History :

Pallava Dynasty was a pastoral tribe who ruled the southern parts of India for almost 500 years.
Pallava dynasty conquered the region of Thondaimandalam that was located at Pallavapuri, The Pallava rulers established their kingdom on the ruins of the eastern part of the kingdom of the Satvahanas.
They originally worked as officials under the Satvahana rulers, in the course of time they established themselves as local rulers.
Pallava dynasty Very rapidly their kingdom spanned parts of southern Andhra Pradesh and northern Tamil Nadu. Pallavas established their capital at Kanchi (modern Kanchipuram near Chennai), which gradually became popular and famous for its temples and as center of Vedic learning.
Pallavas territory extended from Northern Odissi to Tanjore and Trichi in far south.
They were great conquerors and left a huge impact in the field of art and architecture.
The Pallava Dynasty fought many wars with the Chalukyas (to the northwest) and the Pandyas (to the south).
Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang visited Kanchipuram during Pallava rule and extolled their benign rule.
About the middle of the 4th century A. D. there was a Pallava king of Kanchi, named Vishnugopa, who formed a coalition against Samudragupta but was defeated.

re-raise of pallavas

The Pallavas of Kanchi rose to power again towards the end of the sixth century AD. under their ruler Simhavishnu.
He was the real founder of the greatness of the Pallavas of Kanchi.
He defeated the rulers of Chera, Chola and Pandya states and also the king of Ceylon and extended his empire to far-south

Mahendravarman 600-625 AD

Son of Simhavishnu & succeeded Pallava kingdom post death of Simhavishnu
He was a great warrior and waged successful wars against the Chalukyas of Badami and ably defended his kingdom.
He was a great builder and built many rock-cut temples in honour of Shiva , Vishnu and Brahma.
He also built many tanks and reservoirs for irrigation

Narasimhavarman 625-645 AD

He was the greatest and most successful ruler of Pallava dynasty.
He fought successful wars against the Cheras, the Cholas and the ruler of Ceylon
He defeated the powerful king Pulakesin II of western Chalukyas .
He destroyed his capital in 642 A.D and broke the power of the Chalukyas.
He founded the new city of Mahabalipuram and adorned it with many rock-cut temples.

Pallava architecture

The Pallavas were instrumental in the transition from rock-cut architecture to stone temples.
The earliest examples of Pallava constructions are rock-cut temples dating from 610–690 and structural temples between 690–900.
A number of rock-cut cave temples bear the inscription of the Pallava king, Mahendravarman I and his successors
Among the accomplishments of the Pallava architecture are the rock-cut temples at Mahabalipuram.
There are excavated pillared halls and monolithic shrines known as Rathas in Mahabalipuram.
Early temples were mostly dedicated to Shiva.
The Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram and the Shore Temple built by Narasimhavarman II, rock cut temple in Mahendravadi by Mahendravarman are fine examples of the Pallava style temples.
The temple of Nalanda Gedige in Kandy, Sri Lanka is another. The famous Tondeswaram temple of Tenavarai and the ancient Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee were patronized and structurally developed by the Pallavas in the 7th century

Other reading

BODHIDHARMA

BODHIDHARMA: An Indian Monk who introduced Buddhism in China (Zhen Dan - Ancient Name of China)
In China #Bodhidharma was known as #Da_Mo or #Damo. Damo (pinyin) or Tamo (Wade-Giles) is the Chinese rendering of the Sanskrit name Bodhidharma -- the Indian Buddhist sage known as the founder of the Shaolin tradition of martial arts. He is known as Daruma Daishi in Japanese. He was the third son of a Tamil king of the #PallavaDynasty. Damo/Bodhidharma is known also as the first patriarch of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism -- as the sage who brought Buddhism from India to China.
He is believed to know #Kalari_Payattu very well, and he also had kudalini power to control minds and make miracles. Actually Kalari is an oldest and first martial art in this world which is generated by the great ancient man "Lord Parashurama - 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu". It is the mother of all martial arts in this world their is no other martial art like Kalari. Though the original Kalari_Payattu is lost but it is believed as per Hindu Purans/book - The Kalki Purana that Parashurama will be the martial guru of Sri Kalki, the 10th and final avatar of Lord Vishnu. It is he who instructs Kalki to perform a long penance to Shiva to receive celestial weaponry and end the epoch.
Some accounts state that he was from a Brahman family in southern India and possibly of royal lineage. However Broughton (1999:2) notes that Bodhidharma's royal pedigree implies that he was of the Kshatriya warrior caste. Mahajan (1972:705–707) argued that the Pallava dynasty was a Tamilian dynasty and Zvelebil (1987) proposed that Bodhidharma was born a prince of the Pallava dynasty in their capital of Kanchipuram[4] Scholars have concluded his place of birth to be Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, India.
Bodhidharma was very intelligent and was the favorite son of the king of a region that is now part of southern India. Bodhidharma trained with his master for many years. One day he asked his master, "Master, when you pass away, where should I go? What should I do?" His Master Pragnyadhara replied that he should go to Zhen Dan, which was the name for China at that time. Years later, Bodhidharma's master passed away and Bodhidharma prepared to leave for China.
Bodhidharma practised a unique form of yoga- zazen in Japanese, his own style- the ‘wall gazing’. He is referred to as the ‘wall gazing monk’. That may be a method of finding the truth behind a wall- the mind...This was definitely not meditation. Every monastery in China and Japan boast of a statue of Bodhi Dharma, but Indian history has no trace of him.
His death and fag end of his life is also shrouded in mystery. Legend says he was poisoned and died. He was buried, but a Chinese official named Shung Yun who knew him, saw him alive after three days heading towards India, barefoot, with a sandal in his hands. When enquired, Bodhi Dharma answered he was returning to India once for all and moved on. Only when the Chinese official returned home did he know that Dharma had been dead for three days. His tomb was immediately dug out and all they could find was a single sandal. His corpse was missing…History talks volumes of Jesus’ resurrection, but there is no hint of Dharma’s death and awakening. He simply vanished in thin air.