SHORE TEMPLE

The Shore Temple is a Hindu religious complex with a temple dedicated to Shiva surrounded by two smaller temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu. It was built with granite blocks between 630 and 638 AD and completed during the reign of Narasimhavarman II of the Pallava dynasty, when the city was still an important port. A dyke was built to protect this monument, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from wind and sea erosion.

The three temples are built on a common platform. The main temple faces east so that the sun's rays shine on the Shiva Linga in the sanctuary. It is a five-story temple which is not carved out of the rock, unlike other monuments in Mamallapuram. A partially carved monolithic sculpture of a lion, the mount of Durga, is erected inside the wall of the complex. A miniature image of Durga, as Mahishasurmardini, is carved on the back of the lion. For the visit ensure the services of a local guide who will be able to comment in detail the architectural riches.

Marco Polo and the European merchants who came to Asia called the site the Seven Pagodas. One of them is believed to be the Shore Temple. It would be the last of a series of temples now submerged. Some fishermen would know the location of these underwater temples, their outlines appeared off the coast during the 2004 tsunami.