Mamallapuram tops the list beating TajMahal

Chennai: Mamallapuram is an ancient city recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. This is a message that many people should know. "This tourist city has beaten the Taj Mahal and attracted more foreign tourists," was the happy news that came out last week.

According to a statement released by the Department of Tourism, Mamallapuram witnessed the highest number of foreign tourists visiting Mamallapuram in 2021-22. This means that according to statistics, 1,44,984 foreign visitors have come to Mamallapuram. The Taj Mahal in Agra has been visited by 38,922 foreign visitors.

When analyzed, we could see only one reason behind this, it's the Chess Olympiad organized in Chennai.

This event pulled more foreigners into Tamil Nadu which led them to visit Mamallapuram, the nearest tourist spot.

Mamallapuram, the wonder of the world

The temple town, some 60kms from Tamil Nadu's capital, Chennai, pipped the Taj Mahal, which came in second.

Among ticketed monuments, Mamallapuram's Group of Monuments -- a collection of 7th- and 8th-century religious structures -- attracted 46 per cent of the total foreign tourists who visited India compared to 12 per cent by the Taj.

"Yes, there is no sculpture in any corner of the world with such sculptures available in Mamallapuram," says sculptor Prof Balusamy. He is a specialized researcher who analyzed and wrote a document for 500 pages, on a single sculpture 'Arjunan Thabasu' in Mamallapuram.

"There is very little evidence of what sculpture was like in Tamil Nadu before the Pallavas. There is no evidence that there was a method of sculpting in stone before them. Even in places like Poompuhar, we have got only buildings so far.

It is the Ajanta sculpture that has brought about a classical tradition in India. This tradition has evolved in India since the 2nd century BC.

Mamallapuram sculpture is a combination of a tradition that developed from central India and an architectural tradition that we did not have in Tamil Nadu during the same period. Within it there is something called Dravidian architecture. Here I am referring to Dravidian as a Tamil symbol.

The Pallavas have been coming from the 4th century A.D. After the 9th century. Another part of it is the rise of the early Cholas. The sculpture of the Pallavas is being revived through the Cholas.

Pallavas in sculpture

The Badami Chalukyas belong to the contemporaries of the Pallavas. There are hundreds of temples of the Chalukyas in Badami, Pattadakal and Aihole even today. The word 'Badami' was known as 'Vatapi' during the Pallava period.

Amaravathi and Nagarjunakonda are the direct descendants of Ajanta. These are just two Buddhist sites. The sculptures of the Pallavas and the Chalukyas are a continuation of this.

The two are a continuation of Ajanta's legacy and not modeled as such. The Pallava territory started from Nellore to the banks of the Cauvery. That is north Tamil Nadu. It extended to Mamallapuram, Mamandur, Thalavanur, Kancheepuram and Pallavaram. Trichy Hill Fort is the last part of the Pallavas. After that there was no area ruled by the Pallavas.

There are four types of sculptural features in Mamallapuram.

• The rock-cut architecture.
• monolithic architecture
• The construction temple
• The fourth is an open-air embossed sculpture.

A miracle that does not exist in the world

Mahendravarman I, NarasimhaVarman I, ParameswaraVarman and Rajasimha were the four most important Pallava kings. There is a view that 'all the sculptures in Mamallapuram were made by these four kings'. Others say, 'It was King Rajasimha who did it'.

The art of sculpture called 'Single Kalli' became unique to the Pallavas. This sculpture is not found anywhere else in India. 'Ganesha Ratham' is the first single-edged sculpture in India. The Pallavas later abandoned this form of temple art. Because from the kalash of a temple to the bottom, it is to carve out a whole rock. Very difficult method. So they stopped.

Next is an open-air relief. This method of sculpture was not done by anyone in the whole world except the Pallavas. Not even in Ajanta. This is where arjuna ratha, arjuna tapasu, govardhana giri are located. There are three construction temples. Rajasimha did this. There is one at the top of the mountain. There's one on the beach sand. These are all temples of achievement sculpture.

The rocks in Mamallapuram are as hard as iron. The Pallavas have achieved this great feat by using only chisel-like equipment. That too, the entire rock has been carved and converted into a temple. If it is damaged while breaking it, the entire work will be ruined. These are such challenging jobs. It was the Pallavas who were capable of doing it.

University of Sculptors

It is on this rock that five chariots, Bhima Ratha, Sahadeva Ratha, Dharma Raja Ratha, Ganesha Ratha and Bidari Ratha are made. Only five chariots are a great achievement. Similarly, Mamallapuram sculptures will not be the same as the others. All are separate sculptures. That is why researchers suggest that Mamallapuram may have been the university of sculptors at that time.

If you take one of the Mamallapuram sculptures called 'Mahishasura Mardini', the entire story is sculpted in it. The scenes of Durga fighting with Mahishasuramardhini are fully sculpted.

This page is the bhoota ganas. The next page is the monster moment. An entire scene has been crafted there without interrupting the audience's scene. It was an animation of that time. In stone sculpture, animations have been done in a way that no one has done before.

It was only the Pallavas who made such sculptures from different angles. That's why we say that no other country has a work like Mamallapuram among the artworks in the world," says Balusamy.

Pallavas sculptures have a lot of passion and capability and we can see the slender skills of the artists in the carving of the sculptures. We could see in history that the Pallava dynasty was a famous dynasty in South India. The kings played a patron role to flourish art and architecture in their kingdom. The present art and sculptures are dated back to the 610 AD to 690