Shore Temple

Among the prominent World heritage sites listed by UNESCO, The Shore temple occupies an inevitable place. It is located in the Town of Mahabalipuram, on the banks of Bay of Bengal, and the Coromandel shore. It is a visual delight and stands as an example of the finest architecture of Tamil Kings. It is made of granite stones and declared the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. There are three shrines in this temple complex, devoted to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. It attracts a lot of people across the globe. There are several heritage tour operators in Chennai, who make package trips, and travel plans.
Among the very few UNESCO tour operators in India, we stand ahead of all our competitors and made us gain an enormous reputation. We have specialized in being the UNESCO tour operators in Chennai, where we have a team of operators who cater to the needs of the travelers and make specific arrangements. Mahabalipuram was once an important Port town during Pallava’s rule, where trade between the countries was prominent. It is listed as the top ten UNESCO World Heritage Site in India 2019. It is the most loved, and most visited Natural World Heritage Sites in India. The king wanted to develop the city as an important center for arts and architecture, so he gave life to the rocks and made it as a distinctive piece of history. He is a natural lover of arts, so he patronized a lot of poets, artisans, dancers, sculptors, and other artists Nrasimhavarman I, was called as “Mamalla”, meaning “great warrior”. It is also believed that the king himself was a great Wrestler. He ruled more than 38 years in the first century. He was instrumental in bringing the monument and made this monument at Mahabalipuram. The artworks include cave shrines, monolithic temples, and large stone boulders. Pallava kings are basically worshippers of Lord Shiva, but they also made temples for Lord Vishnu and several other Jain temples. The Pallava rulers patronized the “Bhakti Movement”, which is called as the renaissance of Hinduism.

Among the top 10 world heritage sites of Tamilnadu, Mahabalipuram ranks first. The temple is a combination of Pallaya and Dravidian style architecture. As the architecture is exemplary, it gained the fervor to be the most iconic UNESCO world heritage site in South India. The temple is built during the 7-8th century AD by King Narsimha Varma. Interiors and exteriors of this temple have been carved and sculptured elaborately, which is distinct in its architecture and stands the test of times. The architecture is the display of artistic excellence and creativity of the artisans. The main temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva is made up of Granite, and is a five-storeyed structure. The temple is of pyramidal structure and is 60 feet high and sits on a 50 feet square platform. Shiva Linga is kept in the sanctum sanctorum. At the rear end, there are two shrines facing each other. One two shrines are to Ksatriyasimnesvara and Lord Vishnu, which are facing each other. Lord Vishnu is carved as reclining on the serpent ‘Seshanag’, which symbolizes consciousness.
This temple is not used as a place of worship, instead of as a monument of art and the symbology of architecture. It is one of the cultural heritage sites of Unesco in India. The main festival commemorated here is the dance festival, which happens once a year during the months of January and February. Dancers around the world would gather in this temple to pay tribute to the God of Dance, Lord Shiva.