Fruit vendor sets up his stall in the convenient shade of a nearby temple in the marketplace at Mahabalipuram, India.

Cows wander among the food and clothing stalls. Health spas and cigarette brands compete for advertising space and is that the actual “Hotel de Suresh” at top left?

Scan of 35mm print taken in 1982.

Mahabalipuram, derived from ‘Mamallapuram’ is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has an average elevation of 12 metres (39 feet).
Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling.

It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Featured 08/14/11 in At the Market http://www.redbubble.com/groups/fish-markets Group