Mahabalipuram is a city of temples and is situated on the banks of the Bay of Bengal, 55 km from Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. The city is famous for its magnificent temples, architecture and sea-shores. The Shore Temple and Rath Cave Temple are the most famous of these.
Let's get detailed information about them.
Shore Temple
The Shore Temple of Mahabalipuram is a refreshingly flawless craft in a temple that is different from the Grandeos Dravidian architecture and had columns built on the waves behind the protective break water. These temples with beautiful polygonal domes are inhabited by Bhagwan Vishnu and Shiva. These beautiful temples are full of air and sea breezes.
The Shore temple was built by the Pallava kings. Later many other idols like the cow, bull, durga and lion were built in the temples by the people of the Chola dynasty which are very amazing to see.
Panch Rath in Mahabalipuram
There are actually eight chariots in Mahabalipuram of which five are named after the five Pandavas and one Draupadi, the characters of the Mahabharata. These five chariots (Panch Rath) are known as Dharmaraj Rath, Bhima Rath, Arjuna Rath, Draupadi Rath, Nakula and Sahadeva Rath.
Varaha Cave Temple
The Varaha cave is dedicated to the Varaha avatar of Maa Lakshmi, Durga and Vishnu. The walls of this cave, which look simple from outside, are decorated with beautiful sculptures. According to religious beliefs, the pillars of this cave rest on the strong arms of Bhagwan Narasimha.
The second informal summit between India and China saw PM Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping visit the UNESCO world heritage site in Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. The leaders visited Arjuna's Penance, the Pancha Rathas complex and the Shore Temple in the year 2019.