TRIP TO MAHABALIPURAM

Hello Folks!! 

Do you have 2000 INR in hand and want to go out for relaxation from tiresome workdays? I have got you an exciting and most beautiful place i.e., Mahabalipuram. I said it is beautiful because yes it is!!  

      Mahabalipuram is a World Heritage Site. This is a landmark or area which is selected by United Nations  Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as having cultural, historical, scientific or other form of significance, and is legally protected by international treaties.

When was it built        : 7th Century

Who built it                : During Pallava Dynasty

Where it is located       :    Coromondal Coast of the Bay of Bengal, around 60km south of Chennai. 
Visit Timing                  : Daily 6.00 am to 6.00 pm

      This time our weekend destination is Mahabalipuram and it was a 12 hours trip. I know Mahabalipuram and I have been there for two times during my childhood. But this time why this place strikes and special is eagerness to visit this place after Indian President Modi and Chinese President Xi JinPing visit and also with my hubby am travelling for the first time to visit this place. Please travel with me till end to know more about exciting places and I have covered most of it. The best time to visit this place is during winter (October - February) preferably. 

Mode of Transport    

        Nearest railway station from Mahabalipuram is Chengalpattu (28 Km). People don’t opt direct (as the Google Maps suggest) instead take a Kalpakkam bus and get down at Poondi ECR Bus stop from there take a bus to Mahabalipuram towards Chennai. 

     Chennai (56 Km) is well-connected with many Indian cities by rail, air and road ways. For Chennaiites, we are good if we have own transport if not public transport are always good and friendly to make use of it. There are many Puducherry (Pondi) buses via East Costal road (ECR) from Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus (CMBT) to Mahabalipuram which serves the purpose.

Trip Starts …

         We started around 6.30 am in the morning and preferred going by bus to Mahabalipuram from Water head supply (ECR) bus stop and we were accompanied by two of our friends. From home, we booked cab to water head supply and all the expenses are detailed at the end of the blog. Once we reach Water head supply bus stop, we got bus to Mahabalipuram immediately because there are frequent buses to and fro from Puducherry.

         We reached around 7. 30 am and we hired an auto to drop us at Mahabalipuram local bus stop. Don't commit auto for full day and these auto guys are very talent in acting as guide. (Asking each 150 INR whole day) and we thought it is so much to pay as we know all the routes and planned earlier. We ate breakfast in nearby hotel at Bus stand and we started our roaming from 7.50 am. 

     I do not want to bore you by providing history of each place in Mahabalipuram but provide some snippets of that. 

Started with Arjuna Penance – an extract from Mahabharatha 

          These are the rock monuments from mid - Seventh century. One of the ancient monument that cools our eyes which will make us to say “Aww!! What a Sculpture it was in those days”. It is the extract from the Mahabharata, of how Arjuna, one of the Pandavas, performed severe austerities in order to obtain Shiva’s weapon. It is believed that one could by Penance, self-mortification, attain miraculous blessings from God. The two elephants surrounded by human sculptures depicts the history, but for us it remembers the cover page of school Tamil Text books, how the sculptors would have carved very meticulously in detail without any source of information that time (By seeing and carving) no means of data storage to see and then do like we do these days by referring Google every time and all the time.  Then we got entry ticket for each 40 INR (Keep this ticket with you till end as this is the ticket for other places as well).

Ganesha Ratha – the first and foremost God to all

            As usual Ganesha is most favourite and first God to worship before we start any work. We had Dharshan there and moved to other place. 

Krishana's Butter Ball

           This balanced boulder is said to be hunt of stolen butter dropped by the gods and it is a myth. This refuse to give in to gravity or the shoves of tourists. I don’t want to research here but to enjoy by thinking how this rock stand still even we human slipped on the steep slope. From there we went on roaming by clicking pictures and my husband told that all these rock pillars and findings of Mahabalipuram were merged under the sea and during natural disaster the sea water went inside and these sculptures were found. Many small similar kind of rocks are placed in inclined and this Butter ball is specific because of its huge size.
              Nearest to the Butter ball there is a well which they used to make butter those days.  

Rockcut Varaha temple

              The Lord Vishnu sculpture portrayed and incarnated in the form of Varaha or boar lifting Bhudevi, the mother earth goddess from the sea. It is an example of Indian rock-cut architecture from the late 7th century. 

This becomes our relaxing Spot and to boost up energy, we ate biscuits what we bought and carry with us. From there,we kept on roaming here and there and saw one interesting place that is rock-cut swimming pool for Draupadi.

Come let’s enjoy few clippings captured from Light house and Maritime museum.

       The Maritime Heritage Museum shares the same campus with Lighthouse Heritage Museum. Both Museum visting time starts at 9.30 am. The entry ticket for both available at entrance of 10 INR.

Please let me know in the comments section if any of you needs detail on Museum we visited and will include in the seperate blog.

Pancha Rathas   -- represents Five Pandavas 

           Then we went to Pancha Rathas which is half kilometer from the light house. Pancha Rathas reminds me my childhood days and still remembering we three (me, my sister & cousin) took photo in front of elephant and the next time I sat on Lion and took photo (But my husband didn't believe). Let’s come to some historic points. The five structures each chiseled in the shape of rathas or chariots out of large block of stone or monolith of granite typifies monolithic Indian rock-cut architecture during the reign of Pallava dynasty.

The five rathas are named as “Dharmaraja Ratha", " Bhima Ratha”, “Arjuna Ratha”, “Nakula Sahadeva Ratha” and “Draupadi Ratha” after five Pandava Brothers and their common wife ‘Draupadi' from the great Indian epic Mahabharata. It is maintained under the patronage of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

After that we went to have lunch as we were very hungry and wanted to feed our stomach then followed by visit to Shore temple.

Shore Temple 

         It is a structural temple built with blocks of granite from 8th century and it is one of the oldest stone temples in South India. In the time of Pallava dynasty, Mahabalipuram was popular trading port. It is said that the Shore Temple acted as landmark for the navigation ships. There are two gopurams stand tall and it was mesmerizing to see. 

After we went to beach to enjoy the sounds of waves but lots of crowd so we spend only few minutes and returned home.  

  

Expense Details 

      All the expenses I have mentioned here is approximate for two persons and request you to take a reference and don’t stick to it.

1. To and fro Bus fare    :  200

2. To and fro Cab fare    : 500

3. Breakfast         :    150

4. Entry fees       :      100

5. Lunch         :  600

6. Others                       :  300

7. Total : 1850 INR

Nearby Vacation Spots 

All the below destinations represents distance from Mahabalipuram. 

  Crocodile Park   - 15 Km 

  DakshinaChitra   - 30 Km

  Muttukadu Boat house - 23 Km

  Kovalam Beach – 20 Km
  VGP Marine Kingdom - 36 Km

I will cover all the above destinations in my upcoming blogs.  

Until then Bye..