India: Mahabalipuram

In conjunction with Bakrid Day (Hari Korban), we went to Mahabalipuram for a one-day tour. Mahablipuram a.k.a Mamallapuram is one of the tourism spots near to Karapakkam. The journey to Mahabalipuram took us around one hour. East Coast Road (ECR) is the express highway connecting Chennai and Mahabalipuram. The road is nice and smooth without any loopholes but there are cows blocking the way sometimes. So beware while you are speeding. We paid a toll fees of Rs. 45 to use this ECR.


Upon entering Mahabalipuram town, there were a few local Indians blocking the way and claimed that they could be the tour guide and did the explanations. Of course, they asked for fees and perhaps tried to rip us off. We were lucky enough to have a good tour guide helping us to reject this unwanted and unnecessary offer.


Mahabalipuram is famous with its stone carving as it's the source of income for the locals. Take a look at this Mahabalipuram Street View video for the shops with lots of stone sculptures along the road. The tour guide even brought us to see a huge dancing lady stone sculpture purchased by a foreigner. It's left by the roadside due to shipping difficulty.

Mahabalipuram has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Most of the monuments are made of rocks and stones. It proves that the locals developed stone-carving skills centuries ago.


Feel free to visit Rolly's Flickr Page for nice Mahabalipuram shots. More stones are coming!!

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