Temples of Mahabalipuram, a photo from Tamil Nadu, South

Photographer's Note

I am not completely certain where today's main photo was taken, but it is definitely from Mahabalipuram in southern India, and I think this is the famous Shore Temple which was seen in the background of my last photo. It was taken in late October 1987 and scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

The colours may be slightly dull, and there was not much I could do to improve the washed out sky. As I have mentioned before, this was monsoon times and there were usually several heavy showers every day. This was probably soon after one of the downpours.

The Shore Temple was built in the early decades of the 8th century. Along with a number of other monuments in Mahabalipuram south of Madras (Chennai) it was classified by the UNESCO as a World heritage site already in 1984.

This shore was hit by the huge tsunami in December 2004. As far as I know the Shore Temple didn't suffer much damage in spite of standing only a few meters from the sea. They knew how to build sturdy temples 1.300 years ago.

Two photos from other places in Mahabalipuram can be seen in the workshop.

PaulVDV, Fis2, ikeharel, pierrefonds, ChrisJ, Royaldevon, jhm, adramad, COSTANTINO, ricardomattos, clic has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

PaulVDV (55593) 2021-01-31 1:20

Hello Gert,
I suspect that the 2004 tsunami would also have been interpreted as created by a warrior god in earlier times. Perhaps by some even today.
The graffiti about the Indo-Sino friendship at the time is striking. I remember that during my first travels in India, China was not considered a friendly country. During my most recent travels there were already a lot of Chinese tourists so the feelings had changed.
In your main photo, the beautiful colours of the saris demand just as much attention as the many sculptures and reliefs of the temple.
Best regards, Paul

Fis2 (156870) 2021-01-31 1:28

Witaj Gert!
Another interesting set of photos.
A very interesting place, I love it.
Good frames, colors and light.
Interesting detail.
TFS.
Nice sunday.
Krzysztof

Silvio1953 (207145) 2021-01-31 1:39

Ciao Gert, great view of fantastic temple, lovely composition with women in beautiful colorful dresses, excellent clarity, fine details, splendid light and wonderful colors, very well done, my friend, ciao Silvio

pajaran (103781) 2021-01-31 2:06

Pozdrav.
Intereantan pogled i trenutak, dobar tekst ...
Lep deo hrama, dobro pokazano sa lepim bojama, kontrastom i uhvacenim trenutkom sa posetiocima.
Dobar rad sa lepim fotografijama u radionici.
lepe fotografije i secanje.
Zelim vam lep dan za odmor, sve najbolje.
Paja.

jmdias (103992) 2021-01-31 4:37

gert

I liked more the relief in the first WS, anyway I like this kind of artwork a lot.
but the main post is very beautiful despite the colors are something distorted by the time. a nice contrast of the colorful ladies against the granite of the temple around.nice the other WS with the beautiful shapes of the temple and the memories of the time wrote in the walls.
--- here another day of rain, in these last two weeks we had 350 mm of rain. UK has 800 mm during a year..

take care

jorge

pierrefonds (104558) 2021-01-31 4:51

Hi Gert,

The colorful clothings are eyecatching. The point of view is showing the details of the temple. The light is giving good colors output. Have a nice day.

Pierre

ikeharel (106433) 2021-01-31 5:16

Hello Gert,
Noticed each of the ladies in the picture wearing a different colors sari's. The close range POV also shows the big stones with the depicted sculptures upon. The sharpness of the figures enable to comprehend that the stones eroded through time past.
Good afternoon,
ike

ChrisJ (161262) 2021-01-31 5:51

Hello Gert

The coppery green patina colour of the stone is unusual. It looks like jade or nephrite. The 5 women in their colourful saris add a splash of colour and confirm the colour balance is okay. The workshops are interesting too. Communism sounds good in theory, but human nature being what it is, doesn't work well in practice. Leaders always think they deserve far more than everyone else. Tfs!

everlasting (18130) 2021-01-31 7:46

the temple still stands, the clothes of the women are still the same. A photo that could have been taken yesterday.

Royaldevon (76832) 2021-01-31 7:55

Hello Gert,

Another delightful look into your time machine, to view this ancient temple which has survived for centuries as a place of worship. As you note, this building was built to last !
We can clearly see how the temple was built in layers, with the most attractive sculptured patterns and figures.
The ladies, in their brightly coloured clothes, make a very effective focal point, guiding as a line, into the temple’s interior.

Was the graffiti actually on the walls of the temple?
Respect!!!

My warm regards,
Bev 😊

jhm (204077) 2021-01-31 9:26

Hello Gert,

Indeed but formerly one could build extraordinary, without civil engineers, but through real professionals
Today are almost no buildings suitable against a tsunami, but today all very smart people!!!
Your picture is nice detailed made .
Al the women with pony tail and colourful clothing, perfect for your picture.
Colours and presentation are superb.
Very well done, TFS.

Best regards,
John

Tue (83106) 2021-01-31 11:19

Hej Gert,
Et meget godt billede med det meget gamle tempel og dets smukke detaljer og skulturer. De grønlige farver af stenen gør at mennesker der forsvinder ind i bygningen står meget godt frem i deres farverige tøj.
Lars

adramad (67624) 2021-01-31 11:45

Hi Gert.
Normally with the scanning of your old photos, you get amazing results, in this case the color of the temple I see a little strange, although nevertheless the varied colors of the saris have been very well and it is a good focus of attention, after seeing the many sculptures of this temple, which are damaged by the action of the sea so close.
An image to enjoy, with its great luminosity and nice sharpness.
Superbly captured. I love.
Happy start to the week.
Very best regards.
Luis.

GyurMaster (21783) 2021-01-31 11:58

Dear Gert,

This photo has a quite strange atmosphere with all those women disappearing in the temple. The green overcast gives some additional strangeness. Was it this in live or it is due to some error in the Kodachrome's colour rendition? Maybe some selective green decrease would have helped. I took the liberty to give it a try.
Here is the result:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OW7bBgeKTM9PMNXTEpT0utvkDO5uCHFK/view?usp=sharing

What is your opinion? :)

Best Wishes,
Gy.

PS: Thank you very much for your kind words on my latest series!

lousat (130709) 2021-01-31 12:34

Hi Gert,old temple but no problems during the tsunami as i can read,built in a perfect way....3 interesting pics as usual,in fact the colors of first are a bit unreal but i like the perfect timing to take the ladies going inside,excellent WS looking for the details and the other with a full view of tower and the graffiti too. Have a nice week and thanks,Luciano

ifege (33729) 2021-01-31 20:12

Hi Gert
A good temple series. If it wasn't for the good colour on the ladies the green of everything else would have seemed a bit out of place.
cheers
Ian

emka (153358) 2021-01-31 23:58

Hello Gert, Like the others, the colours seem strange to me - it is too green. Probably there is no way to change it. It is especially seen when I compare with the other pictures from Mahabalipuram. Mine photos are too red :(. But the dresses of the women look perfect. It looks mysterious where they are going one after the other. All have long braids.

In all my photos we were the only visitors. Quite strange.

Nice also the Workshops. I find interesting this one about friendship with China. Is Krishna Mandapam this rock that I know as the descent of the Ganges?
Have a nice new week. Still a lot of snow in Warsaw, In the night it was minus ten.

M

COSTANTINO (105083) 2021-02-02 22:44

Hello dear Gert and have a nice day
nice timing for you this capture
and the ladies dressed in
colorful traditional dresses...
the truth is and my personal opinion
that I do not love so complicated
constructions...
regards
Costantino

ricardomattos (15582) 2021-02-04 10:34

Oi Gert

Este parece reservado só para mulheres. Muito interessante a beleza e a diversidade de estampas dos vestidos. Os templos de pedra impressionam.

Parabens

Ricardo

clic (23964) 2021-02-05 12:18

Hallo Gert
I thought for a while, having been intrigued by the green cast of this venerable temple. Could it had been constructed from locally-available adobe material containing bronze or copper verdigris.
If not, I can't accuse a premature aging of the photo emulsion since the white areas on the lady's blue clothing are not tinted and testify of a good color balance.
So the mystery remains!
I appreciate the discovery of a secret entrance to this mystical temple and of course the numerous stone carvings coverig it.
Halsningar

kasianowak (15984) 2021-02-21 5:39

You are complaining about the colours but we can still appreciate yellow, blue green and magenta. What a contrast with the stark appearance of the temple stone.
Indo-Sino friendship will remain a pipe dream for the foreseeable future. Thank goodness for the Himalaya!

[workshop] [compare] +