Blogs from Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia
April 30th 2011
India is one of the most fascinating countries in the world and also one of the most challenging for travelers. Madras is no exception. The colonial name of Madras has been replaced with Chennai. I guess once Madras jackets went out of style, the city decided to change its name also. Actually Chennai is the Indian name rather than the colonial name and it was changed in 1996. Upon arrival, we realized that our ship was docked in the middle of the coal port rather than at the container port or passenger terminal port. Well there actually is no cruise terminal, so here we are in the middle of a slag heap. The air was so thick with coal dust that the ship's staff had to take immediate action. All of the carpeted entryways were covered ... read more
March 2nd 2011
Her name is Mountaj but everybody calls her Kutima which means the daughter in a family. She is the only daughter in a Muslim family, born 22 years ago in Vedanthangal, a small village in Tamil Nadu, South India. She lives with her mum (Fatima), her dad (Hussein) and two brothers, one of them older than her (Satjogan) and the other one younger (Rakman) in a very small house in the center of the village. Her mum cooks idli in the morning and some people go there for breakfast. At lunch time she cooks for the volunteers who worked in Laia Foundation (that's how I met them). Fatima also rolls some bedis (indian cigarettes) and sells them in Chengalpattu (the district town). She's the strongest member in the family and she knows it. She stands firm ... read more
Ups and downs on the way South
Published: December 30th 2010Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Mahabalipuram
December 23rd 2010
It's been an awfully long time since we've blogged but we've got the reasonable excuses of internet being harder to come buy and being struck down by horrible, horrible illness that is now (touch wood) way behind us. Since we were last with you we have traveled between Kolkata and our current location of Mamallapuram. The journey has taken us through the southern part of West Bengal, the entire coast of Orissa then south into Andhra Pradesh where we cut inland for Christmas in Hyderabad. The coastline has been hugely variable from quiet little fishing villages with sludge covered beaches to cities with purpose built promenades where locals and Indian tourists stroll and eat candy floss, samosas and stuffed chilies. We have traveled by train, rickety slow local bus, terrifying fast express bus, ferry (big canoe), ... read more
June 23rd 2010
MAHABALIPURAM - Mahabs Studying in chennai and not visiting mahabalipuram, also fondly called by locals as "Mahabs" is a sin. My college is at stone throw distance from Mahabs, so we do visit it frequently(at least planning to do so). The atmosphere in mahabs is absolutely stunning. It is one of the favorite tourist destinations for foreigners in India, its got some amazing architectural beauties to boast about, and a great, colorful and vibrant beach, full with people of all ages enjoying themselves amidst the waves. The most important tourist destinations to talk about are the shore temple and the Five rathas and the light house etc etc and the list goes on. The shore temple is located just adjacent to the mahabs beach and is said to have built from one single stone, amazing ... read more
Day 3: Mahabalipuram and back to Chennai
Published: February 18th 2010Asia » India » Tamil Nadu » Mahabalipuram
February 18th 2010
Today we planned a trip from Chennai to the small town of Mahabalipurm/mamallapuram (the same place, called different names by even tamils, a small town rich in artistic tradition, notably in stone carving. In fact, so good are the natives of Mamallapuram that the town is a UNESCO world heritage site. Rakesh organised a taxi for the day to make transport easy and fast, extra stops were planned after half a day in mamallapuram. We left early to a) avoid the heat (we failed at that one) and b) avoid the crowds, mahabalipuram is the primary tourist attraction in the state of Tamil Nadu. Its 58kM from Chennai to the town, but took over an hour to escape the congestion of the city. Oddly, a toll booth marks the end of the congestion and chennai itself ... read more
December 22nd 2009
It’s proving harder than usual to find an Internet connection so reports from India could be few and far between this time! I think it’s Monday evening now (I’m sure about the evening part, so I haven’t completely lost it). Still, since this is the first report, I’d better start at the beginning. The flight was early on Friday morning. And I do mean early - 5 to 8 take off from Heathrow. I had a taxi booked from home for 4:45 but seeing how the snow was predicted for early Friday, I changed plans late on Thursday afternoon, found a cheap room near the airport and got on the half seven train instead. That worked out OK: I got a reasonable night sleep before the flight and left the Holiday Inn at 6 am for ... read more
October 2nd 2009
An extension of my holiday was this much awaited trip to the temples/ruins/stone carvings/buddhist caves and beaches of Mahabalipuram. Exploring them by myself was an exciting journey ! Mahabalipuram in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu is a pleasant seaside resort with some ancient relics embellishing its sea shore. The major attraction for the tourist lies in the bewildering Monolithic monuments and stone sculptures. located 60km south of Chennai on the Bay of Bengal, means “the town of Mamalla, the great wrestler.” Mamalla is the title given to the Pallava ruler Narasimha Varman I, who built many of the temples here. The previous name Mahabalipuram means “the town of the great king Bali,” from whom Lord Vamana (Vishnu) begged three paces of land. This town was an ancient port of the Pallavas kings, who ruled ... read more
January 7th 2009
Hi folks I visited Mahabalipuram which is 65 KM away from Chennai on ECR(East Coast Road). The journey from Chennai to Mahabalipuram or mamllapuram is unforgettable due to its magnificent scenic views. It takes about one and half hour to reach mahabalipuram. The place is famous for its stone carvings temples and monuments. The most important places are Shore temple which is a World Heritage site. The monuments are mostly rock-cut and monolithic, and constitute the early stages of Dravidian architecture wherein Buddhist elements of design are prominently visible. They are constituted by cave temples, monolithic rathas (chariots), sculpted reliefs and structural temples. The pillars are of the Dravidian order. The sculptures are excellent examples of Pallava art. It is believed by some that this area served as a school for young sculptors. The different sculptures, ... read more
November 22nd 2008
Had a good train ride to Chennai. Slept for about 75% of the thirty-two hour journey. The rest of the time was spent eating, and reading a book by Coelho (thanks MM!). No one really talked to me, which must mean that I fit in well. Once in Chennai, I got into a auto-rickshaw and looked for a place to stay. Everywhere was too expensive (1000rs! 800rs!) and my driver got mad at me for not giving him enough money. One hundred and forty rupees is a lot of food or biddis or clothing or whatever here, certainly good compensation for an hour or so or work and a bit of petrol. When I found a place for 800, they wanted me to pay up front before I could set my bags down in the room. ... read more
June 10th 2008
Well not much as some rascal decided to relieve me of my wallet and my mobile phone while I was getting on the bus at Badami! It was one of those situations where you have to fight with another hundred people to try to get onboard the local bus... Lots of pushing and shoving and squeezing to get through the bus door and then you notice that something is missing! And I noticed straight away, but who to blame... There are a hundred people who could have done it, all looking perfectly innocent and most of them of course are... I told the bus driver and conductor straight away and there was a commotion on the bus and lots of tut tutting that somebody would do such a thing... They recommended I go to the police, ... read more
