Shaded by a 1,300-year-old Hindu temple, I peered into the Indian Ocean imagining the fury unleashed here in Tamil Nadu by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. For all their destruction, those waves left behind one extraordinary, puzzling gift.
Excited archaeologists soon swarmed this coastal town of Mahabalipuram, 50km south of Chennai. They studied ancient structures in the ocean sand revealed by the tsunami, hoping these remains may be part of the legendary underwater temples of the 1,200-year-old Pallava dynasty.
The puzzle of those subsea temples remains unsolved. But one sits above the ocean, and the Unesco World Heritage site and tourist attraction recently became India's first “green energy archaeological site”.
Late last year, Indian authorities revealed the temple is fully powered by solar energy. Known as Mahabalipuram Shore Temple, it is the very same building that shielded me from the fierce Tamil Nadu sun as I stared seaward.
An array of green technology was installed at this site during a joint project by NGO Hand in Hand India and the Renault Nissan Technology and Business Centre India. Three solar energy plants now power this site, including its reverse osmosis facility. Due to that facility, tourists visiting this magnificent temple, which is surrounded by lawns and abutting the beach, can now get free drinking water from three separate kiosks.
Travellers can easily access Mahabalipuram from Chennai. Etihad Airways, Indigo and Air Arabia all have direct flights from Abu Dhabi to the capital of Tamil Nadu, which has a population of more than 10 million. From downtown Chennai, it took me 90 minutes by taxi to reach Mahabalipuram.
Follow my lead and pause along the way at another seaside attraction, Krishanankaranai. It has a cluster of temples and monuments dating back more than 1,000 years, which were also revealed by the tsunami. I was awed by the size and ancient Tamil inscriptions of the Tsunami Stone, a colossal slab tossed by the waves and now stands tall in Krishanankaranai.
Some of these sites may be linked to Shore Temple and the similarly mysterious Pallava kingdom. This dynasty commanded a swathe of southern India, between the fourth and ninth centuries, although its origins remain hotly debated. What is beyond dispute is the grandeur of the many marvels it built at Mahabalipuram.
Uncovering treasures of the Pallava kingdom
Before visiting Shore Temple, I ventured a short distance inland to the sprawling remains of a former Pallava settlement. Although this kingdom was ruled from Kancheepuram, about 50km to the east, the Pallavas developed Mahabalipuram into a prosperous seaport.
I was impressed by the skilful craftsmanship and obvious manpower represented by the many monuments carved into, or out of, rock more than a millennia ago. Olakkannesvara Temple sits high on an outcrop. From its lofty perch, I looked down on almost a dozen more attractive stone temples, including Krishna Mandapam and Adivaraha, Mahishasura Mardini and Varaha caves.
Each was overshadowed, however, by the wondrous Arjuna’s Penance. This towering rock face, about 13 metres tall and 29 metres wide, is embellished by more than 100 bas-reliefs depicting animals, warriors and deities. Fascinated to learn more about the artistic splendour of Mahabalipuram, I bought a book on its history from a vendor outside Arjuna’s Penance.
It explained that the rulers of Pallava were passionate patrons of the arts. In particular, they were enamoured with the rock-cut glory of the Ajanta Caves in the Indian state of Maharashtra, where more than a dozen spectacular Buddhist structures are carved into cliffs.
Mahabalipuram may not be nearly as famous as Ajanta, either within India or abroad, but its rock monuments are among the most dazzling historical sites I’ve witnessed across many visits to this giant nation. And the mystery of the Shore Temple, and the Pallava’s seven underwater shrines, only heightens the allure of Mahabalipuram.
I was free to wander around and inside Shore Temple, a granite structure made up of two sanctums. At its core is a multi-tiered tower, intended to resemble a pyramid, which is in fine condition considering its age and the ravages of the adjacent ocean.
It was constructed by Pallavan king Rajasimha and is one of southern India’s oldest religious structures. All around me, visitors queued to pose for photos in front of this marvel. Shore Temple is so distinctive that it even caught the gaze of Marco Polo. The legendary Italian explorer visited Mahabalipuram in the late 13th century and wrote accounts of this lively port. He also contributed to an ongoing mystery by describing what he called seven tremendous “pagodas” on the seafront.
More than 700 years later, scientists are still trying to locate the other six structures that complete this set, alongside Shore Temple. They’re widely believed to have been consumed by the ocean. Perhaps one day the sea will reveal them once more. Until then, Shore Temple is emerging as a unique tourist attraction not just thanks to this intrigue, and the brilliance of its architecture, but its new clean and green makeover.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The past Palme d'Or winners
2018 Shoplifters, Hirokazu Kore-eda
2017 The Square, Ruben Ostlund
2016 I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach
2015 Dheepan, Jacques Audiard
2014 Winter Sleep (Kış Uykusu), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
2013 Blue is the Warmest Colour (La Vie d'Adèle: Chapitres 1 et 2), Abdellatif Kechiche, Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux
2012 Amour, Michael Haneke
2011 The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
2010 Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Lung Bunmi Raluek Chat), Apichatpong Weerasethakul
2009 The White Ribbon (Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte), Michael Haneke
2008 The Class (Entre les murs), Laurent Cantet
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
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Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
