7/24/2019 Mahabalipuram Rathas - Rathas of Mahabalipuram - Rathas at Mahabalipuram - Mahabalipuram Ratha Temples

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Mahabalipuram RathasFamous as temple town, Mahabalipuram is situated along the shores

of the Bay of Bengal about 60 km from the south of Chennai.

Mahabalipuram is home to one of the architectural wonders of the

world, the Ratha temples. It was the Pallava king Narsimha, who built

the magnificent 'Ratha' cave temples of Mahabalipuram in the 7th

century. The Ratha temples at Mahabalipuram bear testimony to theartistic genius of Indian architects in ancient times. The Ratha

temples also reflect the artistic tastes of the Pallava rulers. The Ratha

temples gave birth to a new style of architecture, the South Indian

temple architecture.

The 'Ratha' cave temples are usually called the "Panch Pandava Ratha" (the five chariots of the Pandavas).

The Ratha temples are regarded as the transition point between the rock-cut cave temples and freestanding

stone temples. The fact that each one of these temples is carved out from a single rock goes to prove that

the Indian architects had great skills. The most remarkable thing about these Rathas is that till date most of

them are well preserved and many of their carvings are as fresh as they were some 1,300 years ago.

The temples at Mahabalipuram are called as Ratha temples as they resemble the shape of rathas (chariots).These temples are known especially for their Rathas and "Mandapas" (an open pavilion or a hall). The total

number of Rathas at Mahabalipuram is eight out of which five are named after the five Pandavas of

Mahabharata and one after Draupadi, the wife of Pandava brothers. The five Pandava rathas are the Dharma

raja Ratha, the Bhima Ratha, the Arjuna Ratha, the Draupadi Ratha and the Nakul Sahadev Ratha. The

Rathas at Mahabalipuram are constructed in the style of the Buddhist viharas and chaityas.

Another remarkable feature of the Ratha temples is that they were excavated by scooping out the scarp of the

hill from front to back.

The unfinished Dharmaraja Ratha is three storied and the largest whereas the one-storied Draupadi Ratha is

the smallest and has an interesting thatch-like roof. Base of the three-storey Dharmaraja Ratha is supported

by figures of a lion, alternating with an elephant. The base of the Dharmaraja Ratha is square and it rises to

13 meters as a pyramid. The Arjuna and Draupadi Rathas are dedicated to Shiva and Durga respectively.

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