Thirukkadalmallai is traditionally enumerated as number 75 among the 108 Divya Desams — the sacred abodes of Sri Maha Vishnu sung by the Alvars.
Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram is fifty five kms, south of Madras on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It has today become a great tourist attraction because of the Dravidian style of art and architecture as seen from the archaelogical relics. Mahabalipuram was famous as a sea port even in the very early days. Some identified this port with Malange mentioned by the famous historian, Ptolemy of 140 A.D. The famous Sangam work in Tamil literature viz. Perumpanattruppadai gives a detailed description of the sea port in Thondai mandalam. It was called Pattinam. Many identify that port with Mahabalipuram. The archaeologists while conducting their diggings found coins belonging to various periods and also of other countries. This is an evidence that this port had commercial contacts with various foreign countries even in those early days. The famous Vaishnavite Saints, Bootath Alvar in Seventh century A.D. and Thirumangai Alvar in Eighth century A.D. also referred to this place. So also Sekkilar, the author of the famous Saivite work, Peria Puranam, Jayamkondar and Ottakoothar also mention Mamallai in their famous books, Kalingathuparani and Moovarula, respectively. Thus Mamallapuram is a very ancient historic city.
Mahabalipuram, then known as Kadalmallai, used to receive large ships laden with treasures and in turn used to export gems and elephants. One of the inscriptions relating to the reign of the king Rajaraja-I, the Chola king (Tenth century A.D.) states that Mahabalipuram was
156 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desam
a commercial port administered by an assembly of local merchants called Nagarathars and foreign merchants called Perilamayar. Many palatial buildings and huge temples are said to have existed in this place. It is believed that many of them are submerged under the sea. What is left today are the rock temples hewn by Pallava kings in the seventh century A.D. and in particular, Narasimhavarman-I who was also known as Mamallan or the Great Wrestler (630 to 668 A.D.). The city mled by Mamalla came to be known as Mamallapuram and slowly over a period of time got corrupted as Mahabalipuram. One of the inscriptions of the Chola king, Rajendra-I, found at Mahabalipuram, indicates that Mamallapuram was also known as Jananathapuram: Jananatha is another name,for Rajaraja-I. Many of the foreigners who visited the city in 14th Century A.D. refer to this city as the city of the seven pagodas, perhaps, referring to the seven temples to be seen in this area. We come across various varieties of early temple architecture in this one city, like the monoliths i.e. free standing temples cut out of solid rock (locally known as rathas or chariots), the cave temples excavated on the sides of the rock (called Mantapas), the bas reliefs, being sculptures on the edges of the hills and a masonry temple, a structural monument, today known as the ‘shore temple’.
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దివ్యదేశం: తిరుక్కడల్మల్లై (మహాబలిపురం). పూర్తి వివరణ త్వరలో.