Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
An easy bus ride back along the ECR, we hopped off in what appeared to be a scene out of a Tarantino flick, set in the old west in the middle of nowhere. We walked the short distance in the blazing heat into town passing the routine livestock and run down buildings covered in faded murals and paintings of previous freedom fighters and revolutionaries. Sweat streaming out of our pores we could not wait to find Siva Guesthouse. Following the new rule of thumb Lana inspected 4 rooms of different sizes and prices - we finally settled for the cheaper option, basic but clean with a nice Indian style throw printed with elephants, missing out only on aircon and TV.
Right across the road from our satisfactory hotel was a tiny little restaurant serving hot coffee. We needed a fix and headed over. Sitting across from us were a friendly young couple from France (Ben and Sophie). They too seemed to have a similar agenda to ours in terms of destinations but with a different route path, so we had a lot to chat about amongst other things. They informed us about the amazing temples in Mamallapuram carved into ancient rock dating back to the 7th century. The largest was Shore Temple, set in landscaped gardens on the edge of the Bay of Bengal, used to be the centre of the second capital and also the seaport for the Pallava Kings, The Five Rathas, a collection of (five) smaller temples designed with a Roman chariot theme in mind, and Arjuna's Penance, the largest and perhaps oldest Bas Relief in the world. We arranged to meet up later and share a rick-Shaw 17km out of town to visit an active Hindu Temple at the top of a hill via 500 steps which we subsequently discovered to have some of the best views in all Tamil Nadu. We planned to arrive when the sun was going to set and it was going to be a full moon so we could not wait!!
The day was hot. Very hot. We relented to hire a guide to tell us some background about Arunja's Penance, and were glad we did as we learnt much about the structure of the Hindu religion and how all their Gods are interrelated. The setting around the huge bas relief carving into the rock face, which portrayed Aruja's story, included temples and shrines carved into the side of the rocks formed caves whereby you could escape the heat of the sun. There were obvious Roman influences in the orders represented in the supporting columns, but also we were surprised to see Chinese dragons and curly manned lions guarding the entrances to the temples, presumably having spread from the north following the Mogul invasion. We walked all around and up the hill, past a huge, precariously balanced boulder which had been formed by the weathering of softer rock over time, much like the devils marbles in north Western Australia. The steep incline it rests makes it somewhat unnerving to stand beneath it, but the presecence of coconut stalls at the base of the hill indicate a local confidence in the rock's stability.
In the early afternoon heat we battled our way past hawkers vending 'you buy you buy, just looking, cheap price' postcards and stone carvings and ventured down to the coast and to Shore Temple. This was very beautiful, in its setting alone. Many of the carvings on the outside were suffering from the rough coastal weather and salt, but were still intact. The cows along the front wall looked as though they may have been Translocated (without too much skill or consideration) and had been cemented back into place. With borderline heatstroke, we headed back to the hotel to cool off under the fan, deeming that the walk in the midday sun up to the 5 Rathas would not be the most sensible decision.
After several comatose hours passed, we showered for the third time and headed out with the Frenchies for the evening temple tour. After some fierce negotiation with yet another stubborn Rik-Shaw driver we came to a deal and headed off. Within about 20 minutes of travel, forming in the distance under the bright orange setting sun was the silhouetted temple figure on the tip of an approaching mountain. We arrived shortly after, left our shoes, paid the fee and started the climb up, up and up...Eventually we arrived to the top and stood out onto a concrete courtyard that appeared to be built for the monks to meditate in the open air. All four of us stood, sharing the most amazing view as several active monkeys scarpered around the walls around us. We tried to catch that perfect shot on camera. In the end we agreed that it was just one of those moments that the camera cannot do justice so we put it down and chilled till the sun set on the horizon.
We headed inside the temple to ease our curiosity from the symbol clanking and chanting bellowing out from the darkness within. We entered in to a stone room with barred windows and a narrow dark corridor leading off to the left up some steps. Bizarrely lit by multi-coloured fairy lights we followed it down, past an idol set back into the centre wall and around a corner where we were ushered in and stopped to watch. There were a handful of people inside giving alms and prayers to an elaborately lit small shrine for Shiva. Set back deep in the centre of the temple was a Vishnu sculpture, in a small rectangular area. Lana's dire eyesight couldn't even make out a head in amongst the heavily cloth and flower adorned god, but one of the monks greeted us, asked our names and then appeared to go and tell Vishnu we were here! Some twisted neuron firing in Lana's mind triggered reminiscent scenes of a childhood visit to Santa in his grotto at a garden centre...Respectfulness suppressed the urge to laugh, and we were blessed by smearing some silver ash across our foreheads then after having to make a 'gift' to 'Vishnu' we were directed around the corner, the holy man mysteriously appearing in front of us seated cross legged in front of another shrine, with another alms tray, ready to sprinkle red powder into our palms. After spamming ourselves we added the red dot to the silver streak for completion of the rite, and were then held up for more money! We emerged almost penniless with gunshot entry wounds pasted between our eyes and made the descent in increasing darkness down to our patiently waiting auto-Rich-Shaw driver.
The temple town was well and truly alive as we headed back into Mamallapuram. We went for a beer at a recommended restaurant, but following a visit to the bathroom, which was accessed through the kitchen area, we decided against eating here. I'm sure we've already eaten in heaps of places with worse kitchen hygiene, but ignorance is definitely bliss :)Finding a small intimate place on the first floor of a nearby building we ate and then walked down to the beach to another highly recommended spot overlooking the ocean called Bob Marley Cafe. We ascended to the roof top bar which opened up into a small chilled out space with low tables and cushions. We were immediately struck at the fantastic location, for a quiet beachside hangout. The cooler night sea air breeze streaming in under the eaves, and the glorious full moon reflecting its silver light on the midnight blue shining Bay of Bengal, luminating the crests of the waves crashing gently on the soft sand below, this is India! And does life get any better than this?
Guru, the Proprietor was awesome. He was really accommodating and he loved his cricket, beer and cards and did not hesitate in getting involved which made the place seem more like your own lounge room rather than a bar. Ben and Sophie were there as well so we settled in for a session as we caught the final few over's of New Zealand's batting in the ICC final with the Aussie's to come. After several Kingfishers and an awesome Aussie Victory we said see ya to Ben and Soph for the last time and stumbled home. With sore and sorry heads the next morning we hoped the humidity would cure the hangovers that we attained from Bob Marley's and ventured out to the Five Rathas. Impressive stone carvings once again stole the show as the history of these places is absolutely breathtaking for an avid historian. All the regulars were there (Vishnu, Lakshmi, Durga, Ganesh etc) and featured in various forms, shapes and sizes, including a life-size elephant.
On the way back into town we walked past an elderly man selling coconuts and in real need of any form of refreshment we watched nervously as he lopped the top off two heavy green coconuts with a rusty looking Sikh blade, narrowly missing his first three fingers. Banging the straws in we wandered off only to be led into a stone carving shop. There are so many here that it's hard to distinguish between them all. This is Mamallupuram's biggest export and they deliver to all counties and commissioned to carve for all the biggest temples built around the world. To look at these backyard businesses you would not even think it possible but when you see the craftsmanship with your own eyes you understand why very quickly. The top sales pitch for foreigners seems to be erotic art and carvings which are not only quite clever they are almost cryptic in their symbolism and hilarious. In support of the local economy we made a purchase settling on a price that we politely bargained for of course! The black granite candle holder we selected, for its size and complexity, would have taken around 20 days to carve from start to finish.
Really done by the heat and having consumed around 10 litres of water between us already we retreated to the hotel. Cold showers and a nap was the agenda of the afternoon. Venturing out to eat and a pathetic attempt to shop we spent the early evening kicking back letting India sink into our skin.
Without the rogue, pestering mosquito attack throughout the night, we would have been well rested. We rose at 5am to catch a ride back to Chennai Central train station
to embark on our first long-distance rail trip of around 28 hours, courtesy of the Coromandel Express to Howrah Station, Kolkata (Calcutta).
- comments