Krishna's Butterball is a curious tourist attraction located in Mahabalipuram, a town about 60 kilometers south of Chennai, India, famous for its stone carvers. "Krishna's oil ball" is a huge balancing stone with a diameter of 5 meters. He stands on a smooth slope, as if contrary to all the laws of physics.
According to Hindu mythology, the god Krishna had an insatiable appetite for butter, and as a child he would often steal a handful of butter from his mother's jar. Located on a hillside next to the Ganesh Ratha temple, a huge natural boulder is the embodiment of the balls of butter that Krishna stole.
The boulder's strange position makes it very popular with locals and tourists alike, as it is an interesting backdrop for some pretty extraordinary photographs. It is very common to see visitors being photographed with their hands under the stone, which in the photograph looks like they are supporting it. The boulder provides cool shade if you venture to sit beneath it, and the local kids have found the slippery side of the mountain to be a great slide.
Mahabalipuram is an ancient historical city that was a bustling port during the time of Periplus (1st century AD) and Ptolemy (140 AD). Ancient Indian traders who sailed to the countries of Southeast Asia sailed from the seaport of Mahabalipuram. Today Mahabalipuram is an exclusively tourist city and one of the main attractions in the area of the larger city of Chennai. People visit this place to see magnificent rock paintings, temples, cave sanctuaries, giant open-air reliefs such as the famous Descent of the Ganges and the Rivage temple, with thousands of sculptures built in honor of Shiva.
Mahabalipuram is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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