Carved Beauty
of Mahabalipuram:
South India
S
Oldest.Hindu
Temples
When south Indian architects turned
away from brick and wood temples in the
7th century A.D., they picked a hard way
to do it.
They started to carve their edifices from
solid rock.
Starting with simple caves, the masters
worked up- to whole temples and large
animals. The center of their art-and site
of the oldest caves-is Mahabalipuram, 35
miles south of present-day Madras City.
Jewel-like Mahabalipuram lacks the
massiveness of Ellora, when Hindu sculp-
tors cut 107 feet down into a hill side to
fashion a stupendous monolithic temple.
And Mahabalipurom hasn't the delicate
wall paintings of Ajanta's Bhuddist caves.
But set cn a coastal hill surrounded by
rice paddies, it makes up for its lack of
the spectacular by a quiet exquisiteness
broken only by antics of resident monkeys.
Now a major tourist attraction, Maha-
balipuram was set out in the seventh cen-
tury as the port for the Pallava dynasty,
which ruled much of south India between
300 and 800 A.D.
The Five Rathas are dedicated to Siva, one of Hinduism's mighty trinity, and to his consorts. The size of the visitors beside
the left-most shrine indicates the magnitude of the artists' job as they worked on the massive rock out-croppings. Though
weathered considerably, the shrines remain in good condition.
The most spectacular carving, Arjuna's Penance, contains a welter of figures and has given rise to a welter of scholarly interpretations
story of the epichero after whom it is named, but others say it concerns the story of Siva in his form of beggar or the coming of the hol
foot high relief represents, is certainly is filled with graceful figures whose airy poses belie their solid ties to the earth.
Rather a primitive cave architecture evolved gradually toward more graceful forms as pillars became more elegant, and sculp-
tured. Lions at the pillars' base guard the later temple (right). Outer halls led to smaller shrines which usually contained
linga, the squat stone phallic symbols that represent Siva's creativity. These are the oldest temples in South India since time
has obliterated their wood and brick predecessors.
One inscilption says the Pallavas who created Mahabalipuram "were pious . .. destroyed
age . . . spoke the truth .. . were profound ... forcibly subdued lust and other internal foe
dowed with polity and modesty." The Pallavas thus managed to avoid the worst boasts of S
mighty works met a similar fate.
Tradition says the Shore Temple, built, not carved, about 700 was one of seven
such pagodas which graced a beautiful port city. Says'the legend: when the king
wanted to make the city even more beautiful, he aroused the jealousy of the god
Indra who sent his storm to overwhelm the pagodas. Today, the remaining temple
stands in solitary majesty on the wide, sandy beach of the Bay of Bengal.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND STORY
by
Phli . Shra
The war-like goddess Durga rides her traditional lion. She
rode it to victory over Mahishasura, the buffalo-headed
demon, symbolizing triumph of good over evil. This sculpture
is preserved in the courtyard of the Shore Temple.
The elephant is the vehic
rain, and- one of the old.
more modern Hindu panti
The lion,,
hicle of the war-
like goddess Durga, stands
FIve Rathas.