Mamallapuram, Jan08

This is the first in a series of photo journals I will produce featuring photos from the 14-day 'south India' tour I joined in Jan/Feb 2008. The Imaginative Traveller tour began & ended in Chennai (Madras). The tour itinerary, including a route map, can be found here: http://www.trekescapes.com/trip-details.cfm?TripID=9690

This first journal features our first stop at Mamallapuram where we spent 2 nights. This small seaside village, (aka Mahabalipuram), is just 60kms south of Chennai in the state of Tamil Nadu. Once a ... (more)

Map of India
The square box at the south end of this India map shows where I was...

Tourist map of "south" India
Our tour started in Chennai (Madras) & continued south & clockwise...

Mamallapuram - the beach
in front of our hotel. We stayed here for 2 nights instead of staying in...

Beach view from the Shore Temple
The Shore Temple is the primary attraction here. We could see the temple from...

Sea Breeze Resort - our seafront hotel
The rooms on the upper level, where I was, had these lovely decks. I was not...

The nice pool at the hotel

The attractive hotel next door

A series of sculpted rock caves (rc)
& boulders covered with bas-reliefs line this entire granite hill.

rc2 - The new lighthouse

Krishna ‘mandapa’
(pillared entrance hall) to the 'Varaha Cave Temple' (aka...

Arjuna's Penance (ap)
next door on the right, is one of the most beautifully carved structures at...

ap2 - This giant bas-relief
on two huge boulders has a large fissure between them that the carvers...

ap3 - over 100 figures
The carved structure has over 100 figures of gods, goddesses, mythical...

ap4 - continued

Krishna's Butterball
Note the size of the boulder compared to the goat lying in its shade.

Another precarious boulder
with goats in the shade. Since Hindus don't eat beef, there are a lot of...

Ganesha Ratham (gr)
one of 8 'rathams' here, is in the rock caves area.

gr2 - closeup

Shore Temple (st)
is a UNESCO world heritage site & the main attraction here. Although not...

st2 - Constructed between 695 & 722,
it is also one of the oldest temples in South India. Carved from a...

st3 - Two of the 3 shrines,
both dedicated to Siva, are back to back, one facing east & the...

Pancha Pandava Rathas (ppr)
There are 8 rathas in Mamallapuram. [“Rathas” are monolithic...

ppr2 - Note that the temple group
is complemented by some enormous stone animals. [Most of these people in this...

ppr3 - These monolithic temples
are regarded as the transition point between the earlier rock-cut cave...

White temple 'gopura' (wt)
can be seen behind the village bus stop. Note the auto rickshaws on the left...

wt2 - An attractive 'gopura'
(an elaborate Hindu temple entrance tower). They are usually well...

wt3 - closeup

Village street scenes:
The street outside our hotel gate. There was a great French restaurant on the...

Another street scene

Sitting in the shade

The local banana-wallah
"Wallah" is a popular Indian word usually used to denote...

Tsunami rehab program office
The devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami in the Indian Ocean that killed more...

Orphanage

One of the better buses

These are more typical
of Indian buses.

Bus load of friendly school girls
in town to visit the temples. Most of these girls are wearing the popular...

Carver's workshop (cw)
Mamallapurem is famous for its sculptors & there is a Sculpture Museum in...

cw2 - another one
Note the interior of the auto rickshaw.

A rock-carving 'factory'
I saw many children working there. I think some entire families live...

Factory from a distance
with the new lighthouse in the background. I think that's the old...

Lots of 'pilgrims' in town to visit
the temple complex. Note that these older ladies are wearing saris.

article published 4/5/2008

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Welcome back!
As always, you've shown us the fascinating human and divine scenes and locales that visitors often miss, and you've given just enough background to hold our interest without overwhelming the casual reader. I'm looking forward to the rest of your articles over the coming months.
— Fred Perry, April 7, 2008

Yes Ben.....
Many of the Indians who migrated to Malaysia or Singapore in the early days to work on plantations came from Tamil Nadu, hence the same temple styles ;o) White ones or uni-color ones are rare. They most often look like multi-tiered, pastel-colored wedding cakes ;o)
— Lorraine Brecht, April 6, 2008

Thanks Rainy for a great article
I look forward to more of the photos from Southern India! The temple entrance tower (photos #22 and 23) are more like the ones I have seen in Singapore and Malaysia, except for the colours.
— Ben Hsu, April 6, 2008

Fabulous!!
Thanks for sharing, Rainy. I found the relief carvings extremely fascinating and paused a number of the slides to have a better look.
— Beth Warkentin, April 5, 2008

Excellent Pictures
Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram as it is called now, is one of my most favorite tourist spots in India. I have been there three times. Would definitely go there again when I go to Chennai next time. But did I miss the picture of the Shore Temple? That is a beauty, and if its picture is taken from the correct position showing a bit of the Bay of Bengal, it looks even better in the picture. (India has a commemorative postage stamp showing the Shore Temple of Mamallapuram.) Thanks for sharing your superb pictures. I shall look forward for more. Take care.
— Shoban Sen, April 5, 2008

Welcome home Rainy, I trust you had a good holiday - You've started off with a very interesting article, I liked the carved temples but I was particularly fascinated by the size of those boulders and the precarious position of them. Very brave goats. I can't imagine the health and safety people in this country would be very happy. Also liked the very colourful costumes the schoolgirls were wearing. Looking forward to more of your superb photos of your travels. Thanks. Tony from England.
— Tony Ethridge, April 5, 2008