How Mamallapuram came to be top foreign tourist destination in 2021-22

Temple town that hosted Chess Olympiad pipped Taj Mahal to No 1 spot

Until he read Indien: Der Süden (India: The South) in July this year, Andreas Stieger from Switzerland hadn’t even heard of Mamallapuram (or Mahabalipuram). For him, a trip to India as a tourist meant visiting the Taj Mahal.

The travel guide written in German, he says, opened his eyes to the other wonders of India. “Since I was on a solo trip, I decided to go to a lesser-known destination, and headed down South. The book marked it (Mamallapuram) as the most important destination in South India,” he says pointing to the guide that he’s carrying with him on his excursion