Mahabalipuram
About the city
Mahabalipuram or Mammallapuram was named after the Pallava ruler who set his capital here. Little did he then know that his very kingdom would one day feature in the UNESCO World Heritage map! and why not? After all, it is home to one of the greatest wonders you'd ever find huge structures intricately carved out of single rocks! A glimpse here does bring to mind how the artist must have conceived these dreams in stone. It reaffirms ones faith when you see temples and carvings dedicated to almost the entire Hindu pantheon. This is the home of the Shore Temple, which is the lone survivor of Gods' jealousy and to the greatest bas-relief depicting the determination of ancient characters and exuding an unseen gradeur. Drive down the picturesque East Coast Road, catch splendid views of the coastline and set aside a few days to revel in Mahabalipuram's glory it is undoubtedly worth itMahabalipuram is a part of the Golden Triangle circuit of South India along with Chennai and Kanchipuram. As such, it is generally visited in combination with these two places. Kanchipuram (65 km) is the synonym for some of India's finest silk saris. This dusty, small town, popularly called the Golden Town of a Thousand Temples, is renowned for the Kamakshi, Varadarajaswami, and Kailasanathar temples, all more than worthy of a visit. and about the Kanchi weavers, any ode would fall short! Vedanthangal is the site of a bird sanctuary, one of India's largest, while Covelong is famous for its golden beach and other historical monuments. The Crocodile Bank (14 km) and Muttukadu (21 km) are also worth a visit.
Mahabalipuram with its picturesque location on a rocky outcrop between the beach and a lagoon is a happy combination of history, good beaches, hassle-free tourism and fabulous fish and lobster! Despite the many visitors, drawn by the former Pallava dynasty town, the place is friendly, relaxed, and the villagers are remarkably unperturbed by their crowds of visitors. Mahabalipuram is renowned for its series of charming rathas and the spectacular carved relief depicting Arjuna's Penance. The magnificent Shore Temple, built by king Rajasimha in the seventh century, is a unique temple that houses the shrines of both Shiva and Vishnu while the Varaha Cave is one of the many rock-cut caves in Mahabalipuram. The Krishna Mandapam has a bas-relief of Lord Krishna lifting the Govardhan hill in his fingertips.
The colours deepen; the virginal blush of dawn smears the sky. Delicate skeins of pale gold and searing orange lie intertwined in intimate embrace across the smudged horizon, suffusing the idle waters of the Bay of Bengal-an unabashed foreplay of colours. A thin hot wedge of vivid red emerges out of the sea, growing every moment into a flaming, pulsating disc that soon disowns the theatre of its birth. The lone temple, that guardian of the shore, is a becalmed spectator. It has been an apathetic witness to this impassioned spectacle every dawn for the last 1,200 years.
The ‘Land of Seven Pagodas' is the name commonly attributed to the present deserted port- town of Mahabalipurm, situated at a distance of 46 miles from the city of Madras. Journey to this historical place may be covered by bus service either from Madras or from Chingleput. Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram as was originally known, was built as the second capital of the Pallava rulers by Narasinha Varman I (630 660 AD.), the scion of the Pallava dynasty, their original seat of capital being Kanchipuram or Conjeeveram. With the beginning of the 7th century AD. the Pallavas became the masters of the South by subjugating the Pandya, Chola and Chera Kings and they retained their supremacy upto the 9th century AD., when they were eclipsed by the Chola rulers of Tanjore. The Pallavas were a great sea- faring race and credit goes to them for spreading Hindu culture and style of architecture in the far Eastern countries of Java, Sumatra and Bali. The political history of the Pallavas rose to the highest peak of glory during the reign of Narasinha Varman I, the most successful and distinguished member of this able dynasty. He not only vanquished the ruler of Ceylon and placci his own nomince on the throne of that island, but he amply avenged the defeat of his father Mahendra varman I at the hands of thegreat Chalukya rules Pulakesin II by killing him in a battle and occupying his capital of Vatapi. The superb military attainments of the Pallava King may be borne out from the fact this King Harshabardhan of Northern India had to accept Narbada as the Southern boundary of his kingdom by acknowledging defeat at the hands of Chalukya Pulakesin II. The celebrated Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang paid a visit to the pallava capital Kanchipuram at this time and left an account about the general prosperity of the people of Tamil- land. Though he intended in visit Anuradhapura, the great Budhist centre of Ceylon, a civil war inthat island- kingdo prevented him from proceeding beyond Kanchipuram, which seems to be the Southern terminus of his journey. In course of his account, the Chinese traveller says:
"The soil is fertile and reqularly cultivated, and produces abundance of grain. There are also many flowers and fruiti. It produces precious gems and other articles. The climate is hot, the character of the people courageous. They are deeply attached to the principles of honesty and truth and highly esteem learning."
But the Pallavas are remembered most to- day for their creation of a number of rock- cut monolithic temples and a series of fine sculptures o rock- walls existing in good condition at Mahabalipuram which has lost the pristine days of its glory and importance and whose only present attaction is provided by these wonderful architectural specimen. According to Vincent Smith,"The history of Indian architecture and sculpture in the South begins at the close of the sixth century under Pallava rule" Religion, as usual, supplied a powerful impetus to the Pallavas rulers for developing art and architecture. Mahendra Varman I, the father of Narasinha Varman I, who was originally a Jain, excavated a number of cave temples of Jainism, its frescoes being wonderful examples of Pallava painting. But after his conversion to Saivism by the famous saint Appa at the middle of his reign, he became into lerant of Jainism and caused destruction of some of the Jain temples and built a number of rock- cut temples dedicated to the worship of Siva throughtout his empire. These temples, instead of being built with bricks and mortar, are cut out of a single big rock- boulder and they truly represent the Pallava style of Southern architecture.
Mahabalipuram, as it stands on the sea- beach, presents a magnificent and panoramic view tot eh visitors who are literally overwhelmed at the sight of a rich variety of ‘Rathas' (monolithic temples built with stone and with rich carvings inside and outside) and ‘Mandapams' (rock-cut pillared halls with ot without cells) which stand majestically at this deserted and forlorn site. The most important of these Rathas' whose originator is said to be Narasinha Varman I, is a group of five, named after the four Pandavas and their common spouse Draupadi, without any historical or mythological reasons. (Dharmaraja Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Sahadeva Ratha and Draupadi Ratha). Each Ratha is in a different style, Draupadi Ratha, being a fine model in stone of a thatched hut of straw. The figure if Narasinha Varman is chiseled on the Dharmaraja Ratha, which is the biggest in the group. Besides this group of rathas, there is one Ganesh Ratha, a monolithic shrine with Shikara of Sala type carved out by parameswara Varma I (665 68 AD.). Of the ‘Mandapams" Mahishmardini Mandapa, Dharmaraja Mandapa Krishna Mandapa and Varaha Mandapa deserve special mention. Mahismardini Mandapa, a pillared hall with three cells, carved out of stone, presents two panels in bas- relief of Mahimardini and Sheshashayee (reclining Vishnu) at its end. The figure of the aweinspiring Durga armed in all her eight hands and engaged in the act of killing thedemon with the full- drawn how, evokes admiration from each and every visitor. This Mandapa is locally called as ‘Yamapuri.' Dharmaraja Mandapa is a rock- cut cave temple of Trinity excavated by paramaeswara Varman I in Mahendra style containing some Pallava inscriptions. Krishna Mandapa presents a bas- relief scene depicting Vrindabana with Krishna as Govardhandhari and, Varaha Mandapa is a rock cut cave vell dedicated to Vishnu. It contains basrelief of bhubaraha, Trivikrama, Durga and Gaja- Lakshmi. But of all the bas- relief scenes, the large composition depicting the scene of Arjuna's penance has earned a great celebrity. This is simply wonderful.
The Shore temple, situated just on the bank of the sea is being constantly washed by the sea waves. The story runs that formerly there were six such masonary temples. Whose combination gave this seaport the sobriquet of the city of Seven pagodas, and small bandh has been constructed by the Archeological Department of the Central government to save the present temple from erosion with which it is threatened. The temple has a large courtyard with fencings on all sides decorated with images of stone elephants. Two ‘Siva lingas' and an image of Sheshashayee Vishnu lying in Yoga Nidra adorn the three cells of the temples. The deities are not worshipped at present but the visitors can well imagine the hecticdays of this poet city of Mahabalipuram when hosts of devotees used to throng the sacred precincts of the templw with respectful homages and offerings. Really, a visit to this historical site leaves a pleasant remembrance of the glorious achievements of Pallava rulers in a visitor's mind.
Mahabalipuram is at a distance of about 46 miles by road from Madras via Chingleput. The various artistic creations abounding in this place, belonging to the Pallava period of nearly 1200 years ago, stand out to tell the visitor about the dignity and splendour of the art and architecture of South India. This place, as Mr. Fergusson remarked, "Has been more visited and more often described than any other place in India," because it is the place in India where we have the largest number of the earliest monuments of the South.
Opinion is divided as to the period when Mahabalipuram was founded. The general view held is that Mahablaipuram (which isa variant of Mahamallapuram or Mamallapuram) was founded by Mahasimha Varman I (630.668 A.D.) who was also known as Mahamalla or Mamalla and named after him. This leads to the conclision that this place was not in existence before the time of narasimha Varman I. But this view is not supported by all, as there are evidences to show that this place was in existence even before the period of Mahamalla. This place has figured in ancient Tamil literature and the finds at this place of Roman, Chinese and Persian coins of olden days, go to prove its antiquity. It was an ancient sea- port opf the Pallavas and played an important part as the meeting place of people and traders from different countries.
The entire history of this place lies shrouded in mystery and it is not possible to explain satisfactorily why all the monuments cut in the rocks remained unfinished and who were the kings responsible for the evolution of such wonderful sculpture and erchitecture for which this place is famous and attracts thousands of visitors even from abroade. Their is an ancient Siva temple on the seashore, but the peculiar thing about this is that this place was not visited by any of the Saiva saints. It is noteworthy that minor deities, which are popular in the South and found invariably in all other temples, are absent here.
As this place was abandoned, uncared- fdor and unprotected, and exposed to the ravages of rain and the saline action of the sea winds, the precious monuments of architectural and sculptural interest lost much of their elegance and beauty and got mutilated and deformed to such an extent that it is not possible today to know who are the Pallva kings and queens whose statues have been sculptured in the Varaha temple and what are the stories depicted in the different carvings, especiallyin the famous sculpture "Arjuna's penace". The entire place was covered and the ground level raised by centuries of drift sand which buried many monuments; the entire Ratha (chariot) group was covered by several feet of sand. Even to day the lower part of the famous relief "Arjuna's penance" is about 12 feet below the ground level. It appears that this part of the coast was visited by a mighty tidal wave which destroyed Mahabalipuram and its surroundings. The large quantities of stones lying near the temple, and other which are found partially buried in the sea, indicate that other buildings must have existed here, which were destroyed and over whelmed by the ocean. During the last century this place received the attention of the Government and steps were taken to remove the drift sand which had raised the level of the locality, and the discovered monuments were preserved. It is likely that there are more monuments, religious and secular, lying buried underneath the high sand dunes of the neighbourhood.
Though it is no longer a port, Mamallapuram has retained its fame, thanks to the great Pallava artisans. It is among the most outstanding examples of Dravidian art and architecture and the jewel in the crown of the Pallava contribution to Tamil Nadu. In a land that is liberally strewn with some of the best in temple art, Mamallapuram holds its own, and stands as a silent yet eloquent witness to the glory of its creators and sculptors. Unfortunately most of the work was left incomplete, and time and nature have also eroded the remains of this once great port.
Despite this, Mamallapuram's wonders in rock leave visitors enthralled, conveying as they do, an impression of beauty, harmony, gentle wit and humour. The monuments are floodlit at night and so it is possible to enjoy their beauty even after sunset. The Mamallapuram dance festival is conducted every year during Jan - Feb. It is a month long festival and dances are organised during the weekends. Well-known exponents of the art perform classical dances such as Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali and Odissi.