This compact 10-by-10-inch square panorama documents the Shore Temple at Mamallapuram—a UNESCO World Heritage Site representing the earliest significant example of stone temple construction in South India. The unique square format, unprecedented within Hayashi’s predominantly rectangular oeuvre, suggests intimate study of a monument whose modest scale belies its art historical importance.

Created in 2002, the work documents a seventh-century Pallava dynasty temple whose survival against Bay of Bengal’s erosive forces represents remarkable preservation. The Shore Temple stands directly on the coast, salt spray and monsoon waves attacking its granite structure for over 1,300 years. Recent conservation efforts including protective sea walls have stabilized the monument, but weathering has softened carved details to near-abstraction, the original sculptural programs now visible only as shadows of former clarity.

The temple’s art historical significance lies in its transitional position: built when South Indian temple architecture was shifting from rock-cut cave excavation toward freestanding structural construction. The Pallavas, who created the extraordinary Mamallapuram sculptural complex including the famous “Descent of the Ganges” rock carving, here pioneered techniques later Chola and Pandya dynasties would elaborate into the towering gopurams dominating Tamil temple cities.

The square format suggests balanced composition suited to the temple’s compact architectural massing—twin shikhara towers (one now heavily weathered) flanking a central shrine, the ensemble creating sculptural unity appropriate to square framing. This intimate scale contrasts with the monumentality of later Tamil temples, documenting architectural origins before South Indian temple architecture achieved overwhelming size.

The Shore Temple’s coastal location adds romantic dimension: waves breaking against rocks where the temple stands, sunrise illuminating granite, the Bay of Bengal providing backdrop that no inland temple can claim.