Mamallapuram, also called Mahabalipuram or Seven Pagodas, is a town that lies along the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Chennai (Tamil Nadu). The picturesque village has been carved out of a long stretch of rocky hills. It is possible to spend some hours wandering around the village and discovering its numerous temples and rock-cut caves and not paying much attention to the sea.
Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram is a town and a notified area committee in Kanchipuram district in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal.
The name Mamallapuram derives from Mamallan, or “great warrior”, a title by which the Pallava King Narasimhavarman I was known.
The name Mamallapuram got distorted during the British era to Mahabalipuram and thus it is also known as Mahabalipuram.
The town of Mamallapuram in Kancheepuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu in India is a historical place of immense cultural and historical value. It is the place where many surviving 7th- and 8th-century Pallava temples are located.
It also contains many sculptured rock reliefs and cave temples most notably Arjuna's Penance which depicts the episode from Mahabharatha when Krishna explains to Penance to Arjuna. The artistic foresight, design, and architecture during the Pallava reign gave Mamallapuram its name the “Cradle of Indian Art”.
The town’s Five Rathas, or monolithic temples, are the remnants of seven temples, for which the town was known as Seven Pagodas. The entire assemblage collectively was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984.
Ancient Chinese, Persian and Roman coins have been found by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at Mamallapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, proving that it was once a major seaport.
The coins have been unearthed on the way to the Shore Temple, over an area of 3 acres in a field just behind the main road leading from the Mahabalipuram bus stand to Mamallapuram.
Mamallapuram and the Pallava dynasty are also historically relevant, for the earliest recorded security pact between China and India (in the early 8th century) that involved a Pallava king (Rajasimhan, or Narasimha Varma II), from whom the Chinese sought help to counter Tibet.
The second informal summit between India and China was held here in October 2019.