Discover the ancient monument Shore Temple
As its name, the Shore Temple is an ancient temple that lies on the seashore overlooking the Bay of Bengal near Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The temple was built with blocks of granite dating back the 8th century and regared as one of the oldest structural (versus rock-cut) stone temples in South India. At the time of its construction, the site was a busy port during the reign of Narasimhavarman II of the Pallava dynasty. Even though the architectural style of sculpturing cut-in and cut-out structures continued during subsequent periods, the main part for the architectural elegance of the Shore Temple complex in the category of structural temples goes to the initiation of this king. There are also several other historic monuments including temples and shrines such as the Five Rathas and Arjuna’s Penance that could be included during the enjoyable visit to the Shore Temple. It has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984 as one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram.
