What to Do on Your Next Trip to Mahabalipuram

India is incredible due to diversity of tourist places and cultures. In south India, many places are worth a visit, but if you’re in Tamil Nadu, I must recommend you go to Mahabalipuram. Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is about 60 km south from the city of Chennai. One can’t miss Chennai and its beaches, but if you ever have a chance to be in Chennai, go visit this brilliant city too. The city has lots of tourist places due to the historic value. It used to be a sea port during the time of 1st century CE and 140 CE. Let’s have a look on the key features.

Temples

 
If you’re really into ancient art and culture, then you must visit this city to have an unforgettable experience. The city has monuments that are mostly rock-cut and monolithic, and constitute the early stages of Dravidian architecture with a touch of some Buddhist architecture.  The sculptures are mainly consists of chariots and warriors. They are excellent examples of Pallava form of art. They are located in the side of the cliffs near India’s Bay of Bengal.

You can visit them and have a look on how ancient art has emerged to and collect some pieces of information about that time. Another temple to visit is Thirukadalmallai, it is purely dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It was also built by Pallava King as to safeguard the sculptures from the touching ocean. You can see the same art form and similar kind of structures.  It is said that after building this temple, the remaining temples and form of architectural pieces was preserved and was not washed off by sea.

After that, you can go to Descent of the Ganges or Bagiratha’s Penance . it is a giant open-air has relief. The place is soothing and has a peaceful atmosphere, I am sure you’re going to love it. If you want to change from pallava architect after a awhile, you can visit Varaha Cave Temple, it is a small rock-cut temple built in 7th century. It has different form of architecture and you’re going to see interesting sculptures.

Another temple named as The Shore Temple is a structural temple along the Bay of Bengal with the entering point from the western side away from the sea

Panch Rathas

 
The famous Pancha Rathas is five pyramidal structures named after the famous Pandavas (Arjun, Bhim, Yudhishtra, Sahadev and Nakul) in Mahabharta and Draupadi. An interesting aspect of the rathas is that, despite of their sizes, they are not assembled. Each of them is made from a single stone.

You can also have apeaceful sunset while visiting a Light House that was built in 1894. Overall, it is a very delightfulplace to visit and one can form many memories from the famous temples, as they’re spiritual and give lessons about peace in every carving.