The Geographical Indication (GI) Registry has presented the Geographical Indication Tag status to Mamallapuram hand crafted stone sculptures of Tamil Nadu.
The exquisite rock-sculpting techniques exhibited in Mamallapuram dates back to early 7th century CE.
Mamallapuram was named after the king Narasimhavarma Pallava, who was also known as Mamallan (great wrestler).
Sculptors use blue metal for stone sculptors instead of granite which has high density and very costly.
Pallava dynasty
The Pallava dynasty, which ruled the area between 6 and 9th centuries A.D., is responsible for the development of port town as a centre of art and architecture.
Mahendravarman (AD 580-630), his son Narasimhavarman I or Mamalla (AD 630-668), Paramesvaravarman (A.D. 672-700) and Narasimhavarman II or Rajasimha (A.D. 700-728) had contributed the most of sculptures.
GI tags
Tamil Nadu is first among the states in India with regard to the number of GI tags for its products, while Uttar Pradesh comes second.
Darjeeling Tea was the first Indian product to get a Geographical Indication.
Tamil Nadu has submitted 50 products of which 24 have been approved by the registry and the most famous among these is the Kanchipuram silk.
It is notable that Dindigul Lockers has not yet got its GI so far.