Visite privée de Mahabalipuram avec déjeuner et Guide depuis Chennai
Description
Mamallapuram (également appelé Mahaballipuram) se trouve à environ une heure de route de Chennai sur la route de la côte est. C'était la deuxième capitale et le port maritime des rois Pallava qui régnèrent au 5ème siècle. La légende locale dit qu’il existait jadis une belle ville avec sept temples, que les Dieux ont submergés sous l’océan sous le poids de la mer. Jusqu'en 2002, une équipe de plongeurs indo-britanniques découvrit Aujourd'hui, à Mamallapuram, vous pouvez voir le célèbre Temple Shore, le seul temple encore existant sur les sept qui subsistent (les autres ont sombré sous la mer). Le Shore Temple est l’un des plus anciens temples du sud de l’Inde et représente la dernière floraison de l’art Pallava. Arjuna's Penance, l'un des plus grands bas-reliefs du monde, raconte l'histoire de la descente du Gange, du paradis à la terre. Les temples troglodytiques et les sculptures monolithiques massives (sculptées dans un seul grand bloc de granit) font de Mamallapuram un lieu inoubliable.
Options de l'excursion
Itinéraire
Faites la première étape de la journée aux Pancharathas, ou cinq chars, une série de temples monolithiques construits par les Pallavas. Ce sont des structures de temples monolithes taillées dans la roche construites au 7ème siècle. Chacun des 5 rathas ou chars est dédié au casting principal de l'épopée du Mahabharat - Draupadi, Arjuna, Nakul-Sahadeva, Bhima et Yudhister. Il y a aussi une sculpture d'un éléphant à côté du ratha de Nakul-Sahadeva. Une fois que vous vous tenez vers l’arrière de l’éléphant, vous remarquerez qu’il existe une étrange ressemblance entre l’arrière du char et l’éléphant.
Nous visiterons ensuite la péninsule d’Arjuna, monument en bas-relief considéré comme l’une des plus magnifiques œuvres d’art antique de l’Inde, représentant des scènes vivantes du Mahabharata. Le relief est de 100 pieds de long et 45 pieds de haut! La principale histoire racontée est la façon dont Arjuna, l'un des frères Pandava, a procédé à des austérités sévères afin d'obtenir l'arme de Lord Shiva.
Le prochain arrêt est Krishna’s Butterball, un rocher de granit posé sur une pente pierreuse. Ce rocher curieux semble défier les lois de la gravité de Newton et n'a pas bougé d'un pouce bien qu'il se trouve dans cette position précaire sur la pente depuis plus de mille ans.
Notre dernier port d'escale est le Shore Temple. Le magnifique temple surplombe la baie du Bengale et était un centre important pendant le règne des Pallavas, lorsque Mahabalipuram était le principal port de leur royaume. Construit par le roi Raja Simha au début du VIIIe siècle, le Shore Temple est un monument du paysage architectural indien. Marco Polo a appelé cela les sept pagodes. Le temple existant est le dernier survivant du 7, qui jadis servait de phare pour les gens de mer.
La grotte de Varaha est creusée dans un énorme morceau de granit et remonte au 7ème siècle. Ce temple a mis plusieurs décennies à être achevé. Des lions accroupis ornent les piliers qui soutiennent la salle. Un autre point fort sont les sculptures de deux anges gardiens qui protègent le sanctuaire.
La grotte de Pandava est la plus grande grotte-temple de Mahabalipuram. La grotte est soutenue par six piliers et deux pilastres. Le point culminant de l'architecture sont les sculptures spectaculaires de créatures mythiques appelées Yali sur les piliers.
Deux des œuvres d'art les plus impressionnantes de Mahabalipuram résident dans cette grotte. Il a 2 imposants bas-reliefs sur les murs. Le premier est le Seigneur Vishnu qui dort sur les anneaux d'un serpent. L'autre est avec la déesse Durga qui se bat avec le démon Mahishasura sur un lion.
Il s'agit d'un char imposant taillé dans une seule pierre. Dédié à l'origine à Lord Shiva, il a maintenant la divinité de son fils Lord Ganesh. Il a été construit au 7ème siècle par le roi Mahendravarman I. L'autre point fort de ce temple sont les 18 inscriptions dans les anciennes écritures grantha et nagari du sanskrit.
Construit en l'an 640, c'est le plus ancien phare de l'Inde et l'un des plus anciens du monde. Mahabalipuram était un port très fréquenté depuis le 7ème siècle et ce phare a donc joué un rôle important dans la sécurité des marins.
Points forts
Ce qui est inclus
Lieux et horaires de prise en charge
Notre guide vous rencontrera et viendra vous chercher à tous les hôtels de Chennai.
Avis des voyageurs
Informations importantes
- Transports en commun disponibles à proximité
- Déconseillé aux voyageurs avec des problèmes à la colonne vertébrale
- Déconseillé aux femmes enceintes
- Déconseillé aux voyageurs avec des problèmes cardiovasculaires
- Convient à toutes les conditions physiques
Avis(146)
Last minute decision with Wonder tours.Both guides are well knowledgeable.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
Great tour, pickup and drop off to my hotel made the travel easy, the car was comfortable and air conditioned with water provided which was very needed in the June heat. I booked the 6 to 7 hour tour and this included the journey so take traffic into account. Rajesh was engaging and knowledgeable, made sure my tickets allowed photography and gave me the space to explore and take pictures at my own pace. He respected some adjustments I requested and was communicative beforehand. I had considered getting a cab and exploring myself as I was solo travelling on a budget, but I felt it was worth for it the comfort, knowledge and ability to seamless navigate the sites. I would recommend this as a group tour and this would make it cheaper pers person as well. All in all couldn't fault it.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
Recommended for a short trip to explore the historical sites of South India. The arrangements are very transparent as shown in the description and the guides are all on-time without any delays. Explanation about the history is easy to understand and it is a very pleasant trip overall.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
We have a half day private trip. Everything is well arranged and all the guide are well explained about those places. And thanks to our driver also which drive safely.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
Great half day trip, I booked the afternoon before, great that you can choose pick up time suggest early and then you can enjoy traditional breakfast and coffee. Rajesh and his driver were a top team and got to learn a lot about the history and heritage of Mahabalipuram from the expert knowledge.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
We enjoyed our tour. The guides were knowledgeable and the van was comfortable, with excellent A/C, which was a plus in the super hot climate. The UNESCO heritage site is amazing but signage is lacking, so a tour guide is a must. I 100 % recommend taking this tour.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
Excellent tour, really well organised, good guides. South Indian coffee stop was a bonus.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
Everything was well organised and the guides were knowledgable. The food stops were very tasty and accommodating to the heat providing plenty of water breaks.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
The UNESCO world heritage site and the history is amazing. The main criticism I have is that most of the time is spent in travelling to and from Chennai and having lunch. My guide although had enough knowledge, I felt was bit laid back. He gave me the summary of each site and then left me to go around on my own. I saw some other guides were going to each of the Pancha tathaa and giving detailed information. Also he didn’t let me know how much time I can spend at each place. So my actual site visits probably only lasted an hour. Tour is advertised 7 hrs but only lasted 5.5 hrs. I feel it should also include another attraction included in it for example there was a Vishnu temple in Mahabalipuram which the guide didn’t show and said there was a festival going on as a reason.
Hi Thank you for sharing such detailed feedback regarding your recent tour of Mahabalipuram. It is wonderful to hear that the history and heritage of the site resonated with you, as it truly is one of the world's most remarkable archaeological treasures. However, it is clear that the execution of the tour did not meet the professional standard you expected, particularly regarding time management and the depth of the guided experience.We will advise the guide and we fix it in future. Thank you
Well organized and everything communicated well. The highlight was the local guide Wonder Tours engaged at the temple complex to walk around with me (and scooter me around through the rain)—very knowledge and excellent English speaker (he also told me he speaks several other languages). So request Basta as your local guide! Also props to the driver who safely and efficiently got us from Chennai to Mahabalipuram and back again in a torrential rain storm. My only complaint might be the price overall seemed high for total package.
Hi We are happy that you enjoyed your Mahabalipuram tour. It was our pleasure to hosting you. We are doing Multi-day tours in North and South India.We are waiting to do more tours with you and it definitely gives you a Wonderful experience. Cheers, The Wonder tours
