Mahabalipuram Heritage Experience - Jan 2023

Mallai, Kadal-Mallai, Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram, as the city is most popularly called is a fine example of a civilisational milestone achieved by the artists and craftsman between the 6th and 8th century CE. Working on a distinguished landscape, a coastal strip with rocky outcrops, the artisans have used the topography to create some of the finest sculptures and structures.

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RATHAM - Road Access to Temples, Heritage And Monuments organised a day long trip Mallai to around 20 participants on the 7th January, 2023, Saturday. We started around 7.30 and drove down the scenic East Coast Road. Out trip started with the very hard to see temple of Varaha Swami. This is a living temple and the deity is worshipped only once a day. But this shrine is a must to the visitors to visualise how the cave temples looked when they were active back in the Pallava period. This shrine also houses 2 full sized portraits of Royal members of the Pallava clan.

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We visited the Bhagiratha penance relief panel, Krishnaa Mandapam and walked up the hill visiting Ganesha Ratham, Adi Varaha Cave, Mahishasuramardhini Cave and Olakkaneshwara temple. We toured around the 5 Rathas campus before lunch and had the Shore Temple for a memorable closure of the trip.

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A day well spent indeed.