A Monotonous Trip To Pondicherry Via Mahabalipuram
- Syed aakhil nawaz
- Dec 24, 2017
- 4 min read
Getting bored of usual fun trips we wanted to do something intresting this time. We palnned to visit Pondicherry via Mahabalipuram and Alamparai Fort, Mahabalipuram an ancient living example of how our ancestors cherished in this land. At about 60kms from Chennai we witnessed some old ruins on the roadside with carvings on it and few statue stores with large monolithic stone sculptures stating we were near our destination.
On reaching there, we were mesmerized by the huge dock over the beautiful seashore and the masculine light house standing firm over centuries. Mahaballipuram is originally a port town used by ancient Pallava king who ruled Tamil nadu with Kanchipuram as capital. The archaeological expenditures over various times proved that the port was active for overseas trading and in Sangam literature it has been stated that ships with heaps of gold, Nava ratnas and huge elephants arriving on the shores.
First we went to see the five monolithic "Rathas" or small temple-prototypes built by the Pallava rulers largely between the 7th and the 9th century. All these Rathas are carved on a single stone emerging from pink granite; each of them is named after five pandavas (Dharma, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva).
After seeing the Rathas we went to see the Mahishasurmardini cave temple and the lighthouse. There are two lighthouses: one medieval one that used a fire for signaling, and a modern one with a powerful electric beam. The old lighthouse is known as Olakaneswara meaning the fire eyed shiva. Climbing the open aired steps of the olakaneswara we got an amazing view of the shore streching before us beyond the cliffs and boulders. On looking out far towards the horizon, one could just make out the nuclear power plant at Kalpakkam.
It was quite hot, and after having a Kakri (a serpentine cucumber-like fruit) each and a hearty brawl with the old lady selling them, we proceeded towards the other places to be seen. Men selling tiny statues had been pestering us.
We moved to the next place having that magic boulder we heard from childhood, yes the Krishna’s Butterball, which is a huge round rock perched precariously atop an inclined rocky hillside. The legend says that it was a tiny piece of rock that Krishna spit out while eating his butter. The entire stories and myths aside this is a very huge boulder weighing a whopping 250tons standing on the corner of the hill slope without any support for over thousands of years. Even a mayor of Chennai during British period who thought it as a danger tried to remove the rock with 10 elephants but the rock didn’t even slide a inch. With a big wow in our mouth and deep thoughts running in our mind about how the rock was perfectly balanced over there. We moved to the next site with excitement in our eyes.
Then we went to see the carved rock called “Arjuna’s Penance”. It is the hugest rock relief with multiple carvings with accurate detailing measuring 96 by 43 feet. The relief was actually built to celebrate the victory of Hinduism over Jainism when Pallava king Mahendravarma convinced a great warrior Mamallan to convert from Jainism to Hinduism. The mesmerizing carvings also had a huge gap in the middle with snake like humanoids emerging from underground. It is said that the snake like humanoids are vasuki and her people whose world is believed to be underground in Hindu mythology.
It was lunch time so we went to a nearby hotel to set our hunger free, the food was of course typically Tamil. There was rice and five different kinds of sambhar, chutney and papad. There was also curd, buttermilk and a sweet, and some things that I have forgotten. The rice was served on banana leaves as in traditional times. The taste was good, but then, you don’t bother about the taste when you are eating five kinds of sambhar in one meal.
After lunch we walked to the shore Temple. This is the only historical temple in Mahabalipuram that is not monolithic. It is set directly on the beach, and is in a bad shape due to the corrosion caused by the sea water, wind and sand. Hearing the structure was not damaged by the Tsunami of December 2004 gave us Goosebumps thinking about the architectural talent of our ancestors. Our legs were very tired by this time, and we just rested there and chatted for a long, long time. The wind was intoxicating, and due to a full stomach, we just felt like sleeping. However, we had another important activity to finish: something for which we had been carrying our clothes since the morning.
The beach was neither deserted, nor too crowded. It was cleaner than the beaches of Chennai. The day had turned cloudy when we reached there. We chose a dry spot near the water and got into our bathing clothes. Then we went for a dip in the sea. None of us knew swimming properly, so we bathed in waist deep water. It was my first (and till date only) sea bathing experience and I can’t say I enjoyed it very much. Firstly the salt water kept getting into my mouth. Secondly the salt water kept getting into my eyes and it hurt a lot. Thirdly the water also carried sand into my mouth and eyes. And most importantly, there were quite strong waves that kept coming and knocking me head over heels. Since I don’t know swimming, and I had left my glasses on the shore, it was scaring me. After completing our bath, we got dressed on the beach.
Anyway, after we had dressed, one of our friends took a ride on a horse, and then we walked among the souvenir shops. There were stone figures and beautiful sea shells. The prices were exorbitant due to the presence of foreign tourists.
Thus we completed our first check point of our tour. Trip to such an historical place was like a magical journey through the time. We continued our trip to next check point The Alamparai Fort. We kept talking about the great architectural talents of the ancient time and we couldn’t stop think about how those huge monolithic structures were built by humans throughout the journey.
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