MAHABALIPURAM / MAMALLAPURAM
Mamallapuram is located about 60 Kms.South of Chennai (Madras) on the shores of the Bay of Bengal, along the Indian eastern coast. Known for its rock carvings and monolithic sculptures it has the famous Shore Temple, the only one to have survived the ravages of nature. Also known as the Seven Pagodas (temples), six now lie submerged in the sea. Mamallapuram temples whose architecture was inspired by the Pallava art were built during the period 650 - 1100 AD. It is believed to have been named after the famous Pallava King Narasimha Verma Pallava, the first, who was also known as MAMALLA, or the great wrestler. According to some historians these were built to celebrate Narasimhavarman's victory in AD. 642 over the Chalukyan king Pulakesin II.
Mamallapuram was a sea-port during the time of Periplus (1st century AD) and Ptolemy (AD 140) and many Indian colonists sailed to South-East Asia through this port town.
Mamallapuram has been classified as an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Mamallapuram has the following sculptures:
STHALASAYANA PERUMAL TEMPLE
This temple is of Pallava period except that the original temple was expanded in Vijayanagar times. In this temple, Vishnu is seen lying on ground instead of on Adisesha, that is how the name comes.
THE SHORE TEMPLE
A temple built along the Bay of Bengal with the entrance from the western side, away from the sea. The temple was reconstructed stone by stone from the sea after being washed away in a cyclone. There are 3 shrines in the Shore Temple. Two of them are Saiva and the third is Vaishnava, with an image of Lord Anantasayi made of a single rock. There are Vimanas over the Saiva shrines, but none over the third, it seems to have disappeared with time.
Recent excavations to the north and south of the Shore Temple have revealed rock-cut figures representing religious themes of period prior to the construction to the temple. Besides, a monolithic Bhuvaraha, a reclining image of Vishnu, a base of Durga shrine with deer and a square socket possibly to accommodate Mahastambha have also been exposed. A stepped ghat facing the sea to the south of the Shore Temple was also exposed recently.
THE ARJUNA'S PENANCE
This is one of the most famous stone carvings at Mamallapuram. It is an enormous relief made on two massive boulders. One of the biggest open-air rock canvases in the world, the Arjuna's penance is 31m long and 9m high. The surface of the rock has detailed carvings, showing the most endearing and natural renditions of animals especially the elephants and monkeys. Arjuna's Penance has over 100 figures of gods and semi divine creatures, birds and beasts, man and saint and is one of the most beautifully carved structures at Mamallapuram. The figures that are sculptured on the rock are remarkable for their vitality and spontaneity and speak volumes about the skill of the sculptors.
There is another explanation to this bass-relief.
Legend has it that King Bhagiratha had to bring down to earth the celestial Ganga to sanctify and redeem the cursed souls of his ancestors. But the river in its torrential spree would deluge the earth, and so he had to undergo a penance to propitiate Shiva who finally received the flood in his matted locks and let it flow down. This was a sight for the world's creatures to see and they gathered round. The cleft in the rock depicts the descent of Ganga, a theory supported by the ruins of a stone water tank on the hill. There is a forest with tribal people and all forms of fauna, just as they would appear in their habitat. Women clothed in an aura of amazing grace, a rich inner beauty transfiguring the plainest of them.
THE FIVE RATHAS
The five Rathas include The Yudhishtra, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula/Sahadeva and Draupadi. The five Rathas, about 200 m south of the main hill, were fashioned out of a smaller hill sloping down from the south. From the largest part was made the biggest of the five rathas, the Yudhishtra. Then followed onwards north, in the descending order of height, Bhima, Arjuna and the Draupadi.
A little to the west of Draupadi there was a comparatively large rock and out of it the Nakula/Sahadeva Ratha was made. Immediately in front of the Draupadi again two smaller rocks were sculptured into an elephant and a lion. Behind the Draupadi and the Arjuna, which stand on a common base, there is a Nandi.
These five Rathas were all carved out of a single piece of granite in situ.
OTHER IMPORTANT STRUCTURES are the Mahishamardhani, the Adivaraha and Govardhanadhari temples
IN CONCLUSION
As mentioned at the start of this article, Mamallapuram lies approximately 60 Kms, South of Chennai. There are two excellent roads from Chennai,the East Coast Road and the Old Mahabalipuram Road. The distance can easily covered by car in about 75 minutes.
I found that generally visitors leave Chennai after breakfast, say around
9 am and reach by 10.15am. They spend the day visiting all the places and leave Mamallapuram by 5.30 pm to return to Chennai by dusk. I thought this is a little tedious as the place is very hot during the day due to rock formations.
So we decided to reach by 3pm by a private car. We had sufficient time to have darshan of Sthala Sayana Perumal.We then went around visiting Arjuna Penance, Krishna Butter ball, Govardhanagiri and Adivaraha temples. Then we spent some time on the excellent beach.
We stayed over night at Indeco Boutique Resort (also known as Sterlng Resort) which is right near the sea shore. A paved path of about 100 M connects to the beach. This resort has all cottage type accommdation and looks like a heritage structure.
There are quite a few good resorts and hotels in Mamallapuram for all budgets.
The next morning we left the resort at 6.30 am and visited the Shore Temple. We had really a leisurely look as we were the only visitors at that hour. After that we again spent some time on the beach. We then returned to the resort for breakfast and left immdiately for another round. This time we visited the Pandava Rathas and Mahishasuramardhini cave. We had another darshan of Perumal also.
All this could be done comfortably in the cool climes of evening and early morning and one could also enjoy the beach.
Another interesting factor is that there are a large number of sculptors in the place. All along the road you can see wonderful sculptures of all sizes and shapes from mytholgy, history and some of even Venus.
We found that the State Road Transport Corporation is running ordinary and airconditioned express buses to Chennai(Adyar,T.Nagar and Koyambedu) at frequent intervals. We took the airconditioned bus which left at 11.30 am. The journey was very comfortable. Surprisingly the charge was only Rs.55. per head.The bus took only 40 minutes to reach ADYAR, from where we took an auto riksha to go home.
In the photos serial no. 1 to 24 are ancient sculptures while the rest are of modern origin.
14and 15th July, 2009
