Ganesha's birthday

In Southern India, religion for most is a way of life. Around this time of year for the next several months are numerous Hindu holidays that are celebrated. Last week was for Ganesha (the god of success in elephant form). You know it's coming up because you see craftsmen setting up shop literally on the streets with a mound of clay that they mold and shape into hundreds of statues of Ganesha, and the women stringing jasmine and other flowers are unusually busy.





Those who have chosen to worship Ganesha are likely to buy one of these small statues to invite him into their lives and receive the positive things that may come of his visit. He is then taken to the beach covered with garlands of flowers, maybe a parasol or perhaps a wooden raft and a small shrine is set up for him.

This is a big cash day for young boys who are hired to take Ganesha out into the ocean where he is set off on his voyage back home.

People flock to the beach for this event which is a bit carnival like, complete with pony rides, and a hand cranked Ferris wheel. Even the women will enjoy getting tossed in the surf still wearing their Saris.

In the evening bands set up on brightly lit street stages at many of the temples where they play into the night, and floats made of flowers are paraded through the streets.

Mamallapuram

Located just 57km (35 miles) south of Chennai is the town of Mamallapuram. I had heard about the carved temples and bias reliefs, but was not prepared for the number of sights to see. On my short day trip there I was not able to see the main temple on the beach, so we'll be back soon, allowing a few days to explore and get some more pictures. What I did get to visit was an area of large granite outcroppings where you are free to wander. This open air museum is full of carvings and dry fit stone buildings dating back to the 7th century.

It's hard to get a sense of proportion here, but the elephants are life size.

Many of the temples are shallow caves carved right into the granite. Others are partially carved out of the rock with pillars, and huge slab roofs, or dry fit stone walls.

A person could wander for hours through this maze of sculptures, climbing around on steps carved into the steeper inclines. The whole area is open to the public with no restrictions. You can see where countless hands have touched this cow being milked, where people can sit on the calf and have their picture taken.

I don't know the reason, but this balancing rock was placed here by one of the gods (Shiva I believe). The story goes the British where concerned that it was a safety hazard and attempted to pull it down with a team of elephants, but were unable to do so.

Mamallapuram gets it's share of tourists and is also full of stone carvers who want to sell you intricate nick knacks. These guys can be very insistent and follow you around, acting as a guide with the expectation that you will buy something. They think all Americans are rich. After I couldn't shake a young man, I finally got stern and told him to go find some other rich American. That seemed to work. I couldn't resist taking a photo of this mother & youngster who where hanging out on a large transformer tower.