This weekend we made a day trip down to Mammalapuram (Mahabalipuram), a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for stonecarving about 1.5 hours' drive from Chennai. Some of Amudha's visiting classmates had access to a car, so we tagged along for sightseeing and a brief escape from Chennai.

We met up with an excellent guide, Stalin, whom Michelle had recommended to us. First, we visited the Pancha Rathas, a series of ancient temples cut from one large rock dating to some time between the 7th and 9th centuries. Shortly after we began our tour of the sites, I got a phone call from my roommate asking where I was. It turns out that when I'd locked the door behind me as I set out early that morning, I actually locked her into the house. She eventually got out of the house with the help of a neighbor, and I felt like I was rapidly losing points as a roommate. [My first week in, and I'm already turning out to be a stellar roommate. Earlier in the week, I'd locked Amudha and I out of our bedroom after we returned from a trip. Two strikes for me.]

Trying to figure out how to release my roommate remotely


A Shiva lingam (symbolizing the male and female)




Next we visited the bas relief carvings both in and around temples. The 96 ft long and 43 ft wide Arjuna's Penance/ Descent of the Ganges carved mural was spectacular! Stalin then took us to the apprentice's carving shop. He is learning to do the stonecarvings which the town is known for, and of course offered to sell us some of the carvings for a good price. Apparently the carving skills are handed down, and many of the monuments that tourists come to see may actually have been examples of carvers learning the craft, rather than being strictly religious monuments. We each bought a little something and then made our way to the Shore Temple.



The carving shop



The Shore Temple was once literally at the shore, but a retaining wall has since been built around it to protect the ancient site from erosion. After the tsunami in 2004, a couple of submerged were revealed, and some work has since been done to excavate. On the day we visited, a big school class was weaving their way through the site. Post temple, we said goodbye to Stalin, got some lunch, and made our way back to hectic Chennai.





Special thanks to Ryan Chopra for the use of his photos, as I'm still waiting to replace my stolen camera!