Today is the harvest festival of Pongal, which is celebrated here in Tamil Nadu. I am currently in a small town called Mamallapuram, about 45 km south of Madras, which is famous for it’s rock carving. There are temples and carvings dating from the 7th Century. Modern Mamallapuram is packed with large and small workshops where the craft of carving is still practiced. Walking along, one hears the “chink-chink” of hammer and chisel.
Category: Mamallapuram
Mamallapuram and Pondicherry
In Mamallapuram I made friends with a group of painters from Rajastan. They have a little studio, where they sit on the porch and paint the day away. On my first night in town, we hit it off by speaking Hindi. That night was a celebration in Rajastan, and the invited me home for dinner. I spent a considerable amount of my remaining time in Mamallapuram sitting and talking with them in front of their studio as they worked. I was quite content to relax and watch the pictures slowly take shape…also, they made delicious coffee with cardamom.