The Secret of the Seven Pagodas

Mahabalipuram is a town in Tamil Nadu and part of the Chengalpattu District; it is located on the coast of Coromandel, which is a part of the Bay of Bengal. The town of Mahabalipuram is also called Mamallapuram. It has been nicknamed the Seven Pagodas because the legend surrounding the town of Mahabalipuram is that there used to be six more temples standing on the shore of the beach of Mahabalipuram alongside the one ancient temple of the shore.

Mahabalipuram:

Mahabalipuram used to be part of the Pallava Kingdom. The town was given its name after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I; the ancient temples, seven pagodas temples built by Pallava Kings in the eighth century and during the rule of another Pallava king, Narsimhavarman II. The ancient name for the town of Mahabalipuram is Thirukadalmallai. The legend surrounding the town of Mahabalipuram is famous among almost the whole country, especially among the people of Tamil Nadu. The legend is as follows: 

Prahalad was a devotee of Lord Vishnu, but his father refused to worship Lord Vishnu which disheartened Prahalad very much, he kept trying to invoke his father’s faith in Lord Vishnu, but his father was not to be moved. Once after a dispute between Hiranyakashyap and his son, Prahalad, the king exiled his son but later let him come back. Again, another dispute ensued, and Prahalad said that Lord Vishnu resides everywhere, even on every wall of their house; upon hearing this, the king kicked a pillar out of anger, and as a result, Lord Vishnu emerged from the pillar with a Lion’s head and killed the king. Prahalad was made king, and he prospered. He later had a grandson named Bali; Bali found the town of Mahabalipuram, hence the name of the town came to be known as Mahabalipuram.

The Folklore of Lost Temples:

The local legend of the town of Mahabalipuram believes that Lord Indra was jealous of the majestic town which was full of beauty and out of his envy, he drowned the town of Mahabalipuram; as a result, the six temples that once shone brightly on the shores of the town were destroyed and submerged in the ocean and only one temple remained. Currently, there is only one temple that is still standing on the shore of the sea in the town of Mahabalipuram. There have been a lot of talks about the seven magnificent temples on the shores of Mahabalipuram, but there was no evidence for it. The existence of the temples was a mystery. The first European traveller to mention the Seven Pagodas of Mahabalipuram was John Goldingham.

The Truth Uncovered Because of the Tsunami of 2004:

In 2004, a tsunami struck the town of Mahabalipuram and destroyed much of the town that stands today but the good thing that came out of the tsunami was that before the deadly waves unleashed its monstrosity on the town, the ocean was pulled back to reveal the remains of once glorified lost temples of Mahabalipuram; the remains of the temple were found to be around five hundred to seven hundred metres away from the shores. The evidence of the remains of the walls and the layout they saw on the ground of the sea suggested that there were once six other temples that stood on the shores of Mahabalipuram.

Note:

The Seven Pagodas of Mahabalipuram were once the majestic landmark that stood tall on the town’s beaches; the Seven Pagodas temple was built by the Pallava kingdom’s kings Narasimhavarman I and II. The name Seven Pagodas of Mahabalipuram was given by the European travellers to the site. They travelled to south India in ancient times and experienced the majesty of the architecture of all seven pagodas of the town. That is why the town of Mahabalipuram has been called the Seven Pagodas. The locals of the town always believed in the existence of the temples submerged in the sea, but since there was no evidence of it until the tragedy of 2004, it was thought to be just an anecdote among the locals. Some possible explanations for the pagodas no longer existing above the surface might be other calamities that could’ve hit the coast, and the earthquake and tsunamis could be the culprit.