- Art-historical importance of Mahabalipuram
- Visiting Mahabalipuram with kids
- महाबलीपुरम यात्रा गाइड
Visiting Mahabalipuram with kids needs some tricks because kids usually lose interest in art treasures after a while. Secondly, you need to plan well to overcome the heat and humidity, which gets to the adults also.
Best time to visit Mahabalipuram with Kids
Chennai is notorious for its weather. The same weather accompanies Mahabalipuram aka Mamallapuram as well.
Mahabalipuram is a small place, populated mainly by tourists It lies at some 60 km from Chennai along the East Coast Road.
The only time to visit it with kids should be winters. The second best time is during rainy season of August and early September. Beyond that Chennai becomes prone to cyclones and floods and extreme heat.
So one such sultry but, thankfully a cloudy day in August, we arrived in Mamallapuram with kids.
A little history
A UNESCO site today, it has a long history going back to the days of Ptolemy when it was a busy sea-port.
Its names itself is a symbol of legends – Mahabalipuram for its ruler – the Pallava king Narsimhavarman I, who was a wrestler par excellence and hence was honored with the title Mamalla.
Let us walk together in the Mahabalipuram with kids but before that make sure that you have sunscreen, hat and plenty of water.
Things to see in Mahabalipuram with kids
There are three main groups of monuments in Mahabalipuram :
1. Group of rock carved cave-shrines and independent panels
2. Group of monolithic carved temples popularly called Five Rathas
3. The shore temple.
Best time to visit Mahabalipuram Shore Temple
The third group, that is the shore temple, has little shelter to save anyone from the blistering sun. If you are visiting Mahabalipuram with kids, it be best done early morning when the temple opens for visitors at 6 am.
It closes at 5 p.m. but till then it is extremely hot and sunny so must not be done in evening.
Do Kids find Shore temple interesting?
It is not that interesting for kids as they can not appreciate it just for its antiquity and architecture.
They are rather attracted by the Bay of Bengal surrounding the temple but again no trees to provide shelter on the beach also. You can club it with the sunrise views, if kids permit.
Ratha Temples in Mahabalipuram
The second group of monuments is highly ranked in the art history. All the five temples, popularly called Rathas in local parlance because their structure looks like Chariot, have been carved from the single rock. Four of these are complete structures.
What is there for kids in Ratha Temples?
Kids do understand and appreciate their importance when you explain that how these were made by scooping out the hard rock in the planned way so as to make pillars, sanctum, roof (Vimana), even sculptures also.
Still nothing nails the difficulty of carving the rock to the level of bringing out a temple till they visit the last of these Rathas- the Dharmaraja ratha.
Here the roof has been made most elaborate than other four temples, pillars are complete but the central solid mass of rock is lying intact.
It is a huge block, which when scooped out would make sanctum or Mandapa and sanctum-sanctorum (Garbhgriha), may be some more pillars. When kids look at this enormous mass of solid rock, no words are needed to explain anything.
It is struck plain and hard to a viewer to imagine the hard work, the skill, the imagination and the painstaking laborious work it is to make such monolithic cave shrines.
Rock-cut Cave Temples of Mahabalipuram
Now comes the first group, which begins with a huge rock carved panel depicting Arjuna’s penance. On to its left are a rock shrine and Krishna Mandap, which originally was a panel only and a mandap was added later on.
Cave temple complex is most liked by Kids
Real fun begins for kids when we enter the enclosed area right to the Arjuna Penance. Sprawling lawns and giant trees greet the visitor and give much sought after shade and cool. It is the best place to explore with kids in Mahabalipuram.
Visitor first reaches to Ganesh Ratha, another monolithic shrine as those of Five Rathas.
KRishna’s Butter Ball
Go right to this temple and kids will delight at the sight of a huge rock called Krishnas butter ball. It is perched impossibly on a rolling rockside and yet it is stable.
Kids love to roll down on the slope, sit beneath the rock and sometimes also try to push it.
Kids love the up-down and twisty ways
Retreat back to the Ganesh Rath and head left now. It is now a treasure waiting to be discovered by kids, spread in a large area.
The ways to reach these treasures of rock carved cave-shrines is what delights kids the most. It is a boulder and large tree laden area, winding and twisting its way through all shapes and size of boulders, gnarled trees and buttressed root.
It goes up and down and left and right and on the way appears one after another rock cave-shrines.
While you indulge in looking at sculptures, kids will climb the almost vertically carved stairs, jump from boulder to boulder, hop on the buttressed roots.
Butterflies Galore!
If it is the rainy season, as was with us in August, there are plenty of butterflies flipping everywhere, that not just kids, even elders will get allured.
From the tiny thumb nail sized to the big brightly colored, those busy with sucking the nectar to those busy in mud puddling, these will stop everyone in their tracks.
Every tree become an exhibit with its newer way of twisting and buttressing.
My younger one was greatly fascinated by the so many Neem trees, each one presenting a new sculpture.
As kids hop along they will reach to light house which is a charm for the young ones.
Then there is the climb to the temple situated above the Mahishasur Mardini cave. In one sweep, you get to see the 360 degree view of Bay of Bengal, Shore temple, the river and the city.
Besides these, though the beach is nothing to talk about, there is a sea shell museum, which my kids refused to visit as they prefer outdoors.
So with a little trick and planning, you can enjoy your visit to Mahabalipuram even with kids.
1 Comment