Pancha Rathas

The Pancha Rathas in Mamallapuram are five rock-cut shrines in the Pallava style. Each takes its name from a Pandava brother of the Mahabharata or from Draupadi, the wife they shared: Dharmaraja, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula Sahadeva and Draupadi Ratha. They look like South Indian temples, and some even contain a shrine, yet they were never consecrated, and no one knows why.

Each ratha has a different form. The Dharmaraja Ratha is the tallest and carries many sculptures of gods and notable figures. Faces looking out of round windows on the Bhima Ratha echo the chaitya window of Buddhist buildings. The Nakula Sahadeva Ratha was left unfinished and empty, with a life-size stone elephant beside it. Carvings of Shiva, Vishnu and Durga appear across the group.