A visit to Mamallapuram – a photo essay
Mahabalipuram, which is now known as as Mamallapuram, is about an hour’s drive from Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and is a tourist town famed for its ancient sculptures and temples. The monuments in the city were mostly built during the 7th – 9th century A.D. during the time of the Pallava dynasty. The place has scores of temples and monuments, but some are more important than others.
The first photograph is that of the 7th century “bas-relief monolith” called Arjuna’s Penance. It is one of the largest bas reliefs in the world, 96 feet long and 43 feet wide. It has been carved on two gigantic adjoining boulders and contains more than 100 figures of gods, goddesses, birds and animals. It’s been named Arjuna’s Penance as it’s believed that it illustrates an incident from the epic Mahabharata when Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers “performed rigorous austerities to get Shiva’s weapon and destroy his enemies.”
The photographs below are taken of the sculptures inside the cave. A lot of the fine details are missing due to erosion. The moist sea air being corrosive has destroyed not just the details but also the colours. This is true of all monuments at Mamallapuram. In some places one might see remnants of colour but mostly it’s all gone. Despite that the sculptures are awesome to see.
You can see the effect of the erosion in the sculpted pillar below. There is something very interesting in the sculpture…the “mother” has been drawn in such a way that she can be an elephant as well as a cow. Both heads have been carved out. The elephant head is at the extreme right and the cow’s head is turned towards the baby who is drinking milk.
There are other smaller temples in this area which is believed to have once been a training school for young sculptors. Probably the reason why some monuments have been left unfinished. It is also interesting to see the way rocks have been cut – so very neatly! For apparently no other purpose than for the purpose of training. The cutting is something to admire, considering that this was done many centuries ago without modern machines and dynamite.
The cutting of the rock below has been left half finished but it gives a glimpse as to the method. Using sharp chisels small pits have been made in the rock. One theory is that dry wood was inserted into these holes and then moistened, so that it expanded and broke the rock.
The ancient Egyptians, many centuries earlier, had perfected the technique of cutting granite. They too used primitive tools. One of the ways they did it was by alternatively heating and cooling the rock until it broke. Sand was often used inbetween the weapon and the stone to prevent the tool from braking and to improve abrasiveness.
The picture below is a natural formation of rock, precariously balanced, and is popularly called Krishna’s Butter Ball.
Well, not so precariously balanced when one sees it from the back.
The picture below is that of a well, or rather a water tank built by the ancients. Sure, it isn’t an architectural wonder, but I found it intriguing.
Another famous place with a cluster of monuments is where you see the Pancha Rathas (Five Chariots) – named after the Pandavas (Arjuna, Bhima, Yudhishtra, Nakula and Sahadeva) and Draupadi. The rathas seem to be spread out in a random manner, leading some historians to believe that perhaps they were made during a sculpturing competition. Each of these is carved from a single piece of stone.
Here is a picture of a cute squirrel who lives here
The Shore Temple is a famous landmark of Mamallapuram. It is located on the beach and the surroundings have been well maintained.
Several temples at Mahabalipuram are believed to have been washed away by the sea (the Shore temple survived) and perhaps some are still deep underwater. Some remnants were found when the Tsunami struck and the water receded.
I’ll end this post with a picture of an old man who sits outside one of the monuments everyday.
(Photos are all copyrighted to me)
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