All about Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram- city of temples, located on the shore of sea and is a 2.5hrs drive from Chennai. The city has a glorious history since the Pallava dynasty and now glorifies its history through its temples.
Surrounded by water from all the three sides, this city houses many outstanding beaches. Also has many great trade routes in the past. Since the Chinese president Xi-Jiping is going to have a casual meeting with the Indian Prime Minister, Narender Modi here in Mahabalipuram, this city has again gained its fame in the newspapers and channels.
Here are few of the amazing places one would like to see while visiting this city.
- Shore Temple
- Lies along the shore of Bay of Bengal
- Constructed during Pallaval Dynasty, a UNESCO heritage site
- Its beautiful golden color against clear blue skies will struck your eyes
- When it was constructed, it had a set of seven. It is said that it is the only surviving temple out of seven. Rest others have been submerged in ocean.
- Entire temple is made up of single rock
- Sanctums are dedicated to Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu along with lots of sculptures
- Annual venue for cultural dance festival, that usually occurs in the month of December
- Panch Rathas
- one of my favorite spots here in Mahabalipuram.
- Its beauty amazes me with its monolithic rock-cut temple in the form of chariots/raths
- Its set has been constructed in such a way to resemble the raths of Pandavas of Mahabharata
- Again a UNESCO heritage site that will definitely mesmerize you with its memories
- Cave Temples
- 8-Open air treasure troves of rocks in 8 different themes.
- Amongst them 3 most famous caves are the Krishna Caves, the Mahishasurmardini caves, the Tiger Caves and the Varaha caves
- All the caves are dedicated to alive with the stories of the Gods and Goddesses after whom they are named
- You will be amazed to see the unique sculptures and architectures over here.
- Krishna’s Butterball
- 16 feet huge stone is still balanced on itself on a slope for 1000 years.
- It is said that Lord Krishna holds this, but nobody has seen the science behind.
- Several attempts have been made to roll it down, but no luck.
- Crocodile Farm
- Madras Crocodile Bank, located in the city of Mahabalipuram is one of the largest crocodile breeding center in India.
- Home to several varieties of crocodiles, snakes and turtles and many more
- A great place to see Indian Ghariyal
