Mamallapuram, India

Scattered around the base of a colossal mound of boulders, the small seaside town of MAMALLAPURAM (aka Mahabalipuram) is 58km south of Chennai. From dawn till dusk, the rhythms of chisels chipping granite resound down its sandy lanes – evidence of a stone-carving tradition that has endured since this was a major Pallava port, between the fifth and ninth centuries. Little is known about life in the ancient city, or the purpose of the boulder sculpture, which includes one of India's most photographed monuments, the Shore Temple, but it appears that the friezes and shrines were made not for worship, but as a showcase for the talents of local artists.

Mamallapuram's monuments divide into four categories: open-air bas-reliefs, structured temples, man-made caves and rathas ("chariots" carved in situ from single boulders to resemble temples or the chariots used in temple processions). The famous bas-reliefs, Arjuna's Penance and the Krishna Mandapa, adorn massive rocks near the centre of the village, while the beautiful Shore Temple presides over the beach. Sixteen man-made caves and monolithic structures, in different stages of completion, are scattered through the area, but the most complete of the nine rathas are in a group, named after the five Pandava brothers of the Mahabharata.

Given the coexistence of so many stunning archeological remains with a long white-sand beach, it was inevitable this would become a major destination for Western travellers. Since the 1980s, Mamallapuram has certainly oriented its economy to the needs of tourists, with the inevitable presence of Kashmiri emporia, bus-loads of city dwellers at the weekends, massage-wallahs and hawkers on the beach, burgeoning budget hotels and little fish restaurants. The Shore Temple is now sadly a shadow of the exotic spectacle it used to be when the waves lapped its base, though the atmosphere generated by the stone-carvers' workshops and ancient rock-art backdrop is unique in India. The town recovered quickly after being hit hard by the 2004 tsunami, and is now as busy as ever.