Return to Mamallapuram

Char had a week off last week so we spent a couple of days in Mamallapuram, which she had not yet seen. Our first night was spent at a Resort that catered mostly to the Indian Tourists, not exactly the 4 star Ideal Beach Resort right down the road, but we had a ocean view and it has a nice waterfront. The difference being a lack of maintenance and toilet paper.

This small town had been a major port around 500-800 AD and is full of temple caves that have been carved into solid granite outcroppings. The shore temple here is one of the oldest temples in Southern India.

On the way down we stopped at a coconut vendor's stand, which is where they cut the top out of a green coconut and you drink the juice through a straw. Here we met "Coconut Raj" who survived to tell about the 2004 Tsunami. As he was setting up his cart early in the morning on the beach he saw the wave coming towards him. It flashed through his mind that he needed to save his business, but his life was more important. He made a run for this rock column which a person can climb from the back side (See Dave in picture for perspective). He made it to the top before the wave hit. In ten minutes it was over, but he sat on that rock for eight hours, afraid to move. He doesn't know why, but is glad the gods saved him that day.

Dakshina Chitra

Just south of Chennai there is a site run by a non-profit organization whose purpose is to maintain & promote the cultures of South India. Here they have faithfully re-created or moved typical houses circa 1900, from the Southern states of Tamil Nadu (where we live), Kerala, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh. They also have craftspeople making and selling traditional arts & crafts.

Many of the homes had very detailed carvings on the structural components as well as the doors.

The larger Stucco & Wood houses all had a central area with a recessed floor where rainwater is directed from the open roof above. As well as being very functional, this created a very open "courtyard" in what would otherwise be a very dark interior.

This weaver is making a Sari on a traditional pit loom which stretches across the whole room. It takes him about 10 days for each 6-9 yard length.

India's version of a fife & drum corp.

A potter intent on his work, and a thatched house that a typical villager would have lived in.

Char & I thought this was a great idea for a chicken coop.