Mahabalipuram earlier known as Mahabalipuram is a group of religious monuments that date back to the 7th and 8th centuries in the town of Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu. The UNESCO World Heritage Site, located on the Coromandel Coast, is home to a huge complex that has Rathas, cave temples and shore temples among the 400 ancient structures. It has one of the largest open-air rock reliefs in the world- The Descent of the Ganga or Arjuna’s Penance.
The monuments built during the Pallava era have many narratives of Mahabharat and Shaivic in their cave temples. There are many rock-cut temples and archaeological excavations dating to the 6th century and earlier. The Pallavas built many of the temples and monuments as part of the Bhakti movement. The descendants of the sculptors of the shrine still reside in the city as artisans and are called for renovation purposes.
