By Isla Quinn
Most temples are stacked, stone on stone. Five of these were not. UNESCO says each is carved from one boulder, and the Shore Temple is the exception, built from stone blocks.
Where it is
Mahabalipuram, also written Mamallapuram, sits on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal in Tamil Nadu. Britannica puts it 37 miles (60 km) south of Chennai. Wikipedia gives 56 km in one place and about 60 km in another, so we leave the distance as “around 60 km”. Britannica also lists the older name Seven Pagodas.
Who made it
The sources agree on the dynasty and roughly on the century. Britannica credits a 7th-century Pallava king, Narasimhavarman, also called Mamalla, with founding the town’s religious centre, and says the town is named after him. Wikipedia dates his rule to about 630 to 670 CE and calls Mamallapuram one of two major port cities of the Pallava kingdom. UNESCO says the sanctuaries were carved from rock in the 7th and 8th centuries.
What is there
UNESCO lists the property under reference 249 and sorts it into groups: rock-cut caves called mandapas, five monolithic temples called rathas, four major rock reliefs, three structural temples, and excavated remains near the Shore Temple. The rathas are each carved from a single boulder and, UNESCO says, take their name from their likeness to temple chariots. Britannica adds that the five are the remnants of seven temples, which is how the town earned its old name.
The large open-air relief is known as Arjuna’s Penance or the Descent of the Ganges. UNESCO singles it out as a unique artistic achievement. Wikipedia counts about 40 monuments in all.
The Shore Temple
This one was built, not carved. Wikipedia’s article on the Shore Temple says it was completed around 725 AD under Narasimhavarman II, called Rajasimha, using granite blocks from a nearby quarry. It describes a five-storey pyramidal main tower about 18 m (60 ft) high on a 15 m square platform, with three shrines on one platform. The same article says salt winds have eroded some outer carving. The Archaeological Survey of India has built a breakwater and groynes along the shore and planted casuarina trees, according to that article.
Dates disagree a little. Wikipedia’s Mahabalipuram article puts the rathas at 630 to 668 CE and the Shore Temple about half a century later. UNESCO gives the blunter 7th to 8th century. We have not tried to reconcile them.
Still carving
Wikipedia says the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture was established in the town in 1957 to promote and revive sculpture and temple-making. Britannica also mentions a college in the town that teaches architecture and temple sculpture. Neither page describes the teaching, so we do not.
When to go
Wikipedia gives an average annual temperature of 28.4 °C. May is the hottest month at 32.6 °C on average, and January the coolest at 24.3 °C. Our reading: the cooler months from late in the year suit a place where you walk between open-air monuments with little shade. The sources say nothing about visiting seasons, so treat that as inference.
Dates in order
- About 630 to 670 CE: reign of Narasimhavarman I (Mamalla), according to Wikipedia.
- 7th and 8th centuries: the carving, according to UNESCO.
- Around 725 AD: Shore Temple completed, according to Wikipedia.
- 1827: contemporary town plan established by the British, according to Wikipedia.
- 1957: sculpture college established, according to Wikipedia.
- 1984: inscription on the World Heritage List, according to UNESCO and Britannica.
What kind of sources these are
UNESCO is the heritage body that lists the site. Britannica is an encyclopaedia. Two Wikipedia articles are open to editing. We read no tourism board page, so there are no opening hours, entry rules or transport details here.
What we left out
Population figures, because Wikipedia gives conflicting ones. Rainfall, because the summary we read was not clear. Coins found at the site, and any account of worship, which the sources touch only briefly.
Quick answers
When was Mahabalipuram added to the UNESCO World Heritage List? In 1984, according to UNESCO and Britannica.
How far is Mahabalipuram from Chennai? Britannica says 37 miles (60 km) south. Wikipedia gives 56 km in one place and about 60 km in another.
What is a ratha? According to UNESCO, a monolithic temple carved from a single boulder and named for its resemblance to a temple chariot. The site has five.
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