Mamallapuram or Mahabalipuram, is Kancheepuram district, about 58 kilometres south of Chennai. An ancient historic town and a bustling seaport in the 1st millennium CE, now a beachside tourism center with a group of Tamil monuments declared as UNESCO world heritage site, it is one of the most visited towns in South India.

Mamallapuram, another name of this place as known to mariners - at least since Marco Polo’s time. The enigmatic "Seven Pagodas" alluding to the Seven Pagodas of Mamallapuram that stood on the shore, of which one - the Shore Temple - survives. The rest of six must be resting somewhere off the coast.