Monuments at Mahabalipuram
Monuments at Mahabalipuram
Monuments at Mahabalipuram
4.5
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Monday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday
6:00 AM - 9:00 PM
About
Many interesting rock-cut temples and giant open-air reliefs from the 7th and 8th centuries.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.6
1,743 reviews
Excellent
1,148
Very good
495
Average
83
Poor
7
Terrible
10
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19Eric57
Uccle, Belgium2,838 contributions
Feb 2025 • Friends
We are on a Unesco site (reign of the Pallava in the 7th and 8th centuries). We started with the northern part of the Shore Temple. There we took our general ticket, enjoyed the views of the beach and the sea and then visited a first building. We returned to the city centre to admire the “Arjuna’s Penance”. It is a gigantic bas-relief, one of the largest outdoor sculptures in the world. You can see mythological scenes and thousands of figures sculpted in rock. We also took the opportunity to see the Krishna's Butter Ball. A fascinating natural phenomenon and a huge rock in balance. A little higher you will find the Gansha Ratha and the Varaha cave. A "mandapa" (a rock sanctuary) and a cave. Our tour of the city ended with the highlight of the site, the “Five Rathas” (“Pancha Rathas”). A set of monolithic temples, each carved from a single rock and representing a chariot with animals. An impressive ensemble.
Automatically translated
Written 26 February 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
James c
Oklahoma City, OK421 contributions
Mar 2024 • Solo
I went on tour of the monuments , arrived early but still hot, didn't take away from wanting to see all the monuments. I recommend a guide therefore you can be driven to all 5 sights. Shore temple, 5 ranthas, arjuna penance, beach and the 2 lighthouses. I enjoyed and was amazed by how these were built 1500 yrs ago by the Pallava dynasty and are still intact.
Written 26 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amalnath P
Emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates28 contributions
Jul 2024 • Family
Maintained well inside the campus of the monuments but the Parking area and the entrance is not managed well. Needs more attention by the authorities.
The Drive from the city to Mahabalipuram is quite far and could be tiring, Please plan for an early travel
The Drive from the city to Mahabalipuram is quite far and could be tiring, Please plan for an early travel
Written 28 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rocco
Rome, Italy5 contributions
Feb 2024 • Couples
Really worth a day out to visit all the historical places and caves.. But it's good to start in the morning they charge Rs. 600 for a foreign tourist and with that one ticket you can visit all the places and it's strange they charge only Rs. 40 for Indian.
Written 27 June 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Devendra G
India1,074 contributions
Sept 2024 • Friends
Mahabalipuram is a town at a drive of one and half hour from Chennai. The town has temple complexes in beautiful dravidian architecture. One can see, monolithic rock temples, rock cut cave temples, and other temples which are made in granite rock. One needs atleast 3 to 4 hours to explore the place completely. Must visit place if you are a history buff. However, it will be essential to have a very good guide alongwith you to explore the place.
Written 21 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KeKu
Pune, India404 contributions
Dec 2024 • Solo
Mahabalipuram has few UNESCO world heritage sites and being very near to Chennai makes it a good day trip to visit this place. There are mainly archeological sites. The Shore Temple is the most famous and oldest one. Also, other important sites are Panch Rathas and Arjuna's Penance.
Written 30 December 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sreelal Pillai
Thiruvananthapuram District, India150 contributions
Apr 2024 • Family
Wonderful rock caves and temples - many of single stone. Fantastic architectural skills of ancient Tamil dynasty. Fantastic skills in stone sculpture visible even today.
Written 13 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Fedor1981
Thimphu, Bhutan6 contributions
Jan 2025 • Family
The historic temples and other monuments are very interesting and we learnt a lot about early Buddhist architecture and imagery. Make sure not just to visit the Shore Temple, but also go on to the Five Rathas and the temples on top of the hill. We went here by Uber on a day trip from Madras.
Written 2 March 2025
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matthew McConnell
Wroclaw, Poland12 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
It was really nice to buy one ticket for all the monuments in the area - plus the price of the ticket was very reasonable, even for foreigners.
All of the monuments had some information about each of them. But maybe it would have been better with a guide as the information on them wasn't exhaustive.
You can get a ticket at either the Panchas Rathas, Butter Ball, or Shore Temple. Be prepared to walk a lot between each of the monuments - especially be prepared if it will be a hot day (maybe even consider short tuk tuk rides between them all).
There are also plenty of vendors around and in the areas of where the monuments are. I recommend buying some sodas like pineapple soda from them.
Oh and one more thing, there are also a ton of dragonflies flying around the monuments which was very cool and peaceful to watch.
All of the monuments had some information about each of them. But maybe it would have been better with a guide as the information on them wasn't exhaustive.
You can get a ticket at either the Panchas Rathas, Butter Ball, or Shore Temple. Be prepared to walk a lot between each of the monuments - especially be prepared if it will be a hot day (maybe even consider short tuk tuk rides between them all).
There are also plenty of vendors around and in the areas of where the monuments are. I recommend buying some sodas like pineapple soda from them.
Oh and one more thing, there are also a ton of dragonflies flying around the monuments which was very cool and peaceful to watch.
Written 30 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ria1104
Kolkata (Calcutta), India691 contributions
Dec 2023 • Couples
The monuments of Mahabalipuram are truly great examples of Pallava architecture. These monuments were actually curved out of single rocks and that also with ancient equipments. These monuments are located pretty close to one another and are basically walkable. Found many people parking their four wheelers around Pancha Rathas or Shore Temples and covering the other monuments by foot. One can get a single ticket for all the monuments at any of the counters and use it to visit all the monuments for that day.
Written 29 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I have also experienced the same (March 2023). Felt strange to pay fee to someone standing on the road to enter nothing! I wonder, is it a legitimate collection?
Written 27 March 2023
Pioneer50061945148
Bengaluru, India
Planning to travel to Mahabalipuram on 19th November...is it safe
Written 17 November 2021
Pioneer50061945148
Bengaluru, India
We has plans to travel to Mahabalipuram on 19th 20th and 21st respectively from Bangalore, Karnataka...is it safe to travel now ...how is the weather...
Written 17 November 2021
I have a train ticket to Rameshwaram from Chennai Egmore at 19:15. If I would like to visit Mahabalipuram temples from chennai on the same day then I would be able to catch the train at evening ???
Written 27 May 2018
Yes you can .... you can take bus from different place and visit that place......but need more information about that place....
Written 11 July 2018
Can anyone help about accommodation cost Minimum RS in or around Mahabalipuram..?
Cost of entry tkts.,
Do they have 01 tkt for all monuments...
Information for Indian traveler's.. thanks again
Written 30 November 2017
No. You may have to buy 2-3 tickets for different monuments. But at 1 spot there is a combo ticket- 5 rathas.
Yes in south India - Full dress for females- chudidar, slacks suits, saris skirts are required.
Perfect time is 8-9 am to 12 am ... so that its not hot and the sun is not at its peak.. many accomodations are there ranging from 1800 to 3500 rs
Written 7 December 2017
Hola viajó en enero 2018 voy a estar una noche y dos días visitando los templos yo quisiera saber si se visitan libremente en cualquier horario o si hay sectores con horario y si se paga una entrada general al recinto o cada sector es con costo aparte.
Written 8 October 2017
Hola Maria,
En Mahabalipuram hay 3 principales atractivos:
-El templo de la costa (Shore Temple)
-Panch Ratas
-un parque donde hay varias cuevas y el famoso alto relieve "La penitencia de Arjuna"
Para los 2 primeros se paga entrada. El mismo boleto que pagues en un lugar te sirve para entrar al otro.
El otro parque que igual vale mucho la pena es totalmente gratuito.
Como comentario, todo lo que visitas en Mahabalipuram son sitios arqueológicos y no templos que actualmente estén activos, por lo que NO necesitarás quitarte los zapatos en ningún lugar. A excepción del templo de la costa, ahí existe un pequeño cuarto donde la gente se quita los zapatos para meterse y tomarse la foto con un dios. Si por suerte no hubiera gente lo puedes ver desde afuera sin problema ( es un cuarto como de 1 metro por 1 metro)
Written 8 October 2017
No
Try and make it to the top of the lighthouse... obviously not a monument... view is excellent.
The small museum/display near the lighthouse make sure the interactive displays are working before payng
Written 10 August 2017
J'aiemrais connaitre le prix demandé en INR pour l'entrée du ShoreTemple
Merci
cserneels@telenet.be
Written 4 August 2017
L'entrée du Shore Temple est ₹500
Written 6 August 2017
What is the perfect time to reach Mahabalipuram? Is a day enough to see the places?
Written 11 January 2017
A day would be enough to see all the monuments and also relax for a while. Avoid visiting places there in the afternoon as it can be pretty hot. You can drive in the morning such that you reach by lunch time, get into a nice sea view hotel for lunch, visit the monuments, spend sometime on the beach and head back. Great place to spend evenings on the beach there.
Written 19 January 2017
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