—Categories: heritage, tamil nadu, tamilnadu

Ancient Pallava Caves near Chennai – Mandagapattu Cave Temple

This is a guest post from Lakshmi Sharath, who will be a writing about less known heritage sites on India Travel Blog in the coming days.

When Arun asked me to post on some of the lesser known monuments that I had visited, Mandagapattu was the first that came to my mind. A humble rock cut cave temple, this was the first ever prototype built by the Pallavas under Mahendravarman 1, long before the internationally renowned Mahabalipuram was built.
pallava caves

This trip, like many others was planned at the last minute.  I was in Chennai (Madras) where the idea of exploring ancient Pallava cave temples was floated around.  We decided on an impulse and hit the road. A couple of hours later, we were cruising through lush fields, but the landscape dramatically changed to rocky outcrops and boulders. We had just crossed the fort town of Ginjee , when we took a detour. A small rusty board brought our car to a sudden halt.  The hill seemed to open out to us, as we walked through the narrow opening to reach our destination – the cave temple at Mandagapattu carved out of a 100 feet hillock.
To the uninitiated, it looked like just another barren shrine, carved in a piece of rock.  A flight of steps led to the cave temple, carved for the trinity, flanked by the door guardians or the dwarapalakas. The shrines were empty. But as I read the inscription, I realized that I was at a 7th century cave temple, the first of many to come.
pallava caves

The temple in the inscription is referred to as Lakshita Yathaanam . And Mahendravarman declares that he is not building the temple from any perishable material – brick, wood, metal and limestone or stucco.  I also learnt that the early Pallava style was neither bold in their depiction of dwarapalakas, nor did they have too many embellishments in the form of relief sculptures.  However their style slowly evolved as they moved on to structural temples like the ones in Mahabalipuram and Kanchipuram.

We walked around the shrine and found an ancient well, where we sat for a while, listening to the sounds of silence, as the sun set though the rocks.

This post was written by Lakshmi Sharath for AffordableCallingCards.net, which offers long distance calling cards, such as India phone cards.


—Categories: bangalore, heritage, karnataka, photo essay, photos

The Palace of Tipu Sultan, Bangalore

I was at Tipu Sultan’s Palace in Bangalore two days ago. It was a cloudy evening and there wasn’t much light when we got there, but nevertheless managed to take a few pictures. The palace has a series lovely wooden pillars. The palace is entered through an airy hall open at one side, which leads to a few plain rooms. The first floor, reached through stairs at both sides of the hall have a gallery from where, it appears, the Sultan addressed his subjects. When I climbed up the gallery, I was surprised to see that the palace is symmetrical and has another large hall to the other side.

—Categories: misc

Request for Inputs – A tour to know history and stories behind structures

I am working on a project with a friend, to introduce keenly interested travellers to the past and present of Hoysala Kings and the dynasty. The idea is to take people on a guided tour to lesser known monuments in and around Belur and Halebeedu, not just limiting to those two well known places but to many more hidden but equally beautiful architectural wonders. The participants will get to know about how the kingdom evolved and flourished as they visit each of this location, and will hear stories, legends and historical facts related to the kingdom.

While trying to get travellers interested in history and help people know lesser known details of the kingdom, we are also trying to help people travel in some comfort, trying to accommodate participants in mid to lower mid-range home stays or resorts. We would like to get people of all travel-preferences to be able to come on the tour, while ensuring that the budget doesn’t go over the roof. I was wondering what is an ideal budget for a weekend trip. Typically the following elements would define the tour: Duration – 2 days and 1 night, leaving on Saturday morning from Bangalore and returning on Sunday night; Stay – mid-range to lower mid-range homestays or resort; Journey – Qualis or A/C tempo traveller for 6-10 people(nearly 600km round trip); Guided tour with extensive information and interesting stories covering 6 to 8 places in and around Belur and Halebeedu including those two. Even visits to Belur and Halebeedu will involve getting to know much more than what the ASI guides can tell you.

Please participate in the poll and let us know your price preference. It will help us plan the tour better. It would be great to hear your comments and feedback too. Thank you.

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The poll is now closed. Thank you for your participation and interest evinced. You will hear more details in next two weeks. Thanks.