Day 01
Mahabalipuram Monuments and Shore Temple Tour
- Pick up from your hotel and meet your local guide.
- Drive to the historic site of Mamallapuram in a private air-conditioned vehicle.
- Make your first stop of the day at the Group of Monuments.
- Visit Arjuna's Penance, a bas-relief monument considered one of India's most magnificent pieces of ancient art, depicting vivid scenes from the Mahabharata. These rock-cut, bas-relief, monolithic temple structures were built in the 8th century. Learn from your guide how Arjuna, one of the Pandava brothers, performed severe austerities to obtain Lord Shiva's weapon.
- Stop by Krishna's Butter Ball, a granite boulder poised on a stony slope. This curious boulder seems to defy Newton's laws of gravity and has not moved an inch despite its precarious position on the slope for more than a thousand years.
- Continue to the Shore Temple. These magnificent temples overlook the Bay of Bengal and were an important center during the Pallavas' reign, when Mahabalipuram was the main port of their kingdom.
- Make your last stop and marvel at the architecture of each of the Five Rathas or Chariots, dedicated to the lead cast of the Mahabharata epic.
- Conclude with lunch and drop-off back in Chennai.
