The Unfinished Bas Relief of Mamallapuram

By -
Site Name: The unfinished bas relief
Site Type: Open air bas relief, Monument
Location:  1.5 kms from bus stand, Mamallapuram, near Chennai (55 kms from Chennai), Tamil Nadu state, India
Highlights: An important tourist site and ancient monument in South India
Nearest Railway Station: Chennai
Nearest Airport: Chennai
How to reach: Well connected by road from Chennai
Hotel: A lot of options are available within Mamallapuram and East Coast Road outside the town
Restaurants: Many options and varieties across the town

Mamallapuram, the town near Chennai city in South India, is full of rock cut temples and beautiful sculptures. Although there are many monuments present in the town, only few of them such as Shore Temple and Arjuna's Penance have become very popular. There is an unfinished bas relief something similar to that of Arjuna's Penance bas relief. This unfinished monument is obviously not as beautiful as the finished monument. However, it is definitely a good one and worth watching.


The unfinished bas relief is located behind the light house. The sculptures carved on the rock are similar to that of Arjuna's Penance monument. The sculptures of elephants, celestial couples, lion, deer, other animals, devas, saints, Lord Shiva and Arjun are found in this work similar to that of the finished monument. However, the position of Shiva and Arjun are different and the shrine with Vishnu is missing in this monument.

 It is not known what would have been the objective of this work. There is a possibility that the artists would have started this a model work before starting the actual work. Or else, two sets of artists could have competed with each other and worked on two different sites based on the same theme. Whatever be the reason behind the monument and although it is unfinished, it is definitely one of the marvels from Pallavas.



When you go to Mamallapuram, go and visit this unfinished Arjuana's penance along with the finished monument.

 Happy travelling.

View Larger Map

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

By -
Image
Consecrated in March 2021, the 40 feet high Bala Murugan icon at Saveetha Medical College campus is the tallest image of Murugan in Chennai. Malaysia has 140 feet tall Murugan. In April 2022, the 146 feet tall image of Murugan was consecrated near Salem in Tamil Nadu. However, they are all stucco images. But, the one that we find on the college campus is a monolithic granite icon. Thus, it is the tallest stone icon of Murugan in the entire world. A stone weighing 320 tonnes was brought from Siruvambur near Wallajah, and it was carved to 140 tonnes to get this beautiful and gigantic sculpture. The entire temple complex is designed in the shape of the Devanagiri letter "Om", which can be appreciated in the aerial view.  The west-facing gigantic sculpture is located atop the star-shaped pedestal. It dominates the entire landscape. A large meditation hall is situated below the pedestal. On the open corridor in front of the presiding deity, smaller shrines are found. They enshrine
Read more

Putlur Angala Parameswari Temple - Chennai

By -
Image
Angala Parameswari Temple in Putlur, near  Chennai  city of South India, is a unique temple. The Goddess is in the form of a pregnant woman in this temple. The icon of Angala Parameswari is believed to be self-manifested, called swayambhu.  As per the legend, a village head tortured a poor for borrowed money. The poor was forced to plough an infertile land. While ploughing the ground full of rocks, the villager noticed that blood was oozing out from a particular place. There, he discovered the image of the Goddess. It is a snake hole (putru in Tamil - where snakes live) in the form of a woman in a sleeping posture with her mouth kept open, and her bulged stomach like a pregnant woman. The villagers built a temple with this putru and named the Goddess Angala Parameswari. Hence, they started calling the village Putlur the town with the divine Putru.  Putlur Angala Parameswari temple is basically a village temple. It is visited by thousands of people. Primarily it will be tough to en
Read more

A 17th century Dargah with healing power - Mount Road Dargah, Chennai, India

By -
Image
Mount Road or Anna Salai is one of the most happening places in  Chennai . There are two famous Islamic shrines on Mount Road – one is  Thousands Light mosque . The other one is Dargah-e-Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi (Rahmatullah Alaihi), also known as Mount Road Dargah. It is the most popular Dargah across the city. It draws devotees of all faiths and all walks of life. Especially every Thursday, a large number of devotees gather to the Dargah. A lot of city-based celebrities regularly visit the site. This Dargah is the shrine of a Muslim Saint named Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi. He was also known as Rahmatullah Alaihi. Hazrath Syed Moosa Shah Qadri Baghdadi arrived from Baghdad in the middle of the 17th Century CE. He made Chennai his home and lived here. It is believed that he had healing powers. During his time, he had so many devotees regularly visiting him. After his demise, his family buried him next to his house, which is the current Dargah. You can easily lo
Read more