A monument of Pallava Period, an 8th-century shrine dedicated to the tiger-loving goddess Durga. Durga can be considered as India's Mother Nature, for she is a deification of Energy. The Tiger Cave was used by the local kings and priesthood to put on shows and make political statements.
You find this calm serene place near by the sea at 5 km from Mamallapuram on the road to Chennai.
I suppose the 3 feet bassin in front will be used by local children to get a swim when it is ful of water during rain season.
The Pallava architecture is characterized by the use of lions. As there are three important Pallavas period you can be distinguished them by the sitting, standing and jumping lion mostly used as an ornament to the base of pillars. So most probably this cave is built during the Pallava III period as you could see a jumping lion at the pillars of the mandapam.
I went there by sunset to get that red coloring shine of this carved rock.

Behind the cave is the old lighthouse rock, where before the Shiva lighthouse was built in nearby Mamallapuram the locals used to climb to the top and light a fire to guide the fishermen and trade boats (Mamallapuram was an important Pallava port and the Shore Temple there has been used as a template for temples all over Tamil Nadu).

The lighthouse rock was also used in the olden times for competition for a bride. The guide (who we paid thirty rupees because we were his only business that day) was telling us that they used to coat the rock in milk, honey and oil and then the first man to climb to the top would get the girl. All very caveman, but an impressive feat. I calculated my chances of climbing up it dry at only about fifty percent!



Nikon Coolpix 5700 1/960 sec F/4