Chennai trip - 4

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Tuesday, March 8

We totally forgot about the sunrise; the seashore is just 10 minutes walk from the hotel! 

Woke up by around 6.45 am. Should have got up earlier. I realised what we had missed when I went out for a morning walk. The photo below was clicked at 7.11 am.

(Click on the photo below for an enlarged view.)

Not surprisingly, all the restaurants near the beach serve seafood. We didn't find any that had a good breakfast menu. So, today morning we decided to check out a vegetarian restaurant, Hotel Sri Ananda Bhavan, located on the main road, which is around 10 minutes walk from the hotel.

They had what is called a 'mini breakfast'. It's not actually 'mini'. It's 'major'! 

It's like a combo, of all traditional south Indian breakfast items - masala dosa, idli, puri, pongal, vada and a sweet along with accompanying dishes like sambar and chutney, plus tea or coffee. All for Rs 150. That's a very good deal. I remembered to take a photo after I had a couple of bites of the irresistible masala dosa! 

KRISHNA'S BUTTER BALL

9 am. After breakfast, we walked about a kilometer to the north-west, and started with what is popularly called Krishna's Butter Ball, a gigantic granite boulder, as you can see from the photo below, resting on a slope.

You need to buy a ticket to enter the protected premises. But at the entrance, we saw a notice stating that the Government of India has waived the entry fee for the day to all monuments managed by the Archaeological Survey of India, on account of International Women's Day! Wow!!

This boulder is 6 meters tall and 5 meters wide. It's said to have formed 1,200 years ago, and weighs around 250 tons. Though it is called Krishna's Butter Ball, it has nothing to do with Lord Krishna of the epic Mahabharata who loved butter. Probably, a figment of good creative imagination of someone who wanted to give it a name. 

This is one of those many 'balancing rocks' around the world that have been formed by natural causes. 

It's said that there have been a few attempts by kings and even once during the British Raj to move it down to ensure the safety of people below it. But all attempts were unsuccessful.

A distant view of the boulder from the northern side.

I couldn't find any official scientific explanation as to why it hasn't got dislodged all these years. But I read many experts attributing it to the firmness of the rock's attachment to the surface and also to fact that the centre of mass is within its base. An analogy for easy understanding is how we manage to stand on a slope without falling.

Some of the other monuments nearby are:

Dharmaraja' Rock-cut Throne

A rock that has been cut in the form a water tank, probably
for the sculptors and artisans who worked on the monuments
in those times. However, it's called Draupadi's Bath.
In the epic Mahabharata, Draupadi is the wife of
the five Pandava brothers.  

This is a unique sculpture carved out of one granite rock
representing elephants, a monkey and a peacock.

ARJUNA'S PENANCE / DESCEND OF THE GANGES

This is a huge set of sculptures carved on a solid rock, (pictured below) measuring 29 meters x 13 meters. It was done in the mid-7th century to celebrate the victory of Pallava dynasty emperor Narasimhavarman I over Chalukya king Pulakesin II.

A closeup of a part of the rock-cut relief.

The subjects of this rock relief are events in the epic Mahabharata: Arjuna's Penance and Descend of the Ganges. 

Arjuna's Penance refers to the austerities undertaken by Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers, in order to obtain Shiva's weapons. 

Descend of the Ganges refers to the penance undertaken by the king Bhagiratha in order to get the Ganges from the heavens to the earth.

There are a few more cave temples and other monuments, all nearby.

It was around 11 am, and we returned to the hotel. Need to pack and check out by 12 noon. 

That's the end of Mamallapuram segment. Returning to Chennai around 1 pm. It's about one and a half hours by road.

(To be concluded)