Mahabalipuram - a little journey
Chennai. May 5, 2012. No wonder I was being roasted. I still started off to Mahabalipuram taking my first step in the challenge GoUnesco. The route is quite popular. One just gets on to the East Coast Road (ECR) enjoying the sea that accompanies all the way.
I started from T.Nagar, reached Kelambakkam, got a share auto to Kovalam by-pass and waited for a bus there. As there wasn't any then, asked for a lift, got to hop into a car and met a cute little kid with a cuter English. Got to know that her mother tongue was Tamil, but she refused to switch to that saying, "If I talk in Tamil, it feels weird! I like my cartoon accent more!" Even interesting, her ancestors were from Needamangalam, a village near Thanjavur. So much for Tamil these days! Well, I was taken for a good distance, and then again got a share auto to Mahabalipuram.
I've been there earlier, but this time, the place was completely different. Thanks to a political meeting, the place was littered all over by senseless drunkards and illiterate idiots. The Mahabalipuram I had seen wasn't what it used to be.
Shore Temple
I walked into a temple that had been there since the 7th century!
Nandi the bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva is quite popular, but nowhere do I think, exists an array of bulls all around the temple.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, probably the most famous since Pallava period.
Right behind this shrine, there's Lord vishnu too.
A little pond in front of the temple. There's even a little shrine in there, with an elephant next to it.
Finally, Completed the first step of the challenge, with a little inner smile; thanks to a passer-by who was kind enough to click.
Just at the entrance of the town, there's a Vishnu temple where the lord's name is Sthala Shayana Perumal. The lord was sung by an 8th century saint Thirumangai Alwar and hence is one of the 108 sites of Vaishnavite pilgrimage.
There's a lot lot more in this place, but shall do them later.
I started from T.Nagar, reached Kelambakkam, got a share auto to Kovalam by-pass and waited for a bus there. As there wasn't any then, asked for a lift, got to hop into a car and met a cute little kid with a cuter English. Got to know that her mother tongue was Tamil, but she refused to switch to that saying, "If I talk in Tamil, it feels weird! I like my cartoon accent more!" Even interesting, her ancestors were from Needamangalam, a village near Thanjavur. So much for Tamil these days! Well, I was taken for a good distance, and then again got a share auto to Mahabalipuram.
I've been there earlier, but this time, the place was completely different. Thanks to a political meeting, the place was littered all over by senseless drunkards and illiterate idiots. The Mahabalipuram I had seen wasn't what it used to be.
Shore Temple
I walked into a temple that had been there since the 7th century!
Nandi the bull, the vehicle of Lord Shiva is quite popular, but nowhere do I think, exists an array of bulls all around the temple.
 |
| this whole thing made out of a single rock! |
 |
| Shiva & family |
 |
| Lord Vishnu |
A little pond in front of the temple. There's even a little shrine in there, with an elephant next to it.
 |
| excuse the haircut though |
There's a lot lot more in this place, but shall do them later.
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