The Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram are located on the hillock of town, overlooking the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal in Kanchipuram District in Tamil Nadu, India. Also called mandapas or rock-cut caves, they are sanctuaries or temples covered with bas-reliefs. The earliest period of use of these caves as sanctuaries is traced to Buddhist and Jain periods. They were excavated on rock faces which were cut and then carved using chisel and iron mallet. Of the eleven mandapas or caves seen in Mahabalipuram, the most notable are the Varaha Cave Temple, Krishna Cave Temple, Panchapandava Cave Temple, and the Mahishasuramardini mandapa. They are cut and decorated with panels in the Mamalla style of the Pallava period in the 7th century. They are differentiated from the Adiranchanda cave tem