M A H A B A L I P U R A M
Location : Located in Tamilnadu, far from Chennai(58 kms)
Area : 8 sq. kms.
Population : Approx. 12,049.
Tourist Spot
From Mahabalipuram
All the below are located between 5 to 15 kms
Shore Temple
Mandapas
Rathas
Light House
Big Stone
Beach
How to reach Mahabalipuram ?
: Roadway :
Buses are available from Pondicherry, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Chennai to Mahabalipuram daily. The road to Mahabalipuram is good. Tourists can also hire a taxi from Chennai.
: Railway :
The nearest railway stations are Chengalpattu (29 km) and Chennai (58 km). From these stations one has to take road to reach the Mahabalipuram.
: Airway :
Chennai (58 km) is the nearest airport with both domestic and international terminus. Chennai is connected with all the major places in India through the numerous domestic flights. International flights operate from various parts of the world to Chennai.
History of Mahabalipuram
The temples of Mamallapuram, built largely during the reigns of Narasimhavarman and his successor Rajasimhavarman, showcase the movement from rock-cut architecture to structural building. The mandapas or pavilions and the rathas or shrines shaped as temple chariots are hewn from the granite rock face, while the famed Shore Temple, erected half a century later, is built from dressed what makes Mamallapuram so culturally resonant are the influences it absorbs and disseminates.
All but one of the rathas from the first phase of Pallava architecture are modelled on the Budhist viharas or monasteries and chaitya halls with several cells arranged around a courtyard. Art historian Percy Brown, in fact, traces the possible roots of the Pallavan Mandapas to the similar rock-cut caves of Ajanta and Ellora. Referring to Narasimhavarman’s victory in AD 642 over the Chalukyan king Pulakesin II, Brown says the Pallavan king may have brought the sculptors and artisans back to Kanchi and Mamallapuram as ‘spoils of war’.