The Great Architecture & Mystique of Mahabalipuram

“No!!! You are Wrong!! 4 rathas are for 5 Pandavas & the 5^th is Draupdai’s” Hasina’s temper was as soaring & scorching as the heat surrounding us.

“But Madam, I am right…the 5 rathas are for 5 Pandavas only…see Dharmaraj, Yudhishthira, Bheem, Nakul & Sahdev!!” proclaimed our guide a bit pleadingly.

“Accha, where has Arjun gone??!! And Dharmaraj & Yudhishthira are one person!! Also how can Bheem live in this smallest Ratha??!!” Hasina was not going to take it lying low either.

She becomes a person possessed (with Wikipedia, Google, etc.) the minute she notices Ancient & Medieval architecture…and if they are temples, the guide in question better know his stuff!!

“No..no”!! The guide looked feebly and suddenly started finding the sand beneath his feet of great interest.

“Oh!! Forget it…I’ll explain” Hasina told the guide a bit kindly now….

“Madam”, some other tourists nearby also chimed in seeing the scene, “Explain it to us also”…they clearly had no guide with them, and thought what better than this…and their beaming & hopeful smiles did the trick. So Hasina looked around, opened Wiki on her phone to consult & started J J Not a new scene for Musafir…who also finds the sand below his feet very intriguing in such situations!! J J J

17^th March (Sunday): 11am : Well after bidding adieu to Pondicherry with a heavy heart, we were supposed to hit the Chennai Airport & spend time there till our flight, that was due at 5pm. We had at least 2 hours extra which otherwise would have gone in sitting for a lavish lunch…but then we changed our plan within 20 minutes of leaving Pondicherry (again, as usual).

What is a lavish lunch, when there is so much to explore en route J

Salt Lake and mounds of salt!!

We both has visited the beautiful Mahabalipuram as kids with our respective parents, and while Musafir did not care much about temples then (he was 11 years old), they had left an indelible mark on Hasina even at that time (she was 16 when she visited, but she was always into ancient structures). But as teenagers viewing these timeless pieces of Art is nothing compared to viewing them now, when you are wiser about such gems.

Thus, it was almost unanimously decided that we will ditch the lunch & stop at Mahabalipuram to see three temples:

·        The Rock Cave Temple

·        The 5 Ratha Temple

·        The Shore Temple

Hasina was super excited the minute she spotted the temples from a distance (scaring our driver a bit…who thought some bee had entered the car seeing her jumping & fidgeting in the back seat).

Before starting our tour, let us first give you a background on Mahabalipuram.

Mahabalipuram was an ancient port city with rich trade relations with countries like Rome, Greece etc. Some excavations carried here revealed coins, urns, relics dating to the era of Periplus (1^st century CE) and Ptolmey (140 CE), that indicates that trade relations with these civilisations were on full swing at one time in this port city on the Coromandel Coast.

During Pallava dynasty, Mahabalipuram reached the zenith of its progress in culture, economy, trade etc. As history would tell you, any King, whose dynasty is firmly established in the grain of his land overtakes Mega projects to be built. The idea to build them is to:

a.)Leave an indelible mark of the Dynasty till future

b.)Assert power & dominance of the Dynasty & declare that “we have arrived”!!

c.) To give a message of supremacy to neighbouring states.

King Narasimhavarman I was the ebullient king of Pallava dynasty who overtook the project to build these temples in Mahabalipuram. It is also said that these temples were especially built with the Ancient “Trimurti” or Holy Trinity dominance as that was the time when Hinduism had again gained power over new religions like Buddhism & Jainism. The idea to create these temples around the Ancient Hindu Gods & Godesses could be to strongly assert Hinduism and its return.

Rock Cave Temple:

Coming back to the temples, the first we went to was the Rock Cave temple. The temperature outside was a scorching 35 degrees…and seeing a temple in that heat was truly a fanatic’s idea (all fingers are pointing at Hasina particularly).

What strikes you first & foremost when you enter these grounds is this astounding structure.

Left: Krishna' Buterball, a gravity defying rock!! Right: A cave like natural structure

How this huge rock, which is called Krishna’s Butterball (although there is no legendary story to this effect) is balancing itself for so many centuries is a matter of extreme wonder. The guide we had booked in a hurry couldn’t throw light at that, but told us that this rock had survived Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and all weather conditions & yet not left its place in all these centuries. This is called nature’s wonder!! Obviously this is attributed to some geographical conditions or the properties of rocks in this region to gravitational pull….but it looks like a mystical wonder nonetheless.

The ground here is an ironical juxtaposition of nature’s beauty & man made beauty. Like look at this pic below.

 

One picture says so many things. These rocks are situated not even 20 metres from each other, it is then ironical how one remains a rock, just to pass by and out of one Man carved out a sacred shrine!! A shrine dedicated to holy Vedic Trimurti (Trinity), i.e., Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Preserver) & Shiv (Destroyer). One is beautiful in its raw & untamed avatar and the other rock in its ornamental & carved avatar. So “Wild” or “Civilised”, both are beauty to behold. J

Moving on J we also noticed some clear foreign influences on a few structures, for example here is a picture of Ganesh Ratha:

It is a classic & unconventional marriage of Dravidian & Roman/Med style design. Look at the (pointed in black) very Roman mural of a sphinx like angel with wings…decorating the outermost surface of an otherwise very Dravidian building. This clearly indicates that Mahabalipuram was in fact one of the busiest seaport at a time and played host to Roman or Med traders. They could have seen this design on a hull of a ship, coins, clothes & being intrigued used it on a structure, merging it with their own style!! (look at the traditional Roman sphinx on the right...and see the ispiration)

Some historians also claim that Mahabalipuram probably housed a school for sculpture, one of the finest probably. It is presumed so, as most of the temples of Mahabalipuram do not have a uniform design that was common with organised temples in general. Therefore it is quite possible that while some parts of these temples were sculpted by master craftsmen, the others could have been a test for amateurs who used their imagination to create such fantastical marvels…each distinct from the other.

 Vishnu's Varah avatar: Varah avatar leela carved out on the walls

 Left: Goddess Durga; Right: Krishna's Viraat (All encompassing) avatar imagining

Extreme Left: Vishu's Viraat Roop; Middle: Krishna lifting up Mount Govardhan (although He lifted it up with his smallest index finger & not his palm as shown here; Extreme Left: Goddess Durga

 

Descent of River Ganga:

Next up was the spectacular structure called Descent of River Ganga (Hasina wonders why the hell is it called “Ganges” which frankly sounds like a disease. Ganga has a soulful resonance in your ears…and not to mention the real name of the River. What the hell is Ganges??!!)

You must be aware about the legendary tale of how Maharishi Bhagirath got the boon of bringing the descent of cosmic Ganga to the Earth. He released Ganga from his “kamandal” or flask, but her force was so strong that it would destroy the planet, therefore Shiv upon hearing Bhagirath’s request, opened his dreadlocks (jata) and Ganga’s force was reduced by being entangled in it, & thus she came to Earth with a nurturing flow. This tale is the core of inspiration & imagination in this masterpiece.

Look at the cleft in between, that shows the Descent of Ganga. Clockwise left & topmost: the Yogi in one legged meditation is Arjun

It also shows Arjun’s Penance, which he did and received the Gandiv (The Mega Bow) from Agni. The yogi shown in the picture who is performing the one leg meditation is Arjun.

Apart from this lot of legends & animals are carved on this statue making it a masterpiece in its own way…there is a herd of elephants carved with such dexterous precision that it is a sight to behold.

The most astounding part of these structures are that they are carved out of a monolith, i.e, one giant single rock. Here are some more artistic carvings for display:

 

5 Ratha Temple:

Buy now we could hear the faint sound of freckles popping at the back of our neck…it was getting scorching by the minute…however standing in the shade not only brought respite, but was very pleasant too.

Although having seen them before, & even studied about them in course syllabus in school (when we felt killing ourselves or someone), we had a clear image of the Rathas in my mind. But the actual sight of these Rathas is always awe-inspiring

Yudhishthira's Rath

Intricate handwork & each Ratha of a different architecture than the other, just takes your breath away. The fact that each Ratha is painstakingly & intricately carved out of Monoliths just makes you wonder how immensely talented Indian sculptors were!! All this was achieved by no other instrument but a long nail & an iron mallet!! Astounding!! Sadly, it is almost a dying art now.

Shore Temple:

This was the last temple we visited & truly cherry on the icing when we saw this vista

 

By this time, not only we were running short of time, but were also about to burst into flames ourselves. It obviously did not help that our guide could again throw no light on the Shore Temple. Therefore we do not know too much about the temple, except that this gorgeous structure is just a small fraction of the earlier majestic & imposing Temple that used to stand in its place. It possibly was wrecked & washed out majorly during an earthquake or a Tsunami. The Tsunami of 2004 revealed the remains of this temple in the sea!! The structure that you see today are just 2 temples & rest 5 are destroyed.

 

The wreck that sea corrosion causes is already showing on this temple as many sculptures are in bad shape & heavily corroded.

Still the vast expanse of greenery, the ancient heritage structure against the backdrop of a jewel colour sea glistening in the sun is a sight to behold!!

17^th March (Monday):1.30 pm…we headed to the Airport to board our flight home!! Marvelling at the fact that in just 3 days & no extra day off work we could explore & live so much J J J

Musafir Rating: 3.5/5
Hasina Rating: 4/5

What to Wear: Whatever you wear, if going in peak afternoon then DO buy a hat...else you will get a stroke you won't forget. If possible carry an umbrella

Cost: Only cost should be that of a Guide who took Rs.600 from us for all 3 temples. Only take an ASI approved guide. We have had brilliant results when we went through them. Do NOT let your cab driver fix your guide, like we did :(

Tip: The Coromandel Coast has some lovely eating places that overlook the sea & Shore Temple. You can easily sit there, take in the view over chilled beer :) :) Cheers!!