Explained: Going back 1,300 years, the story of Mahabalipuram’s China connection | Explained News, The Indian Express

Explained: Going back 1,300 years, the story of Mahabalipuram’s China connection | Explained News, The Indian Express

Written by Nirupama Subramanian |Mumbai |Updated: October 10, 2019 4:28:16 pm

Explained: Going back 1,300 years, the story of Mahabalipuram’s China connection

While the powerful symbolism of Mahabalipuram will likely not succeed in influencing China’s hard-nosed assertion over J&K and other issues with India, the remarkable historical significance of the venue bears underlining.

The Descent of the Ganga/Arjuna’s Penance in Mahabalipuram. (Bernard Gagnon via Wikipedia)

Mahabalipuram, or Mamallapuram, 56 km south of Chennai on the Tamil Nadu coast, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet China’s President Xi Jinping on October 11 & 12 in an informal Wuhan-style summit, had ancient links with Buddhism and China through the maritime outreach of the Pallava dynasty.