Mahabalipuram (Monumental Legacy) [Hardcover]

R Nagaswamy (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195693736 | ISBN-13: 978-0195693737 | Publication Date: April 21, 2008

MAHABALIPURAM became a world heritage site in 1984. This group of monuments (mostly sanctuaries), founded by the Pallava kings, is carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is known especially for its rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air reliefs such as the famos "Descent of the Ganges," and the temple of Rivage, with thousands of sculptures to the glory of Shiva.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

R. Nagaswamy served a Vice-Chancellor, Kanchipuram University and retired as Director, State Department of Archeology, Tamilnadu, Chennai.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195693736
• ISBN-13: 978-0195693737
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,843,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The pictures are not large, June 4, 2009

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WPL - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mahabalipuram (Monumental Legacy) (Hardcover)

I just received this book and these are my first impressions. I haven't read it yet, I have just glanced through it. I really got the book because I thought it would have a lot of good pictures in it. First (and importantly) this is physically a small book. It measures about 6"x9". So the pictures in it are also on the small side. Each chapter starts with a small black and white picture that is 1"x1.5" This is so small that even with a magnifying glass it really leaves me wanting to see a lot more detail. Then there are some bigger black and white pictures scattered through the book whose size is like 1/2 page or 1/3 page or so, but I can not get as much detail as I would wish for from these pictures. Then there are some color pictures, generally 2 to a page so they are not large (remember, the physical size of this book is small) and these pictures don't allow me to see as much fine detail as I would wish. I was really hoping that the pictures would be better so that I could see the finer details of the monuments. So I'm disappointed on that count, no doubt it's my fault for not reading more carefully about the book, but I didn't find any other selection on Amazon. Maybe the text of the book is good? So, those are my comments. If you want a book with good pictures of Mahabalipuram maybe you will be disappointed with this book.