Bhima Ratha

Bhima Ratha
Bhima Ratha
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Kancheepuram district
Deity	Shiva
Location
Location	Mahabalipuram
State	Tamil Nadu,
Country	India
Architecture
Completed	c. 650[1] Common era[2]

Bhima Ratha is a monument in the Pancha Rathas complex at Mahabalipuram, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal, in the Kancheepuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is an example of monolith Indian rock-cut architecture. Dating from the late 7th century, it is attributed to the reign of King Mahendravarman I and his son Narasimhavarman I (630–680 AD; also called Mamalla, or "great warrior") of the Pallava Kingdom. The entire complex is under the auspices of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), and is one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984.^[3]

It is built in a form which resembles a folk-house with sloping roofs with its sides forming a curved gablelike arch over a rectangular room with a veranda.^[4][5] It is likely, due to the advanced design of the Mamallapuram shrines, that temple building had previously undergone a substantial process of development, and that the shrines mark a rapid transition from the earlier wooden temples to later structural monuments in stone it is carved out of a single, long stone of granite.^[3][6][7] Though sometimes mistakenly referred to as a temple, the structure was not consecrated because it was not completed^[8] following the death of Narasimhavarman I.^[6][7][9] The structure is named after one of the Pancha Pandavas, of epic Mahabharata fame,^[3][7][10] though the nomenclature is not supported by its iconography. It is dedicated to Vishnu.^{[citation needed]}