- The hand-crafted stone sculptures of Mamallapuram have been recently granted the Geographical Indications (GI) tag.
- The exquisite rock-sculpting techniques exhibited in Mamallapuram date back to early 7th century CE.
- The Pallava dynasty, which ruled the area between 6 and 9th centuries A.D., is responsible for the development of port town as a centre of art and architecture.
- Mahendravarman (AD 580-630), his son Narasimhavarman I Mamalla (AD 630-668), Paramesvaravarman (A.D. 672-700) and Narasimhavarman II Rajasimha (A.D. 700-728) had contributed the most of sculptures.
- Mamallapuram was named after the king Narasimhavarma Pallava, who was also known as Mamallan (great wrestler).
- Sculptors use blue metal for stone sculptors instead of granite which has high density and very costly.
GI tags
- Tamil Nadu is first among the states in India with regard to the number of GI tags for its products, while Uttar Pradesh comes second.
- Darjeeling Tea was the first Indian product to get a Geographic Indication in the early 2000s.
- Tamil Nadu has submitted 50 products of which 24 have been approved by the registry.
- The most famous among these is the Kanchipuram silk.
- Coimbatore wet grinder, artisans of Vadasery in Nagercoil who make dazzling jewellery of a unique kind for temples, Tanjavur Dancing Doll are some of the products that have obtained the GI certificate.
