An Excursion to the City of Great Sacrifice -Mahabalipuram


The floating Eastern waters, Submerged the 6 glorious pagodas,
Their nature and beauty, Features every creature to cruise around!

         Mahabalipuram located 60km to the south of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu is an architecturally marvel city and is a place of the Seven Pagodas.  This city was built by the Pallava king Narasimha Verman I in the 7th century A.D., and is also called the Maha-mallapuram (Great Wrestler) which was the title given to him. 

 Legend goes that, the seven pagodas were so beautiful and luxurious that the Gods got greedy. They ordered the element water to submerge the pagodas. Presently out of seven, only one remains un-submerged by the powerful element. He built the temples or the pagodas and other monuments in the city.

The local fishermen say that when the Tsunami occured in 2004, the waters receded nearly half a kilometre and they saw the remnants of the six more pagodas for a couple of amazing minutes. Those moments are said to be magical in every way; and now just a memory as it has been swallowed by sea.

 Some important structures include:
• Thirukadalmallai - the temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It was also built by the Pallava King in order to safeguard the sculptures from the ocean. It is told that after building this temple, the remaining architecture was preserved and was not corroded by sea.
• Descent of the Ganges or Arjuna's Penance, a giant open-air bas relief.
• Varaha Cave Temple-a small rock-cut temple dating back to the 7th century.
• The Shore Temple-a structural temple along the Bay of Bengal with the entrance from the western side away from the sea. Recent excavations have revealed new structures here.
• Pancha Rathas (Five Chariots) – five monolithic pyramidal structures named after the Pandavas (Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhishtra, Nakula and Sahadeva) and Draupadi. An interesting aspect of the rathas is that, each of these is carved from one single large piece of stone.

 It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of India’s proud architectural marvels. Mamallapuram is truly an excursion to go on and stay in the midst of history and nature.

 Beauty glorifies History and amplifies Nature.

Location: Asia

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