Chennai: Panch Rathas Tour with Delicious Lunch
Key Details
- Duration
- 07:Hours
- Pick up Location
- Hotel Lobby
- Live Guide
- Yes
- Language
- English, Hindi, Italian, Spanish, French and German
Overview
Travel to an 8th-century World Heritage site famous for spectacular rock-cut architecture. The experience comprises Asia’s largest bas-relief structure, a gravity defying boulder, and one of the 7 Pagodas mentioned by Marco Polo in the 11th century.
Tour Highlights
- Marvel at Shore Temple, an 8th-century wonder chronicled by Marco Polo
- Explore Arjuna’s Penance
- Visit Pancha Rathas, also known as the "5 Chariots"
Tour Details
Your experience will begin as you are collected from your accommodation at 7:30AM, at which point you will make your way to Mahabalipuram. Once having arrived, Panch Rathas is your first destination. These are rock-cut monolith structures which are dedicated to the lead cast of the Mahabharata epic. They are dedicated to Draupadi, Arjuna, Nakul-Sahadeva, Bhima and Yudhister. There is also a sculpture of an elephant next to the ratha of Nakul-Sahadeva.
Next in the itinerary is Arjuna’s Penance, a 100-foot by 45-foot open-air rock relief where an entire masterpiece from the Mahabharata epic has been carved. The River Ganga is at the center of the panel, and is surrounded by divine beings, hunters, animals, birds, and trees belonging to the Himalayan ranges.
The next stop is to Krishna’s Butterball, a 5-meter ball-shaped boulder which is perched precariously on a slope and seems to defy Newton’s laws of gravity. Next up, the magnificent Shore Temple beckons you. This 8th-century structural temple is made of granite, and served as a beacon for seafarers of the time. Legend says that this was a part of a complex of 7 temples dotted along the sea, and the legendary traveler Marco Polo also mentioned Mahabalipuram in his memoirs, referring to it as the "City of 7 Pagodas". Following this final stop, you will travel back to Chennai where you will be dropped off back to your hotel.
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Guide
- Entrance charges
- Lunch
- Private car
What's Not Included
- Drinks
- Anything not mentioned in inclusion
Meeting Points
The lobby of your hotel.