Pancha Rathas
Encyclopedia
Pancha Rathas - an example of monolith
Indian rock-cut architecture dating from the late 7th century, located at Mamallapuram, a tiny village south of Madras in the state of Tamil Nadu
, India
.
and his son Narasimhavarman I
. The purpose of their construction is not known, structures are not completed. Pancha Rathas have been preserved very well thanks to sturdiness of their material - granite
and in spite of constant salty winds from the ocean and catastrophic tsunami
in 13th century.
, carved whole from a rock outcropping of pink granite
. The five monolithic shrines are named after the Pandavas (Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhishtra, Nakula and Sahadeva) and Draupadi
. Four shrines have pyramidal roofs. The shrines represent diversity of Dravidian architecture of the time and it is likely that their original design traces back to wood constructions.
, it has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Monolithic architecture
Monolithic architecture is a style of construction in which a building is carved, cast or excavated from a single piece of material. The most basic form of monolithic architecture is the monolith, such as the monolithic churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia or the Pancha Rathas in India.Buildings with a...
Indian rock-cut architecture dating from the late 7th century, located at Mamallapuram, a tiny village south of Madras in the state of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
History
The Pancha Rathas shrines were carved during the reign of King Mahendravarman IMahendravarman I
Mahendravarman I was a Pallava king who ruled the Northern regions of what forms present-day Tamil Nadu in India in the early 7th century. He was the son of Simhavishnu, who defeated the Kalabhras and re-established the Pallava kingdom....
and his son Narasimhavarman I
Narasimhavarman I
Narasimhavarman I was a Tamil king of the Pallava dynasty who ruled South India from 630–668 CE. He shared his father Mahendravarman I's love of art and completed the work started by Mahendravarman in Mahabalipuram....
. The purpose of their construction is not known, structures are not completed. Pancha Rathas have been preserved very well thanks to sturdiness of their material - granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and in spite of constant salty winds from the ocean and catastrophic tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
in 13th century.
Architechture
Each temple is a monolithMonolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
, carved whole from a rock outcropping of pink granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. The five monolithic shrines are named after the Pandavas (Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhishtra, Nakula and Sahadeva) and Draupadi
Draupadi
In the epic Mahābhārata, Draupadi, also known as ' is the "emerged" daughter of King Drupada of Panchāla and the wife of the five Pandavas. When Yudhisthira becomes the king of Hastinapura at the end of the war, Draupadi becomes the queen of Indraprastha...
. Four shrines have pyramidal roofs. The shrines represent diversity of Dravidian architecture of the time and it is likely that their original design traces back to wood constructions.
As UNESCO World Heritage site
As one of the Group of Monuments at MahabalipuramGroup of Monuments at Mahabalipuram
This group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. Barely 58 km from Chennai at Mahabalipuram, this world heritage site in Tamil Nadu gained UNESCO World Heritage site distinction in 1984...
, it has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
See also
- Arjuna's Penance
- Varaha Cave TempleVaraha Cave TempleVaraha Cave Temple, an example of Indian rock-cut architecture dating from the late 7th century, is a rock-cut cave temple located at Mamallapuram, is a finest testimonial of anciest Vishwakarma Sthapathis, a tiny village south of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu, India...
- Shore TempleShore TempleThe Shore Temple is so named because it overlooks the Bay of Bengal. It is a structural temple, built with blocks of granite, dating from the 8th century AD. It was built on a promontory sticking out into the Bay of Bengal at Mahabalipuram, a village south of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu,...
- Group of Monuments at MahabalipuramGroup of Monuments at MahabalipuramThis group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. Barely 58 km from Chennai at Mahabalipuram, this world heritage site in Tamil Nadu gained UNESCO World Heritage site distinction in 1984...