Descent of Ganga
Mahabalipuram, 38 miles south of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, is the historical city built by the Pallava king Mahendra Verman to connect his empire with southeast Asia. The sculptural extravaganza of Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) has been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO.
The Pallavas’ most significant work is an immense relief depicting the Descent of the Ganga or Arjuna Penance’. Measuring about 90 feet long and 30 feet high, it is a work of art as tumultuous as Indian life itself. In the central cleft where water once flowed from a cistern above, sculpted nagas swim upstream watched by two monumental elephants to the right.
Behind ‘Descent of the Ganga’ is a series of rock-cut cave temples and the most famous among them is Mahishasuramardhinin Shrine. At Mamallapuram’s southern limits are five Rathas known as the Pancha Pandava including the Draupadi shrine.
