Top 5 Towering Temples of South India

‘Mahabalipuram’ in Tamil Nadu is a famous tourist place because of its scenic beauty, historical importance, art and culture. It is at 5 hours drive from Chennai which is the closest metro. One popular story which is associated with Mahabalipuram is the story of the demon – Mahabali being killed by Lord Vishnu. The tourist place lies near the seashore of Bay of Bengal.

Rising number of tourists has given an opportunity for hoteliers to set up hotels at this place. For those who can afford there are some 5 star hotels at this place and for the poor there are cheap hotels in ECR Mahabalipuram. There are some hotels which are damn cheap below INR 1000.

Some cheap hotels in ECR Mahabalipuram include hotel Daphne Mahabalipuram, Lakshmi cottages, Daphne beach resort etc. One can easily do bookings for these hotels through travel portals. So one enjoy and relax in these hotels and experience the rich artistic wonders created by the local people over a period of time.

Yes there are many artistic carvings of stones and temples in Mahabalipuram. Geographically, majority of the temples are located on hills and most were built during the Pallava dynasty. It shows the love for art and culture by the kings of Pallava dynasty. Below mentioned are the top 5 towering temples of Mahabalipuram:

Shore temple:

This temple is also UNESCO heritage site built during the 8th century. It is at a prime spot overlooking the shore of Bay of Bengal. It is built with blocks of Granite stone and is an epitome of creativity. It is one of the oldest temples built out of stones in south India.

Varaha cave temple:

It is a rock-cut cave temple which is a part of the hill top village. This temple was also built more or less during the same period. The temple has statue of Lord Vishnu in the form of Boar. It was built during the period of Pallava kings.

Krishna cave temple:

It is a temple which is made of artificial rocks and is dedicated to lord Krishna. It is also a part of the UNESCO world heritage site. This temple too like the rest of the temples has got lot of mythological significance. There are carvings inside the temple depicting the instance when Lord Krishna lifted the Govardhan temple with his finger.

Panchapandava cave temple:

This temple is in the open air bas relief. If one studies more about it then it can be found that the cave is not completely finished. As compared to other temples of Mahabalipuram, this temple has the longest cavern. The cave has columns rested on seated lions which make it look more fascinating.

Mahishasuramardini Mandapa:

Like the rest of the lot, this temple is also rock cut architecture located on a hill-top. There are two sanctums of Vishnus and one sanctum of godess Durga inside the temple. The cave also depicts many stories from Puranas on its walls.