Krishna Mandapam is a rock-cut cave temple in the main Mahabalipuram complex, best known for a single large panel depicting Krishna lifting Mount Govardhan above his head to shelter cowherds and their cattle from Indra's storms. The panel shows the god supporting the mountain effortlessly on one finger while villagers crowd beneath it, their faces upturned in wonder.
The relief is notable for its depictions of everyday rural life: milkmaids, cows being milked, a calf feeding, a man blowing a flute. These naturalistic details give the scene an intimacy missing from most temple sculpture. The cave has an unfinished quality — some pillars are roughly worked, others complete — that suggests work was interrupted before the Pallava period ended.