Mamallapuram
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The place is also known as Seven Pagodas or Mahabalipuram.
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Marco Polo and other Europeans named it Seven Pagodas.
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It is believed that 6 more temples stood along with the lone standing shore temple. Hence the name Seven Pagodas.
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The 2004 Tsunami exposed an old collapsed temple built of granite and was a part of Seven Pagodas.
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It is a historic town and was a seaport in the 1st millennium.
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It was declared as UNESCO World Heritage site.
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The famous monuments in the town include temples in the form of chariots, giant open rock sculpture, cave sanctuaries, Descent of the Ganges and a Shore temple.
Shore Temple
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The temple overlooks Bay of Bengal.
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It was built during the Pallava dynasty.
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It is a cave temple.
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Lord Vishnu shrine is placed between two shrines of Lord Shiva.
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The structures have multi – storied pyramidal superstructures typical of the Dravidian style.
Descent of the Ganges
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It is a monument at Mamallapuram.
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It is an open – air relief carved on two monolithic rocks.
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The monument depicts the story of descent of the sacred river Ganges to the earth from heavens.
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It also portrays Arjuna’s penance.
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The monument was sculpted in the period of Pallavas.
Why important?
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jingping would be visiting Mamallpuram, Tamil Nadu for the second edition of informal summit between India and China.