The three warriors decided to stay in a royal guest house in Maamallapuram. After dinner, Malayamaan went to a cultural program that he heard was happening in the town. Parthibendran and Karikalan went to the terrace. Karikalan was looking at the beautiful night view of the city.
After hearing what his grandfather had to say, Aditya Karikalan stood rooted to the spot. He could not think straight. Parthibendran also stood staring into nowhere. The waves seemed to suddenly become silent.
On the shore, there was a bund of loosely piled granite rocks to keep back the sea. The famed sculptors of Maamallapuram had not left out any of these rocks behind. Each rock had sculptures on them. Aditya Karikalan and Malayamaan walked to two flat rocks, which almost looked like thrones. Parthibendran stood a little afar. Waves crashed on the rocks and sprayed sea water on them.
We wish to take the reader to Maamallapuram. This port town was built by Mahendra Pallavan and Maamalla Narasimhar. Three hundred years later, the town was not the model city that the founders had planned it to be. The market places and the streets were empty.