My last trip to India was in 2007 to attend a friend's wedding in Bangalore, and I visited New Delhi in 2000 and 2001, but I haven't been back to Chennai since 1996. And it was in Chennai, known as Madras in those days, that I first stepped foot in India. I still remember clearly arriving in Chennai around midnight, the airport hot and dusty and crumbling, waiting for what seemed hours to pass through immigration and collect my baggage.
But my trip to Chennai last week was a whole different experience: the new airport is slick and smooth, the city has grown and developed immensely, and I was whisked away to my hotel in a brand new luxury car for about $35 USD. A visit to St. Thomas Mount provided some perspective:
Over the weekend, I had a fantastic visit with John and Amy H., and we stayed up past midnight chatting over delicious Thai food from a nearby upscale restaurant. Although Chennai has made it's way into the 21st Century, it's nice to know that ancient India is still around. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram (also called Mamallapuram) is actually made up of several different sites, and is located about 2 hours due South along the East Coast Road. And....wow. Check it out:
It's all carved out of granite stone, much like Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Incredibly, these 5 structures, known collectively as the Pancha Rathas (or Five Chariots), were all carved out of ONE huge rock.
The level of detail in the carvings are amazing...
It is believed to be the last remaining of 7 ancient temples that bordered along the ocean, the others were washed away to sea hundreds of years ago. But after the 2004 Tsunami, when much of the existing beach eroded, archeologists found an amazing discovery awaiting them in the form of these seemingly unimportant rocks:
These rocks, and others like them, dot the beach around the Shore Temple, providing further evidence that Mahabalipuram was once an extensive city of intricately carved buildings and temples.
In the meantime, visitors from all corners of India, and beyond, come to explore these magnificent ruins.
And they are just as interesting as the ruins themselves.
But my trip to Chennai last week was a whole different experience: the new airport is slick and smooth, the city has grown and developed immensely, and I was whisked away to my hotel in a brand new luxury car for about $35 USD. A visit to St. Thomas Mount provided some perspective:
Over the weekend, I had a fantastic visit with John and Amy H., and we stayed up past midnight chatting over delicious Thai food from a nearby upscale restaurant. Although Chennai has made it's way into the 21st Century, it's nice to know that ancient India is still around. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Mahabalipuram (also called Mamallapuram) is actually made up of several different sites, and is located about 2 hours due South along the East Coast Road. And....wow. Check it out:
It's all carved out of granite stone, much like Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Incredibly, these 5 structures, known collectively as the Pancha Rathas (or Five Chariots), were all carved out of ONE huge rock.
The level of detail in the carvings are amazing...
The pinnacle, in my opinion, was the stunning Shore Temple. As you might guess, it's on the shore of the Indian Ocean. Truly magnificent.
It is believed to be the last remaining of 7 ancient temples that bordered along the ocean, the others were washed away to sea hundreds of years ago. But after the 2004 Tsunami, when much of the existing beach eroded, archeologists found an amazing discovery awaiting them in the form of these seemingly unimportant rocks:
These rocks, and others like them, dot the beach around the Shore Temple, providing further evidence that Mahabalipuram was once an extensive city of intricately carved buildings and temples.
In the meantime, visitors from all corners of India, and beyond, come to explore these magnificent ruins.
And they are just as interesting as the ruins themselves.
