About Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram is the dream cometh true of every artist.  Mahabalipuram shows the rich heritage of the state of Tamil Nadu.  The sculptures and temples were an inseparable part of the history of Tamil Nadu.  Mahabalipuram speaks for the above statement in a very elegant way.  It was the 7th century port of the Pallava Dynasty.  It has many monolithic sculptures and temples, built in between the 7th and 9th centuries. 

The Pallava dynasty was ruled by a king named Mahabali, who was said to be a very arrogant.  In a fierce battle Lord Vishnu killed him.  The name Mahabalipuram was named after him.  Later a king named Narasimha Varman reigned Mahabalipuram.  Like most of the Pallava kings, the King Narasimha Varman was also a great and a valiant warrior.  For this reason, he was entitled with the title “Mamalla”, which means “the great wrestler”.  So it was during his period that the name of Mahabalipuram got changed to Mamallapuram, after him. 

The golden period of Pallava dynasty was in between 650 AD and 750 AD.  It was during this period that the Mahabalipuram was built.  This area could, perhaps, have served as a school for sculptors, because there are many sculptures that still remain unfinished.  In 1984 Mahabalipuram was included in the list of UNESCO’s world heritage sites.  Which means it is up to the international society to preserve it, though it belongs to India.  Altogether it has forty different monuments.  There are totally three shrines in Mahabalipuram,  out of which two are Shaivite and one is a Vaishnavite.

The Five Rathas:  The five Rathas namely the Arjuna Ratham, the Beema Ratham, the Draupathi Ratham, the Dharmaraja Ratham and the Nakula- Sagadeva Ratham, were named after the Pancha Pandavas from Mahabharatham.  Four of these Rathas look like chariots, while the Draupathi Ratham is in the form of a simple hut.  An amazing fact is that each Ratha is of different size, in spite being carved from a single natural rock.  Though it is named after the Pandavas, it does not pertain to the time period of the Pandavas. It was built for the purpose of worship.  Inside the Dharma Ratha there is a breathtaking statue of God Shiva and Goddess Parvathi in the form of Arthanareeswarar.  On this Ratha are carved the titles entitled to the King Narasimha Varman.

Arjuna’s Penance:  Arjuna’s Penance is a bas-relief rock which is 30 meter high and 60 meter wide.  Many heavenly bodies, humans and animals are chiseled on this rock.  The rock also speaks of God Shiva granting a wish to someone meditating in one leg.  There is a perception that this could be Arjuna meditating to Lord Shiva to obtain pasupatha asthuram as per the epic Mahabaratham.  This is the reason why this is called Arjuna’s Penance.  This rock is also called the descent of the Ganges.  The Mahabaratham people also say that, “when Valmiki released the river Ganges from his kamandalam, the Ganges flowed very fast.  There were snakes on the way in which the water flowed.  The Ganga flowed through the mouth of the snake and came out through the tail.  The Ganges flowing through the snakes was also embossed on this rock”.

Varaha Cave Temple:  The Mahishasura Marthini statue is very famous in this cave.  Goddess Durga is chiseled in an angry form killing the demon Mahishasuran.  There is also a carving of Lord Varaha, the boar holding the Boomi Matha (Goddess Earth) who is another incarnation of God Vishnu.