Picnics Rock

During one of my last chances to travel in South India, I made sure to stop in Mahabhellipuram, one of the major art history mysteries. Extremely excited, I got of the bus only to be greeted by extreme and unbearable heat. It was too hot to tour the monuments, so we spent the day swimming in a resort pool, something I hadn't done in awhile.

After the sun died down a little bit, we decided to go check out the ancient temples and rock carvings of elephants, monkeys, and Hindu gods I've been craving to see for three years. Needless to say, when we arrived, the ancient monuments were being appreciated, just not exactly as we'd imagined. Everywhere around us, hundreds of Indian tourists had come to this famous place to have a picnic, take some photos, and trash it. Next to one of the famous unsolved mysteries of a spherical boulder balancing on a facade of rock named "Krishna's Butterball", children have worn away the rock with the seat of their pants, turning this miraculous wonder into amazing slides. While the kids played, couples snuck off to canoodle and eat right on top of famous elephants carved thousands of years ago. The only monument that was protected was the famous "Elephants descent to the Ganges" which was protected by an enormous black iron fence.

At first I was disappointed that this famous piece of history has been turned into a playground for Indian tourists. However, after thinking about it, I started wondering why we focus so much on preserving pieces of history anyway. Here in Mahabellipuram, at least people are appreciating history in a modern way. Although ultimately destructive to the monuments, perhaps in a way these tourists are doing just what these people in ancient times used to do: living their lives.

Perhaps my favorite part of Mahabellipuram wasn't the ancient monuments but the beach. This beautiful white sandy beach, rather than serving as the playground for tourists, was used by fishermen to dock their livelihoods. Sitting and watching daily life through late in the evening, life on this beach seemed almost magical. For the locals however, it's just life.