Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram

On the Coromandel coast, the Pallava kings had sanctuaries carved from living rock in the 7th and 8th centuries. Mahabalipuram is celebrated for its rathas — temples shaped like processional chariots — its cave shrines, the shore temple with thousands of sculptures glorifying Shiva, and the giant open-air relief known as the Descent of the Ganges. The group was inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage in 1984.