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Bhima Ratha

Chengalpattu district, IN

Bhima Ratha

Bhima Ratha is a monument in the Pancha Rathas complex at Mahabalipuram, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, in the Kancheepuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is an example of monolith Indian rock-cut architecture. Dating from the late 7th century, it is attributed to the

reign of King Mahendravarman I and his son Narasimhavarman I (630–680 AD; also called Mamalla, or "great warrior") of the Pallava Kingdom. The entire complex is under the auspices of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and is one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. It is built in a form which resembles a folk-house with sloping roofs with its sides forming a curved gablelike arch over a rectangular room with a veranda. It is likely, due to the advanced design of the Mamallapuram shrines, that temple building had previously undergone a substantial process of development, and that the shrines mark a rapid transition from the earlier wooden temples to later structural monuments in stone it is carved out of a single, long stone of granite. Though sometimes mistakenly referred to as a temple, the structure was not consecrated...

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