Day 172 - Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head

So the Southwest Coast of India is finished monsooning by November. The South East coast, however, has peak monsoon season in November/December. Guess on which coast Mahabalipuram lies? Guess whose stellar research skills failed to pick up on this little anomaly?

It began raining last night. We waited out the worst of the storm in the internet cafe, and then made a break for home. Where we discovered that our cabin has a little leak (well several actually), but one we did not discover until we were in bed. Just as I was about to fall asleep, DRIP! - a drop of water splashed on my cheek. I chose to ignore it, believing maybe a gust of wind had blown a wayward drop through the window. Except a little while later, DRIP! DRIP! We couldn't move the bed out of the way, as moving it one way would have put my feet under another leak, and moving it the other way would have taken it out from under the mosquito net. Luckily, as soon as the rain let up a little, the dripping stopped.

The rain, however, did not. We dawdled over breakfast before taking a deep breath and heading out. On the way out, we passed a snack stall where a herd of goats approved of the rain about as much as we did. On the upside, Shore Temple, which had been crawling with tourists yesterday was almost entirely our own. We sloshed our way around the ruin and dutifully admired the centuries old stone carving. Shore Temple is an aptly named Shiva temple right on the Bay of Bengal. Over the years (many of them - the temple was built in about 630), the sea and the wind have worn away much of the carving. Recently (fortunately before the Tsunami) a stone wall was constructed to protect the temple form the ocean.

From the shore temple, we went inland to Arjuna's Penance, a monolithic rock carved all over with a bas relief depicting various scenes of gods and mortals. The figures and some of the stories have been determined, but what, exactly the rock signifies remains a mystery.

On the way to Arjuna's Penance, we passed a 15th century Shiva temple. New by Mahaballi standards, but intricately carved and lovely nonetheless. A reclining Shiva rested in the inner chamber, partially covered by a curtain. Apparently Shiva was having a twenty Day oil bath. On the 20th of December, he will finish his bath and be re-revealed with much fanfare and festivals at Shiva temples all over the south.

The area behind the temple and around Arjuna's Penance, is a preserved world heritage sight. The area is littered with temples, carved caves, and bizarre rock formations. "Shiva's Butterball" is an enormous boulder that appears perched precariously on an even larger rock. A few meters away a three-celled carved cave houses statues of Bramha, Shiva, and Vishnu. Whether they are there to protect "Shiva's Butter Churn" (a giant stone butter churn that legend has it produced Shiva's Butterball) is anyone's guess.

We returned to our guesthouse for lunch and a little break from monument overload, and then headed out to The Five Rathas, Mahabalipuram's other famous group of monuments. The rathas are all carved froma single enourmous rock. They are designed to resemble the temple chariots that escort the Gods during festivals, but because the rock from which they are carved is still connected to he bedrock, they were never conserated. Meaning, they were constructed purely as a display of wealthand power for the ruler, and of the skill of the stonemasons. Not a surprising move since even in the 6th century Mahaballipuram was known primarily as a stone-carving center.

It's interesting to consider that the golden age of Mahaballipuram spanned from about 250-690AD. IN Western Education, we are so focused on the fall of Rome, that sometime we forget to think about the rest of world. Asa Rome tumbled, Southern India was growing, producing some of its finest art, poetry, and dance forms.

After spending a day in 4th-7th century ruins, we decided to spend the evening firmly in the 21st - catching up on the blog. Tomorrow we will hire a car to take us to another carved cave, possibly a temple, and the Crocodile Bank and Snake Farm, and then to the airport where we wait for our flight to Kuala Lumpur. I have a theory about crocodiles and where naughty children in India wind up, but that's for tomorrow's post.