Blogs from Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India, Asia - page 2

The attractions of Mahabalipuram There are three main interesting groups of attractions in Mahabalipuram. One is the shore temple (including museum and sea shore), another is the pancharatha (or pancha pandava) temples and the other is the group of caves, temples and other monuments on the stone hill. The last set of attractions include arjuna's penance, krishna mandapam, krishna's butter ball, ganesh cave, mahisa mardhini cave, trimurthi temple, the light house and few more. I have written about those monuments in a separate article. The shore temple There is an entrance fee of Rs 10/- to visit the shore temple and pancharatha temple (combined ticket). The ticket counter is there in front of the shore temple. As this is one of the UNESCO world heritage site (declared in 1984), you will get a thick colorful impressive ... read more

I believe when I left off, it was right before Christmas. I've done more shopping at Spencer's Plaza, and done a few other touristy things. Chelsea and I added each other on facebook and realized we knew a lot of the same people (No joke, this world is a small place). Chelsea and I had lunch after Spencer's at the restaurant at Phoenix Mall. This is kind of where the story gets a little awkward. We had been walking around the mall, and came upon Nando's to eat where a line had formed. We queue up and the male host makes eye contact with us and asks us how many. We say two- and he has us jump the entire line to eat at a booth that could have easily fit 4 to 6 people. I ... read more

My birthday surprise was sitting in the private outdoor shower at 6:15 a.m., enjoying the pre-dawn calls of birds. Then, on the front veranda of my chalet, the chorus diminished as the deep orange sun rose directly in my view east, through pink and blue tinged clouds over the Bay of Bengal. The surf pounded strongly giving a constant auditory sense of heavy rain, although the day is fine and the temperature is suited to sitting outside. Birthday celebrations continued through lunch. At breakfast our fellow travellers wished me Happy Birthday, as did a German woman who overheard them, and also my special chef (sous-chef he murmured once). Suffering mightily from allergic reaction to the perfume in my room, I went outside to the fresher air on the veranda for breakfast, where L__ joined me, as ... read more

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

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