This weekend we caught a bus to Mamallapuram, now a small backpackers refuge south of chennai, but once a bustling seaport, the gateway to the pallava empire, circa the 7th century.
The town is best known for its enourmous granite carvings termed the 5 Rathas, each carved from a single piece of stone to commemorate one of the five Pandavas, heroes in the epic Mahabharatha. As you can see from the pictures, these were quite stunning, and drew large crowds of natives and foreigners alike. Moriah and I were a popular attraction for traveling indian families to photograph, and we found our way into many of their family albums. The shore temple was also quite an attraction, also built in the 7th century and survivor of the 2004 tsunami. Interestingly, just before the tsunami struck land, the receding waters revealed outlines of submerged sister temples lining the coast.
The entire city remains true to its stone mason tradition, as every corner had multiple shops with sculptures out front, ranking from small stone pennants to elephant sized reclining Ganeshes. These did not fit in our luggage, though the touts that lined the corners were constantly peddling these and other wares, which quickly grew tiresome.
I might appear really, really sweaty in these pictures, but that is only because i spent so much time holding up that enormous boulder.
The entire city remains true to its stone mason tradition, as every corner had multiple shops with sculptures out front, ranking from small stone pennants to elephant sized reclining Ganeshes. These did not fit in our luggage, though the touts that lined the corners were constantly peddling these and other wares, which quickly grew tiresome.
I might appear really, really sweaty in these pictures, but that is only because i spent so much time holding up that enormous boulder.
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