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Mahabalipuram Rock Cut Caves & Temples

Showcasing a dynasty's intricate architectural skills

Explore the 7th Century Mahabalipuram’s sculpture-rich landscape – from the ruins of the Shore Temple with hundreds of Nandi bull statues looking seaward, to the Krishna’s butterball, a glacial erratic precariously perched upon the bedrock. Continue on past Arjuna’s Penance – a beautiful narrative sculpted onto a single rockface narrating a story from the epic poem, Mahabharata, optimizing the rock fissures and cracks. Then visit the ruins of the rest of the Panch Rathas remain in silent testimony to the skill of the carvers who created them. Named for the Pandava brothers who are the heros of the Mahabharat epic, they are architecturally ambitious and significant for the level of intricacy they sought to replicate in stone. Finally, listen to the legend of the vanquishing of the buffalo-demon, Mahishasura by Goddess Durga at the rock-cut mandapas or cave temples at the far-end of the town.

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