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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox Hindu temple
| name = Panchapandava Cave Temple
| image = Pandava Cave Temple, Mahabalipuram.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Pandava Cave Temple, 1860
| map_type = Tamil Nadu
| map_caption =
| coordinates = {{coord|12.6167|80.1917|type:landmark|display=inline}}
| native_name = Pancha Pandava Temples<br />Mandapa of the Five Pavadas
| country = India
| state = [[Tamil Nadu]]
| district = [[Kanchipuram district]]
| location = [[Mahabalipuram]]
| elevation_m =
| deity =
| primary_deity_Godess =
| utsava_deity_God =
| utsava_deity_Godess=
| Direction_posture =
| Pushakarani =
| Vimanam =
| festivals=
| architecture = [[Dravidian Architecture]]
| temple_quantity = 5
| monument_quantity=
| inscriptions = UNESCO Inscription as a World Heritage Site in 1984 titled [[Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram]]<ref name="UNESCO 1"/>
| year_completed = {{circa}} 7th-century
| creator = [[Narasimhavarman I]] [[Mamalla]] of [[Pallava Dynasty]]
| website =
}}

'''Panchapandava Cave Temple''' (also known as '''Pancha Pandava Temples''' and '''Mandapa of the Five Pandavas''') is a monument at [[Mahabalipuram]], on the [[Coromandel Coast]] of the [[Bay of Bengal]], in the [[Kancheepuram district]] of the state of [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]]. The [[mandapa]] (rock sanctuary) is part of the [[Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram]].<ref name="UNESCO 1">{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/249 |title=Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram |publisher=[[World Heritage Convention]] |accessdate=24 February 2013 }}</ref> It is the largest cave temple in Mahabalipuram.{{citation needed|date=January 2015}} It is an example of [[Indian rock-cut architecture]] dating from the late 7th century. The temple is one of the finest testimonial to the ancient [[Vishwakarma]] [[Hindu temple architecture|Sthapathi]]s, of rock-cut cave architecture, out of many such caves also called [[mandapa]]s. Part of the [[Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram]], the temple is a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] as inscribed in 1984 under criteria i, ii, iii and iv.<ref name="UNESCO report">{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/249.pdf|title=UNESCO Site 249 – Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram|publisher=[[UNESCO World Heritage Site]]|date=1983-10-15|accessdate=2009-05-18}}</ref>

==Geography==
{{Main|Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram}}
The Panchapandava Mandapa or Pancha Pandava Cave Temple, is near the open-air [[bas-relief]] of [[Arjuna]]’s Penance, in Mahablaipuram town.<ref name=Panch>{{Cite web|url= http://puratattva.in/2010/08/04/mahabalipuram-the-workshop-of-pallavas-part-ii-44.html|title= Mahabalipuram – The Workshop of Pallavas – Part II|work= Pancha-Pandava Mandapa|accessdate= 23 February 2013|publisher= Puratattva.in|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120421061449/http://puratattva.in/2010/08/04/mahabalipuram-the-workshop-of-pallavas-part-ii-44.html|archive-date= 21 April 2012|url-status= dead}}</ref> It is situated on the top of a hill range along with other caves in Mahabalipuram, on the [[Coromandel Coast]] of the [[Bay of Bengal]] of the [[Indian Ocean]]. Now in the [[Kanchipuram district]], it is approximately {{convert|58|km}} from Chennai city (previously, Madras) and about {{convert|20|miles}} from [[Chengelpet]].<ref name="Ayyar1982">{{cite book|first=P. V. Jagadisa |last=Ayyar|title=South Indian Shrines: Illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLSGFW1uZboC&pg=PA157|accessdate=7 February 2013|year=1982|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0151-2|pages=157–}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:General view of the entrance to the Pancha Pandava Mandapa, Mahabalipuram.jpg|thumbnail|left|General view of the entrance to the Panchapandava Cave Temple, 1885]]
The columns of the verandah, which have lion bases are a typical style of Pallava architecture. From the architectural features carved in the cave it is conjectured that this style could be assigned to Narasimhavarman I (Mamalla period) to Narasimhavarman II (Rajasimha) during the mid-7th century.<ref name=Panch/><ref name=Brit>{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/g/019pho000001003u02211000.html|title=General view of the entrance to the Pancha Pandava Mandapa, Mahabalipuram|publisher=British Library|accessdate=25 February 2013|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305101625/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/photocoll/g/019pho000001003u02211000.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Layout==
[[File:Pandava Cave Temple, Mahabalipuram.jpg|right|thumb|Another view of the Pancha Pandava Cave Temple]]
The cave temple is unfinished. The entrance is east facing. The temple has the longest cavern, {{convert|50|ft}} long, among [[Mahabalipuram Cave Temples]]. The length of the opening is indicative of creating a [[Circumambulation|circumambulatory]] passage within the cave to go round the main shrine.<ref name=Panch/>

==Architecture==
The entrance to the cave has columns resting on seated lions, which is a typical Pallava style of rock-cut architecture.<ref name=Brit/>
There are six lion based pillars on the front façade of the cave, apart from two pilasters at both ends abutting the rock. As compared to other caves there is an improvement in the layout and the architectural elements that have been carved in the cave. One is the circumambulatory passage around regular structural temples in [[South India]] and the other feature is provision of brackets with lion [[caryatids]] over the pillars forming the facade; each caryatid consists of three lions one facing to the front and the other two facing to the sides without a lion on the backside.<ref name=Panch/> The brackets above the capitals of the pillars have decorations of [[griffins]] with human riders also, in addition to the lions. The pillars and [[pilasters]] with ''[[Yyala]]'' base of the pillars and Pilasters are cut out over a square ''[[pitha]]'' bass plate.<ref name=Pandavacave>{{Cite web|url=http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_mahabalipuram_caves.asp|title=World Heritage Sites – Mahabalipuram – Cave Temples|work=Pandava Caves|accessdate=25 February 2013|publisher=Archaeological Survey of India|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312100855/http://www.asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_mahabalipuram_caves.asp|archive-date=12 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Within the cave, there is long chamber with a second row of four pillars and two pilasters. To the back of this second veranda there is small chamber cut in an octagonal shape flanked by two niches; it is inferred from this that the intended purpose was to carve this chamber to a square plan and making a passage behind it for circumambulation. Only a small chamber has been carved at the centre, which has remained attached to the main rock. At the entrance, the curved [[cornice]] has a series of shrines with the four central shrines projecting out. The vaulted roofs of the shrines are carved with ''[[gavaksha|kudu]]'' horseshoe-arch [[dormer]]-like projections and each shrine houses another smaller shrine. The niche below the ''kudu'' has a carved deity. Ferocious looking lions are also carved.<ref name=Panch/>

==References==
{{Commons category|Panchapandava Cave Temple}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram}}
{{Portal bar|India|Hinduism|Religion|Architecture}}

[[Category:Hindu temples in Mahabalipuram]]
[[Category:Hindu cave temples in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian architectural history]]
[[Category:Historic sites in Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:7th-century establishments in India]]
[[Category:7th-century Hindu temples]]
[[Category:Dravidian architecture]]
[[Category:Pallava architecture]]

Panchapandava Cave Temple - Revision history

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