Mahabalipuram Temples Tamil Nadu, Temples in Mahabalipuram, five rathas, shore temple

Mahabalipuram:

ganesh The Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram Temples tamil nadu are several temples of enormous size, which were built by cutting huge boulders into exquisite carves and set against the background of unfathomable sky and vast sea. This was a concept of great Pallava Monarch Rajasimha, which was built during the period 830-1100 AD in the Pallava dynasty. Few of the great monuments of world stand here near the seashore. The freestanding monolithic temples are called `Rathas`. The cave temples are lavishly sculptured with the narration of the story of Arjuna obtaining the `Pasupata`.

The mahabalipuram temples tamil nadu with two towers, familiarly known as shore temples, also enhance the charm of this place. Mahabalipuram is located close to Chennai of Tamil Nadu on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, along the eastern coast of South India. The shore temples are also known as seven pagodas, among which six are submerged in the sea and only one has survived from the ravages of nature.

There are forty monuments of different types in Mahabalipuram, which also includes an open-air bas-relief` that is the largest in the world. For centuries this place has been a large attraction to pilgrimages and even today it attracts the tourists of India and abroad in large numbers.

Temples in Mahabalipuram:

Mahabalipuram Temple There are two low hills in Mahabalipuram, situated about 400 m from the sea which has eleven excavated temples on both sides, known as `Mandapas`.There is another unique type of temple standing nearby, called `Ratha`s , which are `cut out` of large rocks. There are total five Rathas and three big sculptures of Nandi (ox of Lord Shiva), Lion and an Elephant.

On the top of the bigger hill, there is a structural temple and in a little distance `Vijaynagara Gopura` is situated.

Shore Temple:

Shore Temple Perched on a rocky outcrop, it presides over the shoreline, serving, as Percy Brown puts its, 'a landmark by day and a beacon by night'. Designed to catch the first rays of the rising sun and to illuminate the waters after dark, the temple ended up with an unusual lay-out. As the main shrine faces the sea on the east, the gateway, the fore count and the assembly hall of the Shore Temple all lie behind the sanctum. unusual, too, is the fact that the temple has shrine to both Shiva and Vishnu.

The main sanctum and one of the two lesser ones on the west are dedicated to Shiva. The enclosing wall has a series of Nandi bulls on it. interconnected cisterns around the temple meant that the sea could be let in to transform the temple into a water shrine. But, in recent times, a stone wall as been added to protect the shrine from the rising seas and further erosion.

Mandapas:

sho0re temple The main hill at Mamallapuram is dotted with pillared halls carved into the rock face. These mandapas, with their graceful columns and intricate figure sculptures bear witness to the artistry of the Pallavan rock cutter. The ten pavilions at Mamallapuram, of which two are unfinished, were designed as shrine, with a sanctum and on outer hall.

The shallow porticoes are adorned with exquisite sculptures of gods, goddesses and mythological figures.In the temples in mahabalipuram,The Ganesh mandapa is an active shrine even today, with the idol of the elephant-god being revered by the faithful, fourteen centuries after it was first consecrated. Beyond the circular rock called Krishna's Butterball is the Varaha mandapa dedicated to the two avatars of Vishnu as Varaha the boar and Vamana the dwarf.

The pillars of this pavilion are perhaps the earliest to display a motif that became the signature of southern architecture-the lion pilaster, where a heraldic lion support ornamental pillar. The,Mahishasuramardini mandapa has the goddess Durga in bas relief, slaying a buffalo-headed demon, and the Vishnu Sayana Mandapa shows Lord Vishnu lying under the protective hood of the seven-headed serpent Adishesha. Of the other mandapas, the Panch Pandava mandapa, that is unfinished, has a more elaborate facade.

Its pillars are adorned with rearing lions springing from the capital, and the shrine is the only one surrounded by a passage which allows circumvolutions.

Rathas:

shore temple The eight rathas are monolithic temples fashioned as chariots. They remain an architectural mystery, for each is apparently a faithful reproduction of a structure built of wood. In fact, even the grain of the timber beams and rafters has been simulated in stone.

Of the eight rathas, five have been named for the Pandava brothers, the heroes of the epic Mahabharata, and their shared wife, Draupadi. The largest is the Dharmaraja ratha and it sets the tone for the others. Modelled on a Buddhist vihara or monastery, it sports a square hall topped by a vaulting roof. The Bhima, Arjuna and Nakula-Sahdeva rathas are lesser copies of the Dharmaraja ratha. The Draupadi ratha is the smallest and the quaintest. It is simple structure, fashioned as a thatched hut borned on the backs of elephants and lions. It was probably the fascimile of a portable village shrine.

The fact that many of the temples and sculptures of Mamallapuram are unfinished,points to the sudden withdrawal of patronage from rock-cut temples when King Rajasimhavarman came to power.

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Temples in MahabaliPuram|Shore Temple