Worldroom MICE Tourism Guide: India 2008


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	Mahabalipuram lies on Peninsular India’s Coromandel Coast along the Bay of Bengal. It is situated at a distance of about 46 miles from Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. It is the only place in South India where one can see some of the earliest monuments constructed during the Pallava period, nearly 1200 years ago. The beautiful cave temples and gigantic open air reliefs carved from blocks of granite, attract thousands of visitors from India and abroad. Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram was an ancient seaport of the Pallavas, who ruled over much of South India from the 1st century B.C to the 8th century A.D. It was founded by Narasimha Varman I, who ruled from 630-668 A.D. It was also during this time that great poets, dramatists, artists, artisans, scholars and saints made their mark in history. However no records about the history of this place offer any factual explanations as to why all the monuments remained unfinished. The most expansive relief shows the descent of the sacred river Ganges to Earth. It depicts the auspicious moment when the river transcended to the Earth with the help of lord Shiva. The stone relief is about 20 feet high and 80 feet long, it contains over a hundred figures of gods, men and beasts. At the southern edge of Mahabalipuram is a group of five temples. Four of them have been carved out of a single long granite boulder. These temples represent the Rathas or chariots of Arjuna, Bhima, Dharmaraja, Nakula-Sahadeva - the five Pandava princes of the epic Mahabharata - and their wife, Draupadi. However, work on these five temples was stopped after the death of Narasimha Varman in 668. Amidst the five Rathas is a life size stone sculpture of an elephant. In the early eighth century, work was begun on the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram. This temple was built to honour Lord Shiva. Unlike the temples described above, the Shore Temple was built with granite blocks. The design of the Shore Temple is significant because it is the earliest known example of a stone-built temple in South India. The carvings here are not as plentiful as the Rathas, but the position of the temple right on the beach is very impressive. The art and architecture of the Pallavas in Mahabalipuram remained hidden till it was discovered in the late 18 the century. The rock-cut caves, temples made from a single rock, and the other structures have earned Mahabalipuram a special place in the tourist itinerary and giving it the appropriate tag of an 'open-air museum'. Mahabalipuram is renowned for its skilled stone carvers, who are often called upon to create sculptures for new temples all round the world. Dozens of stone carving shops are spread throughout the town where one can see artisans busy chiseling away at their stones. There are other interesting sights in Mahabalipuram too. The most popular is the butter ball. It's an enormous boulder which appears to be balancing itself precariously on a hill in the middle of a park. Afraid that it would one day roll over hapless tourists, the government tried to pull it down with the help of elephants. To the shock of one and all present there, it did not even budge. It has since been considered extremely safe and one can often spot children playing on it. At a distance, one can also see a light house which can be visited during the specified hours. Visitors to Mahabalipuram are struck not just by the architecture, but also by the beauty and the simplicity of the place, the casuarina trees, the silver sands and the deep blue sea which create an image that remains etched in their memory for time immemorial.