Horses for rent, a photo from Tamil Nadu, South

Photographer's Note

In the background of this photo is the Shore Temple of Mahabalipuram, built in the early 8th century. Mahabalipuram, more often nowadays known as Mamallapuram, is a small town, or large village, about 50 km south of Madras (now Chennai) in Tamil Nadu state (formerly Madras state).

I arrived at Mahabalipuram in October 1987 by local bus from Madras, where I had arrived the day before after an overnight journey by train from Hyderabad (occasionally spelled Haidarabad).

Mahabalipuram may be a small place, but it is packed with fantastic temples of various sizes, their walls usually covered with sculptures and friezes of superb quality. It is no doubt one of the culturally most important places in India.

Not surprisingly tourism has had an impact on life in the streets of the town. In my diary I described my first impression of Mahabalipuram:

"I couldn't walk many metres without being followed by beggars or salesmen. There were snake charmers with a mongoose on leash, "holy men" with a monkey on leash, small children trained to cry like actors, "temple guides", postcard peddlers, necklace peddlers, drug peddlers, money changers, stone carving trainees trying to sell samples of their work. Everywhere I went, as soon as I stopped to look at something I had them virtually climbing all over me, refusing to leave me alone."

Gradually I found more peace of mind and learned to appreciate the overwhelming beauty of the art treasures of Mahabalipuram, which in its entirety is listed by the UNESCO as a World heritage site.

My greatest pleasure while in Mahabalipuram was to watch the temples and rock art carefully, sometimes without even bringing my camera, which made me feel more relaxed and focused on the art. As far as photos were concerned I preferred those with a human touch, like these persons about to invite their children for a short horse ride.

By the way, a large majority of photos from this place posted on TE are registered as Mamallapuram, with Mahabalipuram as a supreme runner-up. But I also found this little town called Mahabali Puram, Mahaballipuram, mahamallipuram, Mahavalipuram, Malalappuram, Mallalapuram, Mamallpuram, and MAMLAPURAM.

According to Wikipedia it is also known as Mamallapattana. To my great surprise there are no photos from there on TE.

By the way, India is known as Bharat in various local languages.

As usual this photo was scanned from a Kodachrome slide. At the last minute I decided to skip my planned workshops and use them for my next post.

Fis2, Royaldevon, pierrefonds, jhm, COSTANTINO, GyurMaster, PaulVDV, adramad, ricardomattos, worldcitizen has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pajaran (103781) 2021-01-28 0:43

Pozdrav.
Lepa grupa ljudi na plazi i arhitektura u pozadini, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i dobrim tekstom.
Dobar rad skeniranjem slajda, lepa fotografija i uhvaceni trenutak.
Lepo secanje.
Zelim vam lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje.
Paja.

Fis2 (156870) 2021-01-28 1:07

Witaj Gert!
Another interesting picture from Your archive.
Curious place, nice scene from daily life.
I like the Shore Temple.
Good framing, colors and sharpness.
Well done.
Good morning.
Krzysztof

Silvio1953 (207145) 2021-01-28 1:15

Ciao Gert, lovely composition with a lot of people and fantastic architecture in BG, nice scene, excellent clarity, fine details, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

ikeharel (106433) 2021-01-28 1:23

Hello Gert,
I do not think the small girl in pink would love to horse-back riding, her parrents seem as trying to persuade her...
A vivid picture of that moment, well scanned as always.
Have a nice new day,
Ike

ChrisJ (161262) 2021-01-28 2:32

Hello Gert,

Looks similar to Jogja Beach in Java. The bf shore temple makes a terrific backdrop. Vibrant colour and good sharpness. Tfs!

Royaldevon (76832) 2021-01-28 3:57

Hello Gert,

This is a fine scan, of a very everyday, social event. It is almost journalistic in what it reveals.
Is it so different from hiring a donkey ride at Blackpool; well yes, to some extent, because this beautiful temple by the sand, is ancient, while Blackpool Tower is modern and dedicated to personal enjoyment, rather than religious worship. But, there are parallels.
There is a mixture of attire; women are dressed traditionally, in bright colours, whilst the men are wearing western clothes, though still colourful!

You obviously enjoyed this place very much, despite the attention of so many 'sellers'! Did they eventually leave you alone to enjoy your exploration, after you paid them no attention?

Thank you for sharing this,
Bev :-)

pierrefonds (104558) 2021-01-28 4:38

Hi Gert,

The presence of the crowd is animating the scene. The point of view is showing the details of the colorful clothings and of the temples in the background. The light is enhancing the colors. Have a nice day.

Pierer

jhm (204077) 2021-01-28 6:22

Hello Gert,

Horses for rent, it seems the people have great interest.
Again a a almost perfect picture, notwithstanding almost 35 year old
Composition and presentation are pleasant to look at.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

emka (153358) 2021-01-28 9:48

Hi Gert,

The double or multiple names of Indian cities are confusing. Mamallapuram: What has turned into a seaside resort at present, was a bustling port during the 7th century and 8th Century Pallava kingdom. The town derives its name from its 7th Century ruler Narasimhavarman I. Being one of the greatest wrestlers and fighters in his realm, the King was also called ‘Mamallan’ meaning Great Wrestler. Referring to his name ‘Mamallan’ the town was named as Mamallapuram.
The name ‘Mahabalipuram’ emerged much later in the Vijayanagara period (14th-17th centuries).The prevalent Dravidian politics of Tamil Nadu after independence made it certain that that the original name of Mamallapuram was retained. It was in 1957 that ‘Mamallapuram’ was notified in a government gazette. And in 1964 when the ancient port town was declared a village panchayat the name Mamallapuram was reiterated.

The beginning of my trip to Southern India was similar - I went by night train from Hyderabad to Chennai and then to Mahabalipuram. I do not remember if we were followed by all these people you refer to. Anyway, near the temples, there were no so many tourists. Of course, we visited Shore Temple, Arjuna's Penance (maybe you plan to show it here), Krishna's Butterbowl, but somehow we missed Pancha Rathas, we couldn't find them. Nice scene with the horses. As usual, beautiful colourful dresses of Indian women.

I was there a year before this big tragic tsunami. I know it was there too, but what were the distractions?
Best regards MAlgo

jmdias (103992) 2021-01-28 9:50

gert

a nice view with the beautiful temple in evidence ahead and the crowd in the sands in FG. nice colors and sense of daily life with many personages interacting.

take care
jorge

Tue (83106) 2021-01-28 10:28

Hej Gert,
Et godt og fint billede i det klare sollys. Gruppen af mennesker der står i sandet ved hestene danner en god og farverig forgrund for den store tempelbygning i baggrunden, der står meget godt frem fra himlen og de hvide skyer.
Lars

jean113 (22657) 2021-01-28 10:31

Hello Gert, the temple in the background puts the scene into context, without it, it could be a shot of a beach with rides from many places.
I like the body language of the people, we can almost hear the conversation.
Lovely eye catching colours.
Very interesting notes.
Kind regards, Jean.

lousat (130709) 2021-01-28 11:57

Hi Gert,magnificent scene,the right direction to take the beautiful architechtures in background,interesting memory of your trip there and the usual lovely notes about your adventures. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

ifege (33729) 2021-01-28 20:36

Hi Gert
A good photo of what must be local tourists with the horses.
Your text reminds me of our first visit to India when we were some of the first in after India closed down during the Pakistan/Bangladesh battles of late 1971. Every body, including all those on your list, wanted our custom.
cheers
Ian

COSTANTINO (105083) 2021-01-28 23:14

Hello der Gert and have a nice day
colorful photo with so many people
down there bringing memories
from the good days without
covid 19...
a different world for all of us
regards
Costantino

jemaflor (136366) 2021-01-28 23:30

Hi Gert,
Interesting scene and composition with people and architecture, excellent colors and light, well presented, tfs.

GyurMaster (21783) 2021-01-29 4:29

Dear Gert,

Another excellent shot with an interesting bg. story. What I particularly like is how the clothes of the people resemble to the colours of either the sand or the sky.

Best Wishes,
Gy.

PaulVDV (55593) 2021-01-29 9:04

Hello Gert,
A beautiful scene on the beach with visitors dressed on their Sunday best.
Interesting temple in the background.
Since you've arrived in Tamil Nadu, you may be allowed to visit Hindu temples again.
In India I've never experienced the scenes you describe in your note to such an extent. (My first trip to India was 7 years after you took this photo)
The fact that this place appears in so many different ways on TE, is probably because in the past members used to be able to add a new location themselves and there was no checking.
I've already discovered a lot of errors in the spelling of names. And of course some people felt the need to create the location in their own language ...
Best regards, Paul

adramad (67624) 2021-01-29 10:53

Hi Gert.
A great composition with this group of possible Indian tourists, giving a great color and others offering horseback riding, as a background one of the fabulous temples of this place, there are real wonders to see here, I loved the place and I have a lot of photos and temple details
Sharpness, lighting, color, and the magnificent composition; they are all perfectly realized factors, in this precious image.
Well done. I like very much.
You have a good day.
Very best regards.
Luis.

ricardomattos (15582) 2021-01-30 9:54

Hi Gert

Bela tomada deste bonito e amplo lugar. Gosto de ver as crianças interagindo com seus pais e as mulheres com seus belos trajes coloridos.

Parabéns e abraço

Ricardo

worldcitizen (14494) 2021-02-01 12:22

Hello Gert,
This scene is a nice mix of people, architecture, and activity. The rocks are quite large, too. I hope the horses weren't too overworked. :-) Take care!

kasianowak (15984) 2021-02-21 5:26

Hi Gert
Very colourful scene, it's incredible how vibrant the colours of the lady's clothes are. The men, on the other hand, seem to be dressed in less traditional fashion that many others you captured during this trip. I wonder if that's because of the touristy atmopshere at this location?
Best wishes
Kasia