The Shore Temple is part of what UNESCO calls the ‘Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram’, a World Heritage site since 1984. The temple is thought to date from the 8th century and some of the other monuments are even older.
As the photo at the top shows, there are two separate structures here: a large building with a 5-tiered pyramidal ‘shikhara’ (roof) and an adjoining smaller one with a 3-tiered shikhara. The latter apparently merely served as a – very grand – porch protecting the entrance to the other building, the actual temple.
Below are two close-ups, showing the intricate artwork covering the outside, especially along the elaborate roof construction.
A particularly famous part of the artwork is the bas-relief depicted below. It shows Shiva with his consort Parvati and their child.
Another famous artefact is the lion statue in the next photo. The square opening contains a small carving of Durga, also a key deity in the Hindu pantheon.
The complex includes a water tank with a miniature shrine at one end. This is thought to predate the temple itself.
The tsunami of 2004 briefly exposed the remains of other ancient structures along the coastline of Mahabalipuram, adding to speculation that there might be an element of truth in old legends claiming that at some point there were seven temples in this area. Subsequent archaeological explorations confirmed the existence of several underwater ruins, but their history and former function remains unclear.
