A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c13.s5.t1.6

c13.s5.t1.6

During the seventh century the kings of the mysterious Pallava dynasty of Kānchī (Conjeeveram) succeeded in making themselves the dominant power in Southern India, overshadowing the ancient Chola, Chera, and Pāndya dynasties of the Tamil region, and, for a time, obscuring the glory of the powerful Chalukya sovereigns of the Deccan. The Pallava king named Mahendra-varman I (*cir.* 600-625 A.D.), a great builder, is responsible for many rock-cut temples in the North Arcot, South Arcot, Chingleput, and Trichinopoly Districts. The earliest *rathas*, or monolithic shrines, at Māmallapuram, or the Seven Pagodas, also probably should be ascribed to his reign. His son, Narasimha-varman I, surnamed Mahāmalla, the most mighty prince of his line, gave his name to Māmallapuram, and constructed, or rather caused to be excavated, some of the *rathas* at that place. The family taste for architecture survived in the descendants of Narasimha-varman, the so-called ‘Shore Temple’ at Māmallapuram and the early structural temples at Kānchī being ascribed partly to his great-grandson, Rājasimha, and partly to Rājasimha’s sons (*ante*, p. 36).