India Textile Tour---Day 11

Another interior flight in India, this one the last one, and this on on Air India instead of IndiGo. Nicer because, although only one piece of luggage is allowed, the weight limit is higher. So its off to Chennai, formerly Madras, on the famed Coromandel Coast.

We are actually staying a a resort on the coast south of Chennai, in a small town called Mamallipuram, also known as Mahabalipuram, in Tamil Nadu state, where the language is Tamil. Since we had had a box lunch from a hotel in Chennai on our way here, we wasted no time with a meal, but checked in and then immediately went out sight seeing.

First stop was the Five Rathas which are monolithic rock carvings consisting of five chariot representations carved out of pink granite. Apparently, although mistakenly referred to as temples, they have no religious significance and are unfinished as the prime mover behind the carvings died before they could be finished. They date from the 5^th to the 7^th centuries. There is also a freestanding elephant.

The elephant and I

Next stop was Arjuna's Penance, another monolithic rock carving. It is said to represent the descent of the Ganges River from heaven, all watched by more than a hundred carved figures of gods, goddesses, semi-gods, humans, and animals, including nearly life sized elephants. Again, this is 7^th century work, and now part of the World Heritage site called the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram.

Life size-milking the cow

Near life-sized elephants

A short walk away is Krishna's Butterball, a 250-ton balanced rock. It also looks like an erratic from glacial activity. The slope is so slippery the local kids were using it as a slide, great fun to watch.

Our final stop is the Shore Temple, also part of the World Heritage Site. It too was built in the 8^th century, 700-728 to be exact, when this area was a busy port. Unlike the monolithic carving of the other sites we saw today, this is built of blocks of granite. It was not damaged by the tsunami 2004, although the water reached and flooded the area, in fact, although Mahabalipuram was affected by the tsunami, I see no evidence of it today.

The weather here is miserable, at least to this California gal. Hot and humid, the high today was in the 90's, with “feel like” temperatures in the low 100's.

Shore Temple, Bay of Bengal behind