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| Shore Temple (UNESCO) Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu |
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| Arjuna' Penance (UNSECO) Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu |
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| Butter Ball, Mahabalipuram Tamil Nadu |
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| Iswara Temple Hillrock (UNESCO), Mahabalipuram |
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| Lighthouse (UNESCO) Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu |
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| Five Rathas (UNESCO) Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu |
Day 14 Wednesday Nov 27 2024 (Day 2 - Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu) - after my preliminary visit to Shore Temple & Arjuna's Penance UNESCO site visits yesterday afternoon despite a bad & gloomy weather, lady luck was kind to us today as the weather was fine & pleasant, conductive for outing thus we were able to visit the major UNESCO World Heritage sites & a few touristy places in one go (all by walking) ie Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram Beach, Arjuna's Penance, Butter Ball, Old Lighthouse, Iswara Temple Hillrock, Five Rathas, Seashell & Mineral Museum, Fishermen Colony Streets - a great outcome indeed !
1) My first morning stroll to a beach nearby our hotel in Mahabalipuram, enjoying the sea breeze amidst a rough sea in the Bay of Bengal & a looming cyclone Fengal making a landfall (strong wind & heavy rainfall) along the coastal cities of Tamil Nadu, running smack into a pre-cyclone storm in my 2 days visit in Mahablipuram ! Not that pleasant to walkabout to the UNESCO Group of Monuments in Mahabalipuram from Day 1 of my arrival ! Both our shoes were wet on Day 1 hence had to wear shot & slipper maneuvering our way through wet & slippery floors, roads with large pool of water & raindrops kept falling on our head & backpack ! Raincoat & umbrella were put to good use as we prodded along in various places of interest in Mahabalipuram !
2) Fisherman Colony Streets, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
3) Commercial area & residences nearby our hotel in Mahabalipuram
4) Sri Murugan Beach Paradise Hotel, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - my 2 nights stay in this hotel, complimentary breakfast in hotel room, movement restricted due to persistent rain & grey sky caused by cyclone Fengal heading major coastal cities in Tamil Nadu !
5) Group of Monuments at Mahabaliputram (UNESCO), Tamil Nadu - this group of sanctuaries, founded by the Pallava kings, was carved out of rock along the Coromandel coast in the 7th & 8th centurries, it is known especially for its rathas (temples in the form of chariots), mandapas (cave sanctuaries), giant open-air reliefs such as the famous "Descent of the Ganges" & the temple of Rivage with thousands of sculptures on the glory of Shiva.
6) Shore Temple UNESCO (725 A.D.), Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - a complex of temples & shrines that overlooks the shore of the Bay of Bengal, located in Mahabalipuram, about 60km south of Chennai, it is a structural temple built with blocks of granite dating from the 8th century AD, as one of the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, it has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984, one of the oldest structural stone temples of Southern India, admission fee Rs600 - Rm32 = US$7.40 covering all designated UNESCO sites in Mahabalipuram.
7) Boulder & Rock, Shore Temple Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
8) Mahabalipuram Beach - my solo visit after the Shore Temple (UNESCO) visit.
9) Temple (Vishnu) Tank, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - ceremonial tank.
10) Downtown Mahabalipuram nearby the central bus stand.
11) Unfinished rock-cut cave temple, north of Krisna mandapa UNESCO), Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - this cave temple wold have been the largest of all cave-temple of the Pallavas, on stylistic grounds, it maybe placed later among the Mamalla style of cave-temples in the period of Paramesvaravarman 1 (672 > 700 CE), this cave temple has a unique plan in having a rock-cut shrine at the back of the facade hall with an unfinished passage for circumambulation, the facade itself is relieved with a series of hara elements, the pillars are unique in having vyala over the phalaka & below the kapola, as in the Chaluyan examples, locally this cave-temple is known as Pancha Pandava mandapa.
12) Krishna Mandapa (UNESC)), Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - this monument is in fact a bar-relief of the Pallava period depicting Krishna lifting the mount Govardhana, it has a structural mandapa in the front added during 18th century CE, the principal scene shows Krishna lifting the mount Govardhana to protect the cowherds & the cowerdesses with his left palm raised by Indra Krishna is shown supporting the mountain with his left palm the other hand being in varada attitude, the gopika holding a ling of pots & bundle of fodder, the wood cutter with axe, a cow being miked & animals are depicted with much calmness as if they were not aware of the fury of Indra's storm.
13) Arjuna's Penance, Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram (UNESCO), Tamil Nadu - this magnificent bas-relief is called as "Arjuna's Penance" suggestively depicts the story of "Kiratarjuna" of the great epic Mahabhartha, the panoramic view of the life in the forest is aptly sculptured here in the two large boulders, the great event of obtaining the weapon pasupatha from Lord Siva by Arjuna is portrayed here, this event is depicted as if it is witnessed by the three worlds, below this scene on the same side, a small temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu is shown, some scholars identified this panel with the story of Bhagiratha bringing the Ganges to the earth.
Descent of the Ganges, known locally as Arjuna's Penance is a monument of Mahabalipuram, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bangal in Chengaipattu district of Tamil Nadu, measuring 96 by 43 ft, it is a giant open air rock relief carved on two monolithic rock boulders.
14) Krishna Butter Ball, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - a natural monument, it is a gigantic granite boulder delicately balanced by nature on the slope of the hillrock, the boulder is approx 6 meters high & 5 meter wide & weighs around 250 tons, it stands on an approx 1.2 meter base on the slope, even though it is called as Krishna's butter ball by local people, it has no relation with Lord Krishna in the early 20th century, an attempt has been made to remove it from its place to ensure the safety of the public.
15) Rock cut Sculpture representing a group of elephants, monkeys & peacock, Mahabalipuram, Tmil Nadu
16) Triple celled rock cut shrine with Gopi's churn in front of it, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - on stylistic grounds, these rocks cut shrines are assignable to early periods of Paliava King Paramesvaravarman 1 (672 > 700 CE) & on typological grounds to Mamalla style, there are three shrines dedicated to Brahma, Siva, & Vishnu, the shrine of Siva is slightly larger than the others, there is pair of dvarapalas guarding the entrance of each shrine, one on either side; over the entrance depicted are hera elements, the ones usually occurring on the talas of structural temples; the northern most cell dedicated to Subrahmanya in the form of Brahmasasta; the central standing Siva & the northern most to Vishnu; further, north of these shrines is a niche dedicated to Durga.
17) Sculpture Museum, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
18) Front entrance to Iswara Temple Hillrock & Mahishasuramardi Cave Temple (UNESCO), Group of Monuments, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
19) Mahishamardhini rock cut Mandapa (UNESCO), Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
20) Iswara Temple Hillrock, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
21) Panoramic view of Mahabalipuram from Iswara Temple Hillrock.
22) Mahablipuram Lighthouse, Tamil Nadu - India's oldest lighthouse built around 640CE by Pallava King Mahedravarman 1. The old & new lighthouse are adjacent to each other.
23) Row of businesses selling sculptures in stones, metals & woods.
24) Five Rathas, Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - this group of monuments resemble to that of the processional chariots of a temple, they were excavated during the reign of Pallava King Narashimmavarman-1 (630 > 668CE), Draupathi ratha is the smallest & enshrines an image of Durga, Arjuna ratha consists of a sanctum with pillared front mandapa on plan, it has two tiered vimana, Bhima ratha is rectangular on plan with country wagon roof, Dharmaraja ratha has three storied square vimana with octagonal sikahara, Nakula Sahadeva ratha which stands in front of Arjuna ratha is apsidal on plan.
25) A sculpture making workshop & showroom display of various hand-made items for visitors to view & buy. Located adjacent to the Five Raths.
26) India Seashell Museum (Front Entrance & Ticketing Counter), Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu - largest seashell museum in India, houses over 40,000 specimens of rare & unique seashells from India & nearby Asia Pacific countries, paid admission fee of Rs200 = Rm11 for entries to Mineral & Seashell Museums.
27) Mineral Museum, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
28) Seashell Museum, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu
29) Late afternoon walk in downtown Mahabalipuram along the main road after the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram & Seashell Museum visit, bought fresh bananas (Rs60 = Rm3.20) & vegetables (Rs140 = Rm7.50) from a local stall in downtown Mahabalipuram.
30) Bought 3 packets of potato snacks / coconut confectionery (Rs180 = Rs9.70) as finger food for our outing tomorrow.
31) Enjoying our walk in the beach area; rough sea, strong wind, sea breeze, grey sky - forecasting that cyclone Fengal is quietly picking up speed moving inland so stay safe for the next few days !
32) A taste of Mumbai Kulfi Ice Cream at a local ice cream parlour nearby our hotel - each of us savoured an ice cream stick of almond flavour Rs60 (Rm3.20), creamy & yummy typical Mumbai tatste !
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