We entered Mahabalipuram which is today officially called MAMALLAPURAM @ 2.50 PM.
Welcome to MAMALLAPURAM Friends..the journey begins now..
When you enter Mahabalipuram you will come across lots of shops that display wonderful art in wood / stone / granite all of which are very difficult to work on & bring out that picture perfect art.
Just remember that these artists have to work with the precision of an expert surgeon and one small mistake made by applying a little more force from the chisel / hammer can make that work obsolete as no one will purchase a damaged piece.
So now you know how priceless can these works be & how many man hours the artists spend in doing this.
No one will know who the artist is who made these wonderful art work is, that is the beauty of the art. These guys are the the nameless & faceless who make us happy to see them.
I was told that some of the artists are so dedicated & disciplined that they abstain from various vices during the start & end of an art work to ensure that they give life to these statues for centuries. Thats why in ancient India you will find Rock Temples every where. Most of the statues are of Indian GODS & some of them from various Indian Mythological Stories such as Panchatantra & Hitopadesha or the all time great epics such as Ramayana & Mahabharata.
The ancient Indians left us behind wonderful memories in Rock which has survived for centuries
Hampi, Belur, Halebedu, Pattadakallu, Konark Sun Temple, Khajuraho, Tanjore Temples, you can find them all over in India
And what do we present generation do? We write "I love you", "I was here", "I miss you" on such wonderful things sad to say many a monuments in many parts of India have been vandalised & damaged.
Luckily Mahabali still is surviving & I hope & pray the future generation will see it in the same way too.
Now we shall Rock with the Rock Temples of Mahabalipuram
Before we get into the Rock Temples some small information for your reading
Mahabalipuram is famous for the following Rock Temples which you will see now
Our guide offered his services at a higher rate & we bargained & settled for Rs.150/-. We had time only to see the above as the kids main aim was the beach & we have saved the below list for future visit.
Apart from this there are shore temple towers near the beach and 16 man-made caves in different stages of completion scattered through out and a beautiful light house.
Krishna's Mandapa
Lord Krishna has always been a darling of Indian masses. He is the Complete Avatara of Lord Vishnu. He is the 8th Avatar & is the divine stateman. He plays a major role in the greatest epic of India the Mahabharata. He was not a Kshatriya Warrior but was born in a lower caste of a shepheard & his stories are always enchanting to hear at any age.
Mothers love their children & see Krishna in them
Young Women Girls love Krishna & want a husband like him
Men love Krishna for his wisidom & valour & his ability as a king maker, the old too love Krishna.
Remember Lord Krishna gives all of us Mooksha the Ultimate Salvation & liberation from the cycle of life & death!
Here in this picture below Lord Krishna is shown lifting the Goverdhan Mountain to protect his entire Gokula Village & the people & their cattle from the fury of Lord Indra's Rains, Thunder & Lightnning.
Here in this picture below Lord Krishna is shown with his parents who brough him up Nanda & Yashoda.
Lord Krishna is always shown with Cows & Calfs as he loved them a lot.
Here in this picture below you can see a lady of those times carrying a luch bag.
Pandava Caves
The picture below shows 5 caves which are just symbolic represetaion of the Pancha Padavas having stayed here.
Arjuna's Penance
The picture of the Elephant below is from the Arjuna's Penance Rock.
Arjuna prayed to Lord Shiva for a divine weapon called Pashupatastra.
What do we know about Pashupatastra? & How special is this Divine Astra (Weapon)
Wikipedia quotes it as The Pashupatastra (IAST: Pāśupatāstra, sanskrit: पाशुपतास्त्र), in Hindu mythology, is the irresistible and most destructive personal weapon of Lord Siva discharged by the mind, the eyes, words, or a bow.
Never to be used against lesser enemies or by lesser warriors, the Pashupata is capable of destroying creation and vanquishing all beings.
Welcome to MAMALLAPURAM Friends..the journey begins now..
When you enter Mahabalipuram you will come across lots of shops that display wonderful art in wood / stone / granite all of which are very difficult to work on & bring out that picture perfect art.
Just remember that these artists have to work with the precision of an expert surgeon and one small mistake made by applying a little more force from the chisel / hammer can make that work obsolete as no one will purchase a damaged piece.
So now you know how priceless can these works be & how many man hours the artists spend in doing this.
No one will know who the artist is who made these wonderful art work is, that is the beauty of the art. These guys are the the nameless & faceless who make us happy to see them.
I was told that some of the artists are so dedicated & disciplined that they abstain from various vices during the start & end of an art work to ensure that they give life to these statues for centuries. Thats why in ancient India you will find Rock Temples every where. Most of the statues are of Indian GODS & some of them from various Indian Mythological Stories such as Panchatantra & Hitopadesha or the all time great epics such as Ramayana & Mahabharata.
The ancient Indians left us behind wonderful memories in Rock which has survived for centuries
Hampi, Belur, Halebedu, Pattadakallu, Konark Sun Temple, Khajuraho, Tanjore Temples, you can find them all over in India
And what do we present generation do? We write "I love you", "I was here", "I miss you" on such wonderful things sad to say many a monuments in many parts of India have been vandalised & damaged.
Luckily Mahabali still is surviving & I hope & pray the future generation will see it in the same way too.
Now we shall Rock with the Rock Temples of Mahabalipuram
Before we get into the Rock Temples some small information for your reading
Mahabalipuram is famous for the following Rock Temples which you will see now
- Krishna's Mandapa
- Padavas Caves
- Arjuna's Penance
- Krishna's Butter a huge ball of free standing ROCK! Unbelieveable as to how it is still standing in that elevation.
- Three Murthi Temple dedicated to the 3 Lords of Hindu Pantheon. Lord Vishnu -The Protector, Lord Shiva - The Destroyer & Lord Bramha - The Creator
Our guide offered his services at a higher rate & we bargained & settled for Rs.150/-. We had time only to see the above as the kids main aim was the beach & we have saved the below list for future visit.
Apart from this there are shore temple towers near the beach and 16 man-made caves in different stages of completion scattered through out and a beautiful light house.
Krishna's Mandapa
Lord Krishna has always been a darling of Indian masses. He is the Complete Avatara of Lord Vishnu. He is the 8th Avatar & is the divine stateman. He plays a major role in the greatest epic of India the Mahabharata. He was not a Kshatriya Warrior but was born in a lower caste of a shepheard & his stories are always enchanting to hear at any age.
Mothers love their children & see Krishna in them
Young Women Girls love Krishna & want a husband like him
Men love Krishna for his wisidom & valour & his ability as a king maker, the old too love Krishna.
Remember Lord Krishna gives all of us Mooksha the Ultimate Salvation & liberation from the cycle of life & death!
Here in this picture below Lord Krishna is shown lifting the Goverdhan Mountain to protect his entire Gokula Village & the people & their cattle from the fury of Lord Indra's Rains, Thunder & Lightnning.
Here in this picture below Lord Krishna is shown with his parents who brough him up Nanda & Yashoda.
Lord Krishna is always shown with Cows & Calfs as he loved them a lot.
Here in this picture below you can see a lady of those times carrying a luch bag.
Pandava Caves
The picture below shows 5 caves which are just symbolic represetaion of the Pancha Padavas having stayed here.
Arjuna's Penance
The picture of the Elephant below is from the Arjuna's Penance Rock.
Arjuna prayed to Lord Shiva for a divine weapon called Pashupatastra.
What do we know about Pashupatastra? & How special is this Divine Astra (Weapon)
Wikipedia quotes it as The Pashupatastra (IAST: Pāśupatāstra, sanskrit: पाशुपतास्त्र), in Hindu mythology, is the irresistible and most destructive personal weapon of Lord Siva discharged by the mind, the eyes, words, or a bow.
Never to be used against lesser enemies or by lesser warriors, the Pashupata is capable of destroying creation and vanquishing all beings.
Indrajit Ravana's Son used this on Rama and it hit Lakshmana in Ramayana.
Arjuna's wanted this to use against Karna and Ashwathama who were his ultimate enemies in the great Mahabharata War. Arjuna ultimately uses this against his elder Brother Karna who was fighting against him and kills him.
This divine weapon could only be got after many years & decades of severe penance to Lord Shiva. It could only be used by very few great warriors who were worthy.
When Arjuna was in exile for 12 years, the Pancha Pandavas along with their Wife Draupati stayed in Exile.
One day he by mistake enteres the room of Yudishtira & Draupadi at night who were having a private moment.
We all know that Draupadi was wedded to the 5 brother and the brothers had an understanding that they leave behind their slippers outside Draupati's tent which means they were inside.
A DOG takes away the eldest Brother Yudishtira's slippers & Arjuna without realising this enters the room & for having interfered in the privacy of his elder brother, Arjuna was advised by Rishi Vyaasa to do a penance for forgiveness and also in the process obtain Divyastras for the Great War that was coming.
The DOG gets a life time curse from Lady Draupadi that it will only copulate make love in the public in front of every one & will have no privacy hence you will always find DOGs mating in Public!
Arjuna decided to pray to Lord Shiva for the Pashupatastra. It was to be the most powerful of all weapons and was reusable n number of times, provided it was not used against a lesser enemy.
You will find Arjuna standing on One Leg & he hasnt eated for many years and this ROCK temple shows him as a highly malnurished showing his rib cage & with long beard, really awesome!
He is shown standing with his palms upward & with 2 hands lifted above his head.
Lord Shiva is shown standing next to Arjuna looking on & all the Ganas & attendants of Lord Shiva are shown accompanying him.
In this Rock Carving you will also see in the bottom an aged Cat which also is shown doing penance similar to Arjuna. The Cat is shown standing near to the Elephants Trunk in the rock carving.
This is a story for children stories from Hitopadesha / Panchatantra.
This Cat being old no longer able hunt potrays itself as a praying saint & doing penance.
A poor Mouse believes in this & comes too close to the CAT with folded hands seeking blessings only to be eaten up by the CAT.
The moral of this story is do not believe in what you see, first check & asertain the reality & then trust some one before totally believing. Blood enemies can never be friends.
Krishna's Butter
After Arjuna's Penance visit we went to Krishna's Butter Rock.
Wow what a massive piece of free standing Rock.
Seeing is believing & what is most interesting is the way it is positioned for so many centuries. Really divine.
We will see 2 huge rocks inclining & this is the place where Bheema's food was cooked.
3 Murthi Temple
We see a temple dedicated to the 3 Main deities. Lord Vishu, Lord Shiva & Lord Bramha
You will see an interesting round stone carved tub to collect water. I can't imagine how the artisans carved this to such perfection a 100% circle.
I dont know whether they had high precision lasers to cut it this way!
You will find a Astrologer with 2 Parrots & guess what the Parrot tole me "YOU ROCK!".
After this 3 Murthi Temple we came to another Temple.
Here you will find Lord Vishu in Varaha Avatar (with a face of Wild Boar this is 3rd Avatara of Lord Vishnu out of the 10 Avatars) saving Mother Earth from the demon Hiranyaksha who had taken away the Mother Earth to Patala Loka.
This is basically showing how the Lord Vishnu helps the Devas / Suras in their fight against Danavas & how he destroys the Danavas / Asuras.
The sheer majesty of the Lord standing on one leg & defeating MAHABALI by keeping his another feet on Bali's head below is seen to be believed.
In this art below it shows how the Lord Vishnu defeated Asura King Maha Bali & sent him back to Patala Loka.
Mahabali was doing a great Yagna Fire Worship to seek divine powers from the GODs & Guru Shukracharya was assisting him in the Worship.
Lord Vishu comes as a Dwarf Vamana Avatara (5th Avatara of Lord Vishnu). As a Dwarf Brahmin Prist he approaches Mahabali who in turn asks Vamana what does he want.
Vamana says he just needs 3 steps of land to the size of his feet.
Mahabali being arrogant & who had conquered the 3 Lokas The Heavens aka Deva Loka, Earth aka Bhu Loka & already Lord of Patala Loka laughs out at the dwarf size of Vamana & says he will give the 3 steps of land he owns to the dwarf.
Guru Shukracharya suddently realizes that this is no ordinary dwarf & using his divine powers finds that this is Lord Vishnu & advises Mahabali against giving to the wish of the dwarf.
Mahabali says he can't go against his own words and says it is against Dharma.
Mahabali takes a water jug which had a gooseneck spout & is about to pour water from his hand into the hands of the dwarf as a sign of his accepting to the Dwarf's request.
Guru Sukracharya transforms himself into a tiny bee & enters the gooseneck spout enterance and blocks the water from coming out.
Lord Vamana knows this & uses a Darbhai / Rice Straw from the ground & directs it up the straw into the gooseneck spout poking out the left eye of Guru Shuckracharya who out of pain comes out allowing the water to pour out.
Since that day Guru Shukracharya is always shown having 1 eye & known to be half blind.
Mahabali pours out the water & tells the Dwafr to take his 3 steps of Land.
The Lord starts becoming massively big & attains massive size where he covers Deva Loka with 1 step, Bhu Loka with another step and asks Mahabali where can he put the 3rd and Mahabali realizes that he is completely defeated & his arrogance is subduded & seeks Lord's Protection.
Lord Vishnu assures Mahabali that he will protect him & send him back to Patala Loka & it is said that the Lord is still Protecting Mahabali.
You can see this entire story in this rock art below.
After this we came to the final temple in the center dedicated to Lord Ganesha son of Lord Shiva & Parvathi, who removes all Obstacles.
With this we are finished with the Rock Temple visit & we went to our car which was safely parked inside a huge parking of a temple dedicated to the Lord Vishnu & this temple is called Sthalasayana Perumal.
Stala = Land / Place
Sayana = Sleeping
Meaning the Lord who sleeps on the Ground.
Most often Lord Vishnu is always shown sleeping on a huge Serpant Adi Shesha and only in this temple you will find the Lord sleeping on the ground. There are 8 Sayana to the Lord.
The Sthalasayana Perumal Temple is dedicated to Sri Vishnu as Sthalasayana Perumal and his consort Divine Mother Shakti as Nilamangai Thayar.
The temple has a special shrine for BhootathAlvar who was born in Mamallapuram.
Sri Bhoothatalvar is one of the 12 Alvars of the Vaishnavite tradition.
Bhoothatalvar was born in Mamallapuram & is considered to be incarnation of Kaumodaki, the mace of Sri Vishnu.
The devotional songs of Bhoothatalvar form the Divya Prabandham "Irandam Thiruvandhadhi".
You need real GUTs to get drssed & come out like this!
Shrimeenakhi's dream of visiting the Beach came true & Master Uthamkumar along with Shrimeenakshi & me had a great time in the Beach watched over by Jamuna sitting at the shore.
The Sun Set was simply out of the world as always. We could see lot of fishermen in their speed boats.
I literally had to drag the 2 little monkeys away and the return trip from the Beach to the Car was a great comedy with lots of sand stuck at various places the 2 little ones were complaining all the way.
Some Chocobar icecreams at the Beach settled them.
Had dinner at the Adayar Anandha Bhavan A2B resturant at the exit of Mahabalipuram at 7.45 PM. The restaurant is very good & has ample parking space & has place for kids to play etc.
We reached Chennai at night 9.40 PM
I got an overall mileage of 18.4 kmpl and that was pretty decent with 100% AC on.
I hope you all enjoyed the jouney & travelogue as much as we enjoyed the journey.
I recommend every one who visits Chennai to attempt to make a visit to Mahabalipuram and enjoy.
Sincere thanks for your valuable time spent on this blog.
