Mamallapuram

Over a 5 day long weekend Lex and I went to Tamil Nadu.  We flew to Chennai, but having heard not very good things about it, we went straight from the airport to Mamallapuram, which was a place recommended to us by Kevin (a colleague at work).  This settlement dates back to the 7th century when structures were carved straight out of granite.  The most important structure is the Shore Temple, which was built around 700 AD.  It's different from most of the other buildings as it is not carved straight out of rock.

Other famous sights that we visited on our first afternoon were the Five Rathas.  These are five "chariots" which are sculptures carved out of stone.  There are also enormous stone animal carvings here too.  

It was an extremely hot day, and we walked around the monuments.  Another one we walked to was called Arjuna's Penance, which is also known as the Descent of the Ganges.  It's carved into an enormous rock on a hillside.  

We walked on over the hill and back to the town, and then down a little road to the beach where it was possible to look back at the Shore Temple.  

 The following morning we went out on a walk before setting off to our next destination, Pondicherry.  We climbed back up the hill behind the hotel and first of all went to Krishna's Butterball, a giant natural rock perched on the hillside.  There's also a lighthouse on the hillside and various pavilions, caves and carvings.