Mamallaparum

Mamallaparum is “a 7th century port city of South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south of Chennai.” (source: wikipedia) During the wealthiest period of its civilization, the Dravidians traded with people from as far as Rome in this port city. What remains in this area are beautiful monolithic sculptures carved to the gods, and an overactive beachside tourism industry.

I wanted to visit the site, so I went to the Chennai bus station in the morning and armed with a Tamil pronunciation of “Mahabliparum,” I found my way to a rickety local bus that broke down a few times along the way. I was worried I would miss the stop, so an hour before, I tapped the person next to me and used my magic word. He shook his head and I kept tapping every time the bus stopped at another town, until he said “okay, I will say to you.” So, realizing I’ve perhaps pushed the limits of his kindness, I shut up and looked outside the window.

The areas 1 to 50 km south of Chennai was pretty consistent landscape. Over-developed land lined with a layer of unprocessed plastic garbage. But, I knew we were arriving in Mamallaparum before even my neighbor had a chance to “say to me” because 5km before we arrived the landscape instantly transformed into well-preserved fields and farmlands, like a time-warp into a more idealistic era. Ironically, tourism has shielded this area from some of the more nasty affects of commercialization.

The sites themselves were extremely overrun by tourists, and I couldn’t help thinking as I saw gardeners watering the hills of manicured lawn about the droughts a few km away in central Tamil Nadu. But, all these thoughts subsided when I saw the temples – they were indescribeable, but I will try anyway. From my vantage point, it looked as if the sand on the beach had risen up to take the form of nature- life-like animals and deities. Like a majestic sand castle that was built at the dawning of civilization and now, with the beating of the salty coastal water, is slowly disintegrating and returning back to its original form.

The scene along the road entering Mamallapuram

The surrounding beach. If not for the tourist industry, most of the inhabitants here would be primarily fishermen

The Shore Temple


This row of resting cows guarding the shore temple reminded me of the live ones that I saw lying on the road outside between two direction of traffic.




Although the other Dravidians temples are no longer places of worship for Hindus, Arjuna's Penance, a humble temple in the middle of town, is still visited by devoutees.

Halls of Arjuna's Penance

Sculptures along the Five Rathas


A korean tourist enjoying the relics under his parasol

Behind the five rathas temples, a rest in the shade from the burning sun

This was the first time since arriving to India that I’ve seen a public trash bin, which probably accounts for this area’s uncharacteristic cleanliness. It was such a novelty item that the government took great care to make sure it was noticed