On a catamaran to see what Indra’s jealousy did

Trip to Mahabalipuram – 02

On a catamaran to see what Indra’s jealousy did

This trip to see the submerged temples off the shore in Mahabalipuram is unforgettable… read on…

‘If you want to go on a catamaran to see the submerged pagodas, you will need to be at the shore at sunrise,’ said the friendly manager of Chariot Beach Resort. And yes, I was there and I must say the sun rising on the horizon has an hypnotic charm. After all, we were on the East coast of India just south of Chennai in a place called Mahabalipuram.

The Wikipedia describes a catamaran as ‘a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stabilized craft, deriving its stability from its wide beam, rather than from a ballasted keel as with a monohull sailboat.’ The fisherman who would be maneuvering this vessel said that in Tamil, his language, it was called kattumaram because at one point of time they were just logs tied together. He pointed to a longitudinal hole in the base of the vessel and said, ‘Water squirts out of this hole so you will all be wet.’ Wet? Well, it was then that we were told that we would be squatting on the floor of the vessel. He laughed at our nervous expressions and added, ‘You will anyway be drenched. There are times we will crash through the billowing waves and the spray will hit you from the top as well as the bottom.’

The catamaran is a vessel that gives you a feeling of real adventure

The catamaran is any day better than the wildest rides anywhere

Safety equipment while on a catamaran is mandatory

The inlet/outlet at the base of a catamaran can lead to hilarious results…

I wisely handed my DSLR to friends who were on the shore and would go only once we got back. Our smartphones are fortunately splash-proof these days though it is a good idea to literally tie your device to your palm as the ride, as we discovered, had rough moments.

From the shore where we were, between the sea and Chariot Beach Resort, I could see the Shore temple of Mahabalipuram in the distance. This place is in the Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu and has ancient links to the Pallava dynasty that had ruled parts of Southern India between the 3^rd and 9^th centuries AD. One of their kings had constructed a complex of temples that came to be known as the seven pagodas of Mahabalipuram. The Shore temple to our left is just one of these seven. The other six are submerged around 500 metres into the sea… and the top of some of them can be seen as the waves go down.

The fisherman handling our catamaram was happy to see us curious about the submerged pagodas and asked, ‘Do you know why they were submerged?’

‘Global warming?’

‘Ha! Ha! There was no global warming then.’

‘So did this happen too long back?’

‘Yes, our ancestors tell us that the Mahabalipuram temple complex was an architectural marvel and so charming that even the Gods yearned for it.’

‘Really? I thought the Gods had far more beautiful things to amuse them in Heaven…’

The catamaran handler pretended to have not heard this and went on, ‘Lord Indra, the God of rain and storms, was so jealous that he summoned storms and rains to submerge the entire city.’

‘That’s cruel… and so anti-development…’

‘Maybe. But it made him happy to see the temples gone from view. But then being a God he was also kind and did not want this art to be completely forgotten. So he left only the Shore temple to remain on land.’

‘Are you sure that what we will see are actually the top of some temples?’

The shore temple that is visible in the distance is a part of those that are now submerged

As the waves go in their trough stage, the tips of these submerged temples becomes obvious

Well, we did see tips that did have some form of sea-worn and wave-thrashed carved stones jutting out whenever the waves permitted us. The catamaran went all around the complex without going too near as that isn’t permitted. These temples are fairly deep in the water because if they are anything like the Shore temple, then there will be five stories inside water. The Shore temple is, of course a pleasure to go around but then we will talk about it in a different post.

I must add here that when people talk of adventure during travels it isn’t always about bungee jumping or sky-diving. Even a catamaran ride through some rough and choppy seas can be quite an adventure and if a mythological story is what you get to experience, the thrill is more than doubled.