Pancha Rathas, Hindu temple complex in Mahabalipuram, India.
Pancha Rathas is a group of five freestanding structures in the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, each carved from a single granite block and reaching up to six meters high. Each temple displays a different form, ranging from a simple square plan to an octagonal layout with stepped roofs and decorated pillars.
The temples were created in the seventh century under the rulers of the Pallava dynasty, who controlled this region and commissioned many stone monuments. Craftsmen began the work but never finished the surfaces or interiors, so today the site appears as a building yard from ancient times.
The five temples bear names from the great epic Mahabharata and each shows a different form that recalls a chariot or a wooden roof. Visitors walk among the stone replicas and notice carvings of gods and animals that people once honored in this region in such a way.
The site sits on a flat sandy area where all five structures stand side by side and can be explored in a single walk. Visitors should wear sturdy footwear as the ground is uneven and sandy, and early morning hours are better because of lower temperatures.
The temples were never consecrated or used for religious ceremonies, but remained models or trial buildings for new temple patterns. These unfinished designs give insight into the experiments of stonemasons who tested different roofs and column shapes here before applying them elsewhere.
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