No. 134

Mahabalipuram offshore ruins

Underwater Underwater

Shore temple in Mamallapuram gets its name because of its location next to the shore. — Swarna1311, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Where: Tamil Nadu, India
Built by: Pallava dynasty
Era: 600s-800s CE
Known for: Temple remains exposed when the 2004 tsunami pulled the sea back.
How it went under: Coastline erosion and rising seas.

Seashore Temple, Mahabalipuram — Apoorva Prakash, CC BY-SA 4.0

This is a photo of ASI monument number — SatishKumar, CC BY-SA 3.0

Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India — Benjamín Preciado Centro de Estudios de Asia y África de El Colegio de México, CC BY-SA 4.0

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Background

The Shore Temple (c. 725 AD) is a complex of temples and shrines that overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal. It is located in Mahabalipuram, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India.

It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite, dating from the 8th century AD. At the time of its creation, the site was a busy port during the reign of Narasimhavarman II of the Indian Pallava dynasty. As one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, it has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. It is one of the oldest structural (versus rock-cut) stone temples of Southern India.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.