India: Initial Sights & Sounds of Southern India

Our first stop in southern India – Mahabalipuram (also known as Mamallapuram), is a seaside city that hosts thousands of devoted pilgrims from the whole of the Hindu world, as there are some magnificent holy, ancient archeological sites in town. We explored the beach area where the 7th century Shore Temple sits, then strolled with hordes of locals, fisherman, and (holy) cows, along the shoreline. Afterwards, we wandered up and around a hillside area that was filled with stupendous rock carvings and cave temples, each dedicated to various Hindu deities. Then we gazed in awe at Arjuna’s Penance, a sculpted cliff side boulder that depicts mythological scenes with religious significance. And, later that day we walked across town to the World Heritage site called the Five Rathas, for more viewing and gawking at some of the most phenomenal works of ancient architecture and art that we’ve ever seen.

Our timing was unintentionally good as the end-of-year dance festival was taking place in “Mahab.” We enjoyed an evening performance set on a stage that had the 100 ft. high Arjuna’s Penance as the backdrop. The dancing, combined with some trance-y music, and a light show on the sculpted cliff had our senses whirling. While in Mahab we also found time to take an auto-rickshaw (aka – “tuk-tuk”) to the nearby Tiger Temple, yet another amazing example of detailed rock carving and cave temples.

At our hotel we encountered a really friendly family of travelers who are currently living in Dubai. Curt (Colorado), Maijah (Finland), and their young boys Elliot and Noah (born in Germany) are a very international clan, and we took an instant liking to their kind smiles and warm intelligent conversations.

Leaving Mahabalipuram we traveled southbound along the eastern coastline to the city of Pondicherry (aka – Pudacherry). Our day in “Pondi” was spent strolling through the relatively quiet and quaint French Quarter - shopping, eating, and ambling along the seashore. Towards the end of the day we walked to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where we meditated in the noticeably serene and spiritual aura of many worshipers and seekers.

Again heading south, we stopped for a ramble at a magnificent stone structure called the Nataraja Temple complex in the town of Chidambaram. Here we were fortunate to experience the hypnotic chanting of the temple Brahmins and devotes while observing the ancient “fire ceremony” taking place within the inner sanctum of the main temple.

Already we’ve made several new friends, as well as shaken the hands of seemingly hundreds of people from India (a friendly and welcoming custom that is a national pastime, and comes with a, “hi, where are you from?”). Needless to say, there has also been much hand washing on our parts! We’ve posed in dozens of photos with Indian travelers, who love to have us in their photographs (and we always return the favor and have them pose in our pictures too). We’ve experienced sights and sounds of unusual proportions, and of course, we’ve been eating fantastic, exotic, and spicy meals. We’ve especially marveled at the Indian “art of driving” – a mad weaving and jumble of bicycles, cows, goats, tuk-tuks, cars, motorcycles, and colorful buses. And, all drivers utilize a fanatical style of horn honking that apparently has significance to the other locals on the road and roadside. Although the chaos of colorful India has already overwhelmed us one a few occasions, we’ve managed to find calmness amidst the cacophony as well.