While I have been several times to Mahabalipuram since my childhood, I have never stopped my fascination for the place. The Sthalasayana Perumal Kovil, the shore temple, the rathas, Arjuna's penance all have caught my fancy. But none could match the shore temple.
For once, I thought I would visit the town only for the shore temple, spend a couple of hours there and try to hone my skills as an amateur photographer with a handy digital camera. Armed with my Sony DSC and additional batteries, I started on a saturday after lunch to mahabalipuram. I reached the town around 3.30 pm and went straight to the shore temple.
After I bought the entrance ticket and went in, I was really fascinated on seeing the shore temple. Even though Lady Time casts her shadow on everything, here was a structure standing for more than 1300 years now. What a show case for talent.
The temple was built on the shore, was able to withstand centuries of ravages from wind, water and the salt air. What an amazing work of art. The ASI has done a good work in maintaining the whole area.
I could observe a few commonalities with this and the other temples. The temple, build in a typical saivite tradition had nandis adorning the wall. While some of them are disfigured, a lot of them are still in good shape.
Several times, I stopped closer to have a look at some of the intricate carvings on the stone. I could not stop myself from shooting more photos than I would have wanted to. Such was the effect of the structure on me.
After having taken several photographs of the temple, I moved to visit the Arjuna's penance. Another extraordinary piece of work. A huge bas relief depicting the scenes from Mahabharatha. Another piece standing the ravages of time.
I spent the whole evening on the hillock over the Arjuna's penance and walked all over the place. Fascinated by several facets of the sculptures, I could only be thankful to our fore fathers who had left us such a great legacy.
After spending more than 3 hours, I started to walk to the bus stand. And as usual, none of my visits to Mahabalipuram is complete without a visit to the Sthalasayana perumal kovil. Having completed the darshan of the Perumal, I boarded the bus to chennai.
All they way to chennai, I was fondly remembering the shore temple, the beach whose active inroads the temple had resisted, the whole ASI protected complex of structures. I was proud of rich culture and heritage which has been passed on to us.
