Mahabalipuram is a must see. Review on Mahabalipuram

Situated on the very scenic Coromandel Coast in TN, its an archeological site with 7th century rock cut Dravidian temples and structures.

There are 7 major sites to check out, they are exquisite so take some time exploring at leisure, especially Arjuna’s Penance, a bass relief that has been a famous depiction of Mahabalipuram in school history books. The place is an absolute delight for history lovers. There are cultural events in Jan/Feb to add to the colour.

Its sunny all year round so be prepared to get toasted and fried on gentle simmer. All the sites have now been fenced post tsunami and so the natural effect almost lost. The tsunami also exposed new areas from below the sand and are now being methodically excavated.

The best way to explore the place is to hire an auto (if not in your own vehicle) at about Rs.200-300 and the driver acts as a guide at no extra cost or take a two wheeler at one of the auto repair shops near the bus stand. Pick up a brochure at the tourism office first; it serves well enough to not need a babbling guide at all.

It is barely an hours’ drive from Chennai (60 kms) on the coastal road and so filled with weekend revelers with plenty of options for cheap lodgings and expensive sea front resorts, the latest additions of PragatiMaidan style shopping/eating areas apparently provide added attraction too.

It’s an overnight train journey from Bangalore and about 7 hours by road via Kanchipuram. We found that it was best to couple it with a visit to gorgeous Pondicherry. In the spirit of adventure, we decided to take the first bus out of the Pondicherry bus stand on the ECR route.

The price of the ride was a laugh and the driver promised to drop us in Mahabalipuram in exactly two hours. The ECR is an amazing route in itself and most of the way we traveled on a narrow strip of land with the Bay of Bengal on one side and backed waters/man-made canals on the other.

There are quaint little towns all the way and you can get down at any to have a little snack if the fancy takes you, there are plenty of buses plying the route so you can catch the next bus anytime.

It was a pleasant journey for us even though the bus was stuffed to the limit, but we only wished that the driver was not so hell bent on keeping his promise of two hours. I remember praying for all the poor souls who had the courage to use the road at the same time as our bus.

Thankfully no one dared to cut in front of us or else there would have been a different story to tell! We were dropped on the highway (outside A2B) as these buses do not enter the city proper but we found ourselves the local transport within minutes with no hassles at all.

We kept TigerCave for the last as it’s about 4-5 kms outside the city and couldn’t have been happier about it. We had an hour but found it too little to enjoy the PRISTINE beach next to the Cave. There are hardly any humans and no fishing boats atall, just golden sand and the bluest water as far as the eye can see.

If there is time spend a day or so enjoying the resorts in the area. We though did not have such plans and rushed back to the highway point for the journey back. We were assured that buses from Chennai ply the return route every half hour but to our dismay the few returning buses would not stop despite our frantic waving.

Eventually one overloaded bus stopped and we clung desperately to 6 inches of foot space. It’s not very pleasant to be hanging out of a drunken bus but thankfully halfway to Pondicherry we managed to find proper seats.

Overall a must visit for a flavor of ancient India.