Chennai trip - 3

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Monday, March 7

From Padur, we reached Mamallapuram by 12.30 pm. The place used to be called Mahabalipuram earlier.

One of the major tourist centres in India, this coastal town was a port city during the reign of Pallava dynasty which ruled a good part of south India between 275 and 897.

I have realised that one of the best ways to explore a place is using Google Maps. That's precisely what I did.

There are lots of monuments here and a few museums. If you want to see all of that it will take one full day, and it could be quite tiring in the generally hot weather of this place. So, it's better to stay over for a day and go around at a leisurely pace.

We set out around 1 pm.

(Below are a few photos. Click on them to enlarge.)

SHORE TEMPLE

Shore Temple complex

Structural temples are those built using different rocks. This is often contrasted with rock-cut or monolithic temples that are built from one single piece of big rock. It served as a landmark for the ships passing by. Overlooking the Bay of Bengal, this is the most popular monument in Mamallapuram, and forms a part of the Group of Monuments that was recognised as a World Heritage Site by the Unesco in 1984. It is one of the oldest structural temples, made of granite, around AD 700.

There are three shrines in the complex; the main one and another are devoted to Lord Shiva and the third to Lord Vishnu. The pyramidal structure is 18 m tall, and all three shrines rest on the same platform.

There is a beach nearby. It was crowded with young boys and girls trying to beat with heat by getting drenched in sea water.

On the way to the beach, there are plenty of shops selling curios, toys, religious artefacts, besides eateries and tattoo parlours.

SCULPTURE MUSEUM 

India Sculpture Museum

After lunch, we walked around 300 metres south-west to the Sculpture Museum. There are a number of religious sculptures on display, some of them seem to depict scenes in Mahabharata. However, there are no explanatory notes for any of them. That's a big drawback.

OLAKKANNESVARA TEMPLE 

Olakkannesvara Temple

Carvings on the temple 

We walked about a kilometer south-west and reached this granite temple that is situated atop a small hillock. Built around 640, it's considered to be India's first lighthouse. We can climb up to the top of the temple and get a good aerial view.

LIGHTHOUSE

The lighthouse

The specifications of the lighthouse

View from atop the lighthouse

View from atop the lighthouse

Very nearby to the north-east is the modern lighthouse. It's a 26 metres tall structure, built in 1887. The way up is very narrow and the steps are steep and very close to one another. From the top we get a very beautiful panoramic panoramic view of the surroundings. 

MAHISHASURAMARDINI MANDAPA

Mahishasuramardini Mandapa

This is a monolithic cave temple built sometime between 630 and 668. The cave has an oblong façade. According to the plaque put up by the ASI, "The most significant feature of this cave temple is a sculptural depiction of Somaskanda, Mahishamardini fighting Mahisasura and the depiction of Vishnu as Aanatasayi." 

PANCH RATHA

The Panch Ratha

We then walked around 2 km south to another monument called Panch Ratha or Five Chariots. Each of them is a monolithic structure carved out of a single rock. It's an incomplete work because the king, who initiated the construction, died in 668. They are popularly named after the Pandava brothers, though experts say these have no relation to the Mahabharata epic. But the names have stuck. The largest of the monuments is 13 m × 11 m and the tallest is 12 m. 

INDIA SEASHELL MUSEUM

In this town known for its ancient religious  monuments, this museum stands apart. With as many as 40,000 specimens, it's a window to the widely diverse aquatic life. It's situated a little over one kilometer north-west from the Panch Ratha. 

The complex, maintained on a par with global standards, was opened on Sept 6, 2013, and comprises five museums - mineral museum, seashell museum, pearl museum, aquarium and dinosaur museum.

Mineral museum

Seashell museum

Stamps on seashells brought out by different nations 

Pearl museum

Aquarium

Dinosaur museum

The complex is the creation of a seashell lover named  Raja Mohamed, a fish merchant by profession, who hasn't had any formal education in marine science. He travelled the world over to collect seashells.

This is a must-see for any visitor to Mamallapuram.

By the time we finished Seashells museum, it was around 6.30 pm. We took an autorickshaw back to our hotel, as we were quite tired. We must have walked close to 10 kilometers. We covered south and south-west of the Shore Temple. Tomorrow will go to the north-west part.

BEACH AT NIGHT

The hotels by the seashore

The beach is just five minutes walk from the hotel. So, before going to the room we went to the seashore. It wasn't crowded as the only people who come there are the people who stay in the hotels nearby.

(To be continued)