This is the most famous structure at Mahabalipuram, but I think it is not the most interesting. I didn't go in on this visit largely because I didn't want to spend time there rather than elsewhere, and partly because it cost Rs250 or US$5 to get in! This is not a great sketch as it is distorted, but one advantage of sketching is you can leave things out. This is a wonderful view, except.... there is an enormous concrete post fence all around the site which looks absolutely awful. I left it out. Originally there was no seawall, the temple was literally on the beach. The base is carved from a bedrock outcrop, but the towers are all built from blocks of granite. There is a statue of Vishnu inside which is also carved from the bedrock and predates the temple itself. The temple is 1,200 years old...

This was drawn from the comfort of the Santana Beach Hotel restaurant. Toes in the sand, thatched roofs overhead, palms swaying in the breeze, cows wandering through and an open privy 10 yards away. This is India after all.