Rajasimhavarman

(8th c.) Ruler in the Pallava dynasty
who, like his predecessors, was a great
patron of the arts. His reign saw the construction of the last of the magnificent
shore temples built on the Bay of
Bengal, at Mahabalipuram in Tamil
Nadu. The temple’s major deity was the
god Shiva, but a smaller shrine also held
an image of the god Vishnu. Although
these temples have been weathered by
time and the elements, they remain
some of the most visited sites in southern India.