It is not just the temple, not just the architecture; It is the location, it is the background music of the tide hitting the rocks, it is the breeze which lifts the spirit, it is the view of deep blue water merging with sky at some distant point which make you fall in love with the temple. The shore temple, Mahabalipuram is part of monuments which were recognized by UNESCO as world heritage site.
This temple was probably used as a landmark for navigation for ships. I do not want to go into too much details of history or architecture as you can simply find them in Wiki. This is a three temple complex located on the shore of Bay of Benagal in Mahabalipuram, making it the shore temple. This shore temple was built by Pallava dynasty in 8th century AD. A pair of temples were on the same platform. The one facing east is the temple of Shiva and behind there is temple of Reclining Vishnu. The temples are pyramidal in shape. Other interesting things are the miniature shrine in the complex and the Monolithic lion. There were numerous Nandi statues on the compound wall. You don’t need much time to visit the temple but you can enjoy sitting on the rocks behind the temple overlooking sea.
You can also spend some time in the beach, but you need to walk a long way to reach the beach which is actually lying next to the temple as they blocked the direct gates from temple to the beach.
Monolithic lion
The beach had a small shopping area where you can buy some hand made sea shell things. In beach you can enjoy raw mangoes cut and sprinkled with chilli powder and salt, go on a horse ride or just enjoy a bath.
Mahabalipuram hosts dance festivals every year at this temple . There was one when we went but we had to go back to Pondicherry by evening. This shore temple along with other monuments makes Mahabalipuram an awesome place to visit.
For more places and monuments from Mahabalipuram and many more posts.. stay tuned. Like my Facebook page, follow me on Insta. Subscribe for regular updates.
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