the right of the road. It's more a clump
of boulders than a cave. It's name comes
from the shrine at the entrance which
features a crown of carved tiger heads.
It's a popular picnic spot on weekends.
Tirukkalikundram just
14 km from Mamallapuram, this popular
pilgrimage centre is also known as Tirukazhukundram,
which means Hill of the Holy Eagle.
Its hilltop temple is famous as the
place where two eagles come each day,
just before noon to be fed by the priest.
Crocodile Bank this
successful breeding farm was set up
to augment the crocodile populations
of India's wildlife sanctuaries. Visitors
are welcome and you can see crocs of
all sizes.
Kanchipuram the glorious
city of is one of the seven sacred pilgrim
centres of the Hindus. This is called
the city of thousand temples. But today,
only 125 temples remain there. For more
details of the city you may visit the
page for Kanchipuram.
How
to reach Mahabalipuram ?
By Air : The nearest
airport from Mahabalipuram is Chennai
at a distance of 58 Kms
By Trains : Chennai
is the nearest railway station .
By Road : well-connected
road network.
