page_title: Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram
hierarchical_section_title: Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram
caption_attribution_description: India - Mamallapuram - 022 - Cave pillars
context_page_description: The Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram are part of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, less well-known than the ratha temples.
  They are located on the hillock of the town, overlooking the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal in Kanchipuram District in Tamil Nadu, India. They are cut and decorated with panels in the Mamalla style of the Pallava period in the 7th century. They are differentiated from the Adiranchanda cave temples which are dated to the Mahendraverman period of the 8th century. Remnants seen in the caves also indicate that they were plastered and painted when built. One of the most impressive sculpture panels, bas-reliefs, carved on the walls in the caves is that of the goddess Durga who killed Mahishasura the buffalo-headed demon which has a natural beauty with elegance of sense of movement. Many of the caves of the Pallava period have remained incomplete. The procedure in creating these caves involved creation of a smooth rock face, then cutting columns through the polished rock faces of required size and then carving bas-reliefs on the walls of the cave.
context_section_description: The Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram are part of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, less well-known than the ratha temples.
  They are located on the hillock of the town, overlooking the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal in Kanchipuram District in Tamil Nadu, India. They are cut and decorated with panels in the Mamalla style of the Pallava period in the 7th century. They are differentiated from the Adiranchanda cave temples which are dated to the Mahendraverman period of the 8th century. Remnants seen in the caves also indicate that they were plastered and painted when built. One of the most impressive sculpture panels, bas-reliefs, carved on the walls in the caves is that of the goddess Durga (a form of goddess Shakti) who killed Mahishasura the buffalo-headed demon which has a natural beauty with elegance of sense of movement. Many of the caves of the Pallava period have remained incomplete. The procedure in creating these caves involved creation of a smooth rock face, then cutting columns through the polished rock faces of required size and then carving bas-reliefs on the walls of the cave.
caption: Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram
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