Tipsy in Mamallapuram

Mamallapuram is a friendly little fishing town full of incredibly talented stone carvers. That’s its historical claim to fame - the intricate temples, rathas and bas-reliefs carved from single massive granite boulders in the 7th and 8th centuries. It is also home to the Shore Temple which is one of the earliest temples made from multiple large stones, meaning it required the knowledge to move large boulders and place them atop one another which is a giant leap forward from carving one stone in place.

Our friends who had already been were enchanted with the place and advised we would want to spend a decent amount of time there. We allotted ourselves 3 nights and, as we drove through the town full of mid-day closed business shutters, we asked ourselves, were they kidding us? It’s a small, sleepy fishing colony on the Bay of Bengal and, aside from the legit beautiful monuments, there isn’t a lot to do unless you surf.

We walked the main drag and the side drags, which took 15 minutes. Then tried to find something to do. The monuments have an admission fee and close early, so that wasn’t an option. I arranged an incredible Ayurvedic massage while K got a henna mehndi done. Then we stumbled upon the thing to do in Mamallapuram - drink beer while staring at the sea. It was terrible beer (British Empire!) and an unswimmable beach, but the beer was cold, the high up restaurant was breezy and it was the ocean, so we enjoyed it all. They served us delightfully light and crispy pakodas that K declared to be the best she ever tasted. I would rank them second, after a restaurant in Dharamsala where they were made from the crispy fabric of heaven itself. We watched a boat launch into the terrifying waves, cows walking the beach and men playing cards in the sand. And that was our exciting day. 

The next day we were very excited to be staying across the street from Joe’s Café, a very good breakfast place. Take that, Pondicherry! 

Then we wandered off to see the monuments. Stone carvers and hawkers of all stripes tried to lure us to try their wares but it was too hot for their hearts to be in it. We learned that shops open for awhile in the morning and close during the heat of the afternoon. We, on the other hand walked around from site to site, over burning sand and under the scorching sun to see the Five Rathas, and Arjuna’s Descent and all the amazing monuments until our brains poached in our skulls. 

Then we went and had beers. Better beers (Tubourg) were had, but not facing the sea. We decided to have even more beers (Kingfisher) and facing the Bay of Bengal this time. So we did, from a high vantage over the sea. We ate some Raid flavoured food and sang along to a 70s playlist the owner put on just for us. We tottered down the many flights of stairs and realized we HAD to get out of Mamallapuram before we killed our livers. We booked a room in Chennai and a car for the next day and abandoned the lovely townspeople.

The people are sweet and friendly, breakfast is delicious, carvers are highly skilled and the ocean is magnificent. Mamallapuram is a great place to read a book, shoot the shit with the locals or work on your cirrhosis.