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Mamallapuram, Tamil Nadu, India (info) The religious centre of Mamallapuram (formerly Mahabalipuram) was founded by a 7th-century-CE Pallava king, Narasimhavarman, also called Mamalla ("great wrestler"), for whom the town was named. The Pallavas, a 4th-9th-century dynasty, began as indigenous subordinates of the Satavahanas in the Deccan, moved into Andhra, and then to Kanchi (Kanchipuram today), where they rapidly adopted Tamil ways. Their genealogy and chronology, however, are highly disputed. Their rule was marked by commercial enterprise and a limited amount of colonization in Southeast Asia. Ancient Chinese, Persian, and Roman coins found at Mamallapuram attest to a flourishing seaport. The Pallavas supported Buddhism, Jainism, and Brahminism, and were patrons of music, painting, and literature. But they were, in the end, ineffective in withstanding military pressure from the Western Chalukya dynasty, and their feudatories, the Cholas, gradually ousted them from power. About 880 CE, the Pallava dominions passed to the Chola kings. The best surviving Pallava monuments in Mamallapuram are the Shore temple, the sculptured rock relief known as Arjuna's Penance, temples carved from granite monoliths (Five Rathas), and numerous cave temples. Today the town is a resort and tourist centre. It contains a college offering instruction in architecture and temple sculpture. [Adapted from Encyclopedia Britannica]
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