Mahabalipuram
Country: India
Region: Asia-Pacific
State: Tamil Nadu
District: Kancheepuram
Type: Caltural
Mahabalipuram,
derived from 'Mamallapuram' is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian
state of Tamil Nadu. It has an average elevation of 12 metres (39 feet).
Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of
the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of
Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given
after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla
(great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling. It has
various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries,
and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.