Thanksgiving at Temple Beach

Happy Thanksgiving from Temple Beach in Mahabalipuram!

We spent our day of thanksgiving at a Hindu Temple, walking through a cultural village, and climbing around 6th century rock sculptures. In an unexpected move, Chinese food for dinner tonight.

Before leaving Chennai this morning, we visited the 7th century Kapaleeshwarar Temple and were lucky enough to catch a wedding ceremony in progress. At first I thought it odd that Thursday morning would be a wedding ceremony, but since most marriages are still arranged and the date and time of wedding is determined via horoscope it makes sense now. It’s a very colorful temple with lots of activity. We as non-Hindus could go in to the complex but could not enter the small temples where the god statues are worshipped.

Next stop was the Village of Dakshina Chitra, with a nice walking tour of restorations of various types of traditional houses, furnishing, and handicrafts, such as coffee farmer, silk weaver, and money lender. An Indian version of Williamsburg VA.

We are very impressed so far with the accommodations on this tour—for the next two days we’ll be enjoying a beautiful view of the Bay of Bengal from our Temple Beach resort hotel. We had some time in the afternoon to walk on the beach and cool off in the pool.

Our final event of the evening was the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mahabalipuram. This was really impressive—intricate sculptures from Hindu mythology and everyday life carved into a massive granite rock outcropping, estimated to be 1200 years old.

I’m thankful for our health, for the love of our wonderful families, for our dear friends, and for the opportunity to deeply experience this amazing world of ours.Read more