Dakshinachitra

I finally succeeding in dragging Vish to Dakshinachitra – quite literally translated as the “picture or vision of the South (India)”, and much against the locals’ quips that the place is not worth the hype – I enjoyed my trip.

Dakshinachitra, DC for short, is promoted as a heritage village site with the objective of recreating the rural life of the four states of Southern India – Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

For Bollywood fans out there, this is the place where Shilpa Shetty and Salman Khan spent “the two days” in the movie Phir Milenge :).

Situated on the east coast road (ECR), DC is a perfect family getaway on a weekend/holiday morning with not only sight seeing to do, but fun activities such as basket weaving, pottery, puppet making etc., and ofcourse shopping that add to the tourist value of the place.

The best part is that it does not get too crowded; though being in the open, a hot summer day may not be the ideal time for a visit.

DC endeavors to preserve the traditional art, craft and architecture forms by providing a platform to the artisans to showcase their talent in the form of demo booths (sari weaving, glass blowing among others) and exhibitions.

Pitched as a cultural odyssey of the South, DC does try to live up to the buzz around it – The Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh sections are still under construction whereas the Tamil Nadu and Kerala sections are complete and offer a fairly detailed insight into the various aspects of the village life.

So, I would recommend that if you are in Chennai or visiting Chennai, take a half day out for a trip to Dakshinachita and you won’t regret it.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

A view of the craft bazaar that greets you right at the entrance…

The structures of village houses…

A peak inside the houses…

Now for some demo and fun stuff…

Silk sari weaving…

Pottery (A statutory warning: The potter thatha is one impatient guy – he was screaming at me in tamil that I was not doing it properly without even teaching me how to mould the clay first :(.

You can also take a shot at grinding rice :D...

Kili jyoshiyam or the parrot fortune teller is another interesting stop over. Following instructions, the parrot comes out of its cage, randomly selects one card from the pile of cards, takes it to the god’s picture and the gives it to the guy sitting there – who then reads out your fortune.

And finally, some shots, which I think were in Phir Milenge…

If you have seen the movie, you couldn’t have missed the amphitheater…

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Added:

Here's the song from Phir Milenge, shot at Dakshinchitra (Thanks a ton Aastha!!!)

At the shore…

Spent a rainy Saturday sight seeing locally :).

Two years in Chennai and this was my first trip ever to Mahabalipuram, popularly abbreviated as Mahabs!

A pleasant early morning drive on ECR (which is also promoted as the Entertainment corridor with a series of theme parks, beaches, resorts and boat houses) to Mahabalipuram/ Mammallapuram, leaving the noise and pollution of the buzzing city behind, is such a relief.

The sea that welcomed us at the Shore Temple was quite boisterous…I love the sight of waves crashing on rocks…

The exquisite Dravidian architecture of the temple is an absolute WOW! What was hilarious ofcourse was the entry fee – Rs 10 for Indians and Rs 250 for Non-Indians!

It’s a pity that this wonderful structure is getting ruined/eroded because of the continuous sea breeze and nothing really is being done to preserve it…

The cyclonic torrential downpour during the day did nothing to deter our crazy spirits. Inspite of the incessant rains, we were able to complete the tour of the temples, the pancha rathas (five chariots), the caves, Krishna’s butter ball, Descent of the Ganges and Arjuna’s penance - Each beautifully and intricately carved sculpture reminiscent of the grandeur of Pallava art.

After lunch at Moon Rakers (a non-veggie’s delight and a veggie’s nightmare), we headed towards Mudaliarkuppam – on ECR, around 50 kms before Pondicherry. This is a boat house that offers water sports such as water skiing, water scooting, boating etc.

Given the weather conditions, we were not allowed to ski/scoot.

However, the boating experience through the backwaters was a lot of fun. We were transported in a motor boat from the back waters to an almost-exclusive beach – we thoroughly enjoyed playing in the warm saline waters, splashing and falling with the waves and collecting sea shells!