Mamallapuram: stone-carving UNESCO site

We took 2-hr bus to Mamallapuram, a tourist town 60 km south of Chennai famous for its stone carvings date back to the Tamil Pallava dynasty in the 7th-9th century and UNESCO heritage sites.

Shore Temple. The oldest structure in the area, build c. 700 AD, a building (not carved from rock) and the bulk of the current structure is a reconstruction, so we only walked around the site without getting in. We did the same with the site of Three of the Five Rathas, with an elephant standing guard, as advised by my friend David from UK. I met David in my Colombo hostel in Sri Lanka and then bumped into him in downtown Mamallapuram this morning. What is the probability for such coinstance!? So I had a photo with David this time.

The rest of structures in town are all carved straight out of rock in the central hillside area, with smooth rock rising out of the forest and carved stairways leading between the mandapas (pavilions), caves and carvings, especially the following two highlights:

Arjuna's Penance: A giant bas-relief filled with detailed carvings, including a family of elephants and monkeys. The central figure may actually depict Bhagiratha, not Arjuna.











Krishna's Butterball: a giant natural rock perched on a hillside, seemingly in defiance of all laws of physics.

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