Previous Year Question

The famous Ratha monuments at Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu were created during the period of the Pallava rulers. The city was an important Pallava port and a major centre of art and architecture on the Coromandel Coast of south-eastern India.

According to UNESCO, the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram was founded by the Pallava kings, and its rock-cut and monolithic monuments developed principally during the 7th and 8th centuries CE.

Among these monuments, the best known are the Rathas or monolithic temples. They are called Rathas because their forms resemble temple processional chariots. They are not movable chariots but monolithic temples carved out of individual massive boulders.

The development of Mamallapuram is particularly associated with the Pallava ruler Narasimhavarman I, whose title was Mamalla. The name Mamallapuram itself became associated with this title. Important innovations in rock architecture took place during his reign.

The celebrated Pancha Rathas—Dharmaraja Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Draupadi Ratha and Nakula-Sahadeva Ratha—are major examples of this Pallava architectural tradition. Their names were associated in later tradition with characters of the Mahabharata; the monuments were not actually constructed by the Pandavas.

The architectural plans of the Rathas are not identical. They display different types of roofs, vimanas, halls and temple plans. For this reason, they are also regarded as experimental models in the development of the South Indian Dravida temple tradition. UNESCO describes the monolithic temples as displaying variations in both ground plan and elevation.

Pallava architecture subsequently developed from rock-cut and monolithic shrines towards structural temples. The famous Shore Temple at Mamallapuram represents this later structural tradition and is associated with the Pallava king Rajasimha.