SPLENDOR IN STONE :

Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram, it is 50km south of Chennai,it is one of the major seaport of the ancient Pallava kingdom based. A wander round the town is so beautiful, World Heritage temples and caves are so pleasant to watch, especially at sunset. It is also one of the liked place of children because they see many types sculptures and beach makes them to enjoy more and its been a good vacation place to visit. At starting there is a Tiger Cave, it looks like an heaven, there is a eighth-century carved tiger heads on the mouth of the cave. then there is Pancha Rathas.

A part of Unesco World Heritage Site in Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, the monolithic rock-cut structures are also popular as Pandava Rathas. The structures don’t have any religious significance, the five chariots are still named as epic’s characters – Yudhishthira, Bhim, Arjuna, Nakul-Sehdev and Draupadi respectively.

The Draupadi ratha resembles a hut, the Nakul-Sehdev one is simple with little embellishments, but the rest three are examples of architectural elegance. The Dharmaraja or Yudhishthira ratha and the Arjuna ratha are quite similar with four and three-tiered carvings on the roof respectively. The former is, however, the tallest one. The lion-mounted columns of the Bhima ratha, its architecture is so super to see. Though referred to as temples also, dedicated to Vishnu, Indra, Durga, Shiva, it is likely that their design reflects the wooden temple chariots of the Dravidian era.

The pleasant wind and weather is also so fine to relax. Built of cut stones rather than carved out of one giant rock, it is one of quite attracting architecture structure. In an interesting fact, Marco Polo and the European merchants and seafarers called the site Seven Pagodas, one among them believed to be Shore Temple, because due to its pyramidal shape and multiple carvings on the top. The 2004 tsunami not only showed an old temple built entirely of granite blocks on the shore, it also remined about the seven pagodas, six of which were always thought to be submerged under the sea.

These are the some of the interesting facts of Mamallapuram where still now it remains an place for whole sculptures.