Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram (muhä'bulipoorum) [key], village, Tamil Nadu state, SE India, on the Coromandel Coast. Archaeological remains there represent some of the earliest-known examples of Dravidian architecture (c.7th cent. A.D.) in India. Under the patronage of the Pallava dynasty, numerous temples, hewn from granite hillocks, were carved. The site is often called the Seven Pagodas because of the high pinnacles of seven of its temples, six of which were said to have been submerged by the sea. It is also called Mamallapuram. The town is a coastal resort.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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