Photo Post: Mamallapuram

Krishna's family. The really tall guy on the left is his brother.

Krishna Groupies

Animals, including the Narasimha avatar of Vishnu we honored at the ISKON temple.

A man milking a cow. Notice he has a Buddha type head.
The woman above is asking Lord Krishna not to play his flute, as it is distracting her baby from taking any milk. 

Columns

Anand showing us how the carving of a cow and her calf...

can also be seen as an elephant

A cow. Moooooooo.

Pillars

This is carved out of one single rock. It is an amazing piece,  known as Arjuna's Penance. Arjuna was one of the  five Pandavas , the brothers who were the heroes of the epic, The Mahabharata. Arjuna's discussions with his charioteer (who just happened to be Lord Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu) in the midst of battle make up one of Hinduism's most sacred texts, the Bhaghavad-Gita. Here  you can see elephants, and to the left, the Ganges river, descending.

A better view of the descent of the Ganges. To the upper left, see the super-skinny guy with his arms above his head and his legs in a "4" shape? That's Arjuna, doing his penance. Apparently, he stood in that exact position, not eating, sleeping, drinking, or moving, for 12 years. Wow, he must have done something pretty heinous to earn a time-out like that!

Krishna's butterball. A natural rock formation. This rock has been balancing on its tip for hundreds of years. 20 elephants have tried to pull it at once, and failed. There is a goat resting in its shadow.  When Raja and I had our picture taken in front of it, he made a "Raiders of the Lost Ark" joke. The idea of being smashed by Krishna's butterball is not very appealing to me!

Thiramurthi Cave: A shrine (not active) to the three main gods of Hinduism: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

This green bird told our fortunes. First, his keeper let him out of the cage. We told the bird our first name. 

Then the bird turned over a series of folded "cards." When he stopped, he hopped back into his cage, and the keeper closed the door. The keeper then opened the card, which contained a picture of a deity, and told us our fortune.

I received the Ganesha card. My fortune was thus:
I have something on my mind, and I don't know if it will go well or not, but don't worry, it will turn out well.
I have a large family, but we are not very very close.
I give a lot; more than I take.
It takes me a long time to get angry, but when I do, watch out! And I am very stubborn.
I will become very wealthy.
I will die when I am 95 years old.
I will get married this coming year.

Raja listened and translated for me, as the reader spoke Tamil. He translated  his own fortune, too.

He received the Shiva card.
His difficult past is over, and it's time to look to a better future.
He will receive a promotion at work, and become rich when he is 41.
He will die when he is 90.
He will marry this coming year.
(I'm trying to think...I'm sure there was more....)

Raja didn't actually tell me about the marriage prediction until later. However, he also told me,
"Don't put too much stock in the bird."
LOL.

Anand pointing to the next shrine. I'm interested in the goat to the right of the shrine.

The goddess, Shakthi, or Feminine Principle. More elephants.

Look at these gorgeous mandalas. They were carved on the ceiling.

Our last destination was the shore temple, which is not as old as the others, but has been significantly damaged by water erosion. Anand told us there were several (maybe 6?) other temples here at one time, which sank into the sea.

This area had been excavated out, only to be filled with water from the 2004 Tsunami. The water has still not completely been absorbed into the earth. 

The goddess (Durga) riding on her lion. At her feet is a blood sacrifice. In her legend, Durga killed a buffalo demon. In the distant past, Hindus would tender her, and her aspect Kali, blood sacrifices: animals and, occasionally, humans. Of course, Hindus are now respectful of all life, and many are vegetarians. They do not offer blood sacrifices of any kind. 

The shrines of the five Pandavas, the brother-heroes of the Mahabharata. Each temple (most unfinished) honors one of the brothers, and his patron deity. This complex is carved out of a single block of stone, and shows varied architectural forms.

Columns

The structures as seen from the far end

The beautiful beach resort where we went for lunch.

These are the sorts of places people pay to go so that they can see the historical sites, but don't have to deal with the "Real India."  It's a lovely change of pace, so clean and serene, but I wouldn't miss out of the rest of the experience for anything.

Boats and palm trees. 

You can actually swim in the sea here. if you're not wearing a sari, of course. 

At the resort, we were inundated by crows. The House Crow (Corvus splendens) which we saw everywhere we went is similar to American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), but has a grey neck. Here is one in flight. Raja was feeding them, much to their delight, and I'm sure, to the waiters' annoyance.

This was a peaceful and lovely place. I'd like to go there again some day and stay over night, swim and play in the waves, and walk on the shore in the moonlight. 

Be good!