The Mahishasuramardini Cave Temple is cut into the hillside above the main Mahabalipuram complex, up a path past Krishna's Butterball. The cave itself is a modest mandapa with three chambers, but its two principal relief panels rank among the most important Pallava sculptures in existence.
One wall shows Durga on her lion mount, charging a demon army; the dynamism of the carving — weapons, figures, animals in violent motion — is extraordinary for stone. The other wall shows Vishnu in cosmic sleep, calm and immense. The contrast between the two panels — action and repose, war and rest — appears deliberate. The cave is open daily and can be combined with the Olakkannesvara Temple on the hill directly above it.