In and Around Mahabalipuram

Shore Temple It is one of the oldest temples in south india nestling on the shores of the Bay of Bengal. It is an historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th century and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Five Rathas The five rathas are Dharmaraja Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Draupadi Ratha and Nakul Sahadev Ratha. These are monolithic temples, each created in a different style.

Arjuna’s Penance A sculptured marvel at Mahabalipuram, often called “Arjuna’s Penance”, is an enormous relief made on two huge boulders. One of the biggest open-air rock canvases in the world

Krishna Mandapam One of the earliest rock-cut temples of Mahabalipuram, its walls depict scenes of Krishna’s pastoral life. One of them depicts Krishna lifting the Govardhan Parvat on his little finger to protect his people from wrath of the Rain God, Indra.

Tiger’s Cave This is a coastal village of 5 Kilometers north of mahabalipuram on the Kovalam Road. This is a magnificent mandapa which contains a shrine dedicated to goddess Durga which has big beautiful figures in front. The deposition here is on the battle of Goddess Durga and Mahishasura.

Cholamadal Artist’s Village This village is about 20 km away from chennai and one has to reach 38 km from this village to mahabalipuram. This village was established in 1965 to promote and develop the traditional art. Exhibitions are regularly put up to exhibit various paintings, Sculptures and crafty articles. The visitors can interact with the artists of the studies in this village.

Dakshina Chitra This place is 12 km south of the cholamandal village, established in 1984. Separate sectors of Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka sculptures are found here. This is a ling museum. One can find traditional architecture, artistry workers, exhibitions, workshops, archival library and graft shops etc. The other major activities here are exhibition of crafts, designs, folk arts etc.

Kovalam Kovalam is a beautiful spot lies 15Kms from mahabalipuram and 38 Kms from Chennai. This is a small fishing village but now a famous beach resort of the country. The Olive Ridley Turtles visit the beach between November and March to hatch their eggs.

Nithyakalyanaperumal Temple This is a Hindu pilgrim which is 16 Kms away from mahabalipuram and is considered to be one of the 108 sacred shrines called as Tirupathi. The deity here is goddess Lakshmi. The events celebrated here are Garuda Sevai, on the Tamil Month Aani, Pooram in Aadi, and spring festival in Vaigasi.

Thirukkalukundram This Hindu pilgrim is also known as Pakshitheertham, which lies 16 km away from mahabalipuram. There is a 160 m hill where we can find the small Vedagirishvara Temple. This is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The priest in the temple feeds a pair of white eagles, which are said to be saints.

Vedanthangal This water bird sanctuary is 53 km away from mahabalipuram, established in the year 1858 and the oldest of the country. The land area is about 30 hectares of marshy lard with a lake. 1,00,000 birds which hare migrated from other countries visit here.