..A sight for s(h)ore eyes..

after some almost 2 hours drive we finally reach Mahabalipuram .. - now how do i describe this in a way that gives it full justice..- WOW, so we pull in on the parking lot and walk for maybe 2 min. to the ticket office to get our tickets to enter the site, so a bit of background so for those of you, like myself didnt know this about Mahabalipuram..As i understand from my reading the town of Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty, located around 60 km south from Chennai, and apparently the name Mamallapuram is somehow believed to have been given  after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, he took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler). Now the whole of Mahabalipuram is super-famous for its monumnets these monuments are mostly rock-cut and monolithic, and supposely constitute from the early stages of Dravidian architecture, where Buddhist elements of design are very visible. They are constituted by cave temples, monolithic rathas (chariots), sculpted reliefs and structural temples... Soo imagine this, withall said and done, you enter a court yard where there is a 4 meter sculpure of an elephant that is 100s of years old and small temples - it is fantastic, it really is taking you back in time.. we get to walk around a bit, take pictures and then we slowly more down to the temple near the sea shore - as we walk towards the templete we get closer to the sea, and yet again the Bengal sea shows its true beauty, the wonderful smell of ocean, and a light and much needed breeze hits us (by now i guess the temparetur is reaching around 40 degrees) this is truly a wonderful feeling, and as we get closer to the shore temple i cant hel but yet again being taken back into the past of India, imagining how it must have been, what it would have looked like, smelled like, i stand for a bit, i guess day-dreaming a bit - till the hot sun of India makes me seek shelter in the shadows of the temple, and at one point i find myself looking direct at a statue of Vishnu, and the shrine dedicated to Vishnu - i feel humble, as i recall some of the stories about vishnu, and when you look at how Hindus preceives Vishnu i guess you must feel a bit humbel,  after all he is perceived to be the "All-Pervading essence of all beings, the master of—and beyond—the past, present and future, one who supports, sustains and governs the Universe and originates and develops all elements within. Vishnu governs the aspect of preservation and sustenance of the universe, so he is called 'Preserver of the universe"

After having walked around for a good hour or so - it is time that we start to head home to Chennai, so this time around, i am opted to the Toyota, and while sitting in the car being driven back to chennai - i cant help reflecting over this weekend, and i must admit, that it was a blast, it was amazing, it was fun, it was great, it was insightful, it was an eye-opener, a team building trip, and much more for me to write about, what a pity it is already over ... tomorrow back to work - oh wait, i still have 2 weekends left in chennai so i am sure i will explore some more ... - and when i said "what a pity" the weekend was over, i couldnt have been more wrong - that was one more thing waiting for me ...