Shore Temple

The Shore Temple stands on the Bay of Bengal at Mamallapuram and is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built of granite in the early 8th century during the reign of the Pallava king Narasimhavarman II, also called Rajasimha, and is among the earliest structural temples in South India. The complex has three shrines dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu; inscriptions say the Vishnu shrine came first, and the site is also known as Jalashayana, meaning lying in water.

The temple served both as a place of worship and as a landmark for ships. Legend holds that it was one of seven temples, the rest lost to the sea, and Marco Polo wrote of the Seven Pagodas in the 13th century. The 2004 tsunami briefly exposed submerged ruins and led to new excavations.