Hotel Daphne

Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)


Non-AC rooms are perfectly acceptable and clean if nothing fancy, but the Daphne's seven air-con rooms are great value (especially top-floor rooms 13 and 14), most with four-poster beds, balconies and cane swing-chairs. The shaded, immaculate, fairy-lit courtyard, cordial staff and free wi-fi are other drawcards. Singles may get discounts if it's slow.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) attractions

1. Shore Temple

0.24 MILES

Standing like a magnificent fist of rock-cut elegance overlooking the sea, surrounded by gardens and ruined courts, the two-towered Shore Temple…

3. Ganesh Ratha

0.26 MILES

Decorated with lion-shaped pillar bases, the Ganesh Ratha is carved from a single rock and was originally a Shiva shrine.

4. Arjuna’s Penance

0.27 MILES

The crowning masterpiece of Mamallapuram’s stonework, this giant relief carving is one of India's greatest ancient artworks. Inscribed on two huge,…

5. Trimurti Cave Temple

0.27 MILES

At the northern end of the Mamallapuram Hill compound, the Trimurti Cave Temple depicts the Hindu 'trinity' amid guardian figures: Brahma (left), Shiva …

7. Krishna's Butterball

0.28 MILES

You can't miss this enormous boulder (and favourite photo spot), balancing precariously on Mamallapuram Hill, right opposite the compound's northernmost…

8. Varaha Mandapa

0.29 MILES

Home to some of Mamallapuram's most brilliant carvings, the Varaha Mandapa depicts Vishnu's boar avatar, Varaha, lifting the earth out of the oceans (left…