Trimurti Cave, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India
The Trimurti Cave Temple dated to the early 8th century is dedicated to the Hindu trinity Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh.
Trimurti Cave Temple along with other monuments at Mahabalipuram - is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. How to reach Mahabalipuram or Mammallapuram?
The Mamallapuram cave temples though incomplete still seem to elaborately impart know-how on how the cave monuments were excavated and built in 7th-century India.
Sections of the caves - pin point that artisans worked with sthalapatis or architects to chalk off the colonnade or pillars - to create rough-hewn jutting protuberances with exact specifications by cutting deep grooves into the rock. Excess of the the hanging rocks was removed and the process repeated. Once excavated other artisans polished the rocks and carved designs, motifs, friezes and Hindu iconography.
This process of creating rock-cut cave temples have greatly influenced the later structural Hindu temples.
