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Krishna's Butter Ball

#6sur 10 lieux à visiter à MahabalipuramMahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu

Aussi appelé Vaan Irai Kal · Krishna's Gigantic Butterball

L'essentiel

Horaires d'ouverture : 06:00–18:30. L'entrée est gratuite. Comptez 15 min. Meilleure période : Before 09:00 or after 16:00.

Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026 · Rédigé par Traveliac, avec assistance IA · 4 min de lecture

ItinéraireSite officiel

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Horaires d'ouverture: 06:00–18:30; Sunrise – sunset, approximately 06:00 – 18:30, open access
Prix d'entrée: Gratuit
Durée nécessaire: 15 min
Meilleur moment de la journée: Before 09:00 or after 16:00
Meilleurs mois: Oct – Mar
Adresse: Bhaskara Hill, off West Raja Street, Mahabalipuram, Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu 603104

À propos de Krishna's Butter Ball

Krishna's Butter Ball is a 250-tonne granite boulder, roughly 6 metres tall and 5 metres wide, resting on a smooth downhill slope in central Mahabalipuram with no visible support beneath it. Locals call it Vaan Irai Kal, Tamil for 'stone of the sky god', and the more famous English name plays on the boulder's rounded shape and Krishna's mythic fondness for stolen butter, since devotional tradition imagines the rock as a giant dollop dropped from the heavens. Geologists classify it as a weathering remnant formed in place by differential granite erosion rather than transported there, and its resistance to gravity is simple physics: a broad, low centre of contact keeps it stable on the slope.

Meilleur moment de la journée : Before 09:00 or after 16:00. For a low-angle photograph and no queue for the best vantage point.

Horaires de Krishna's Butter Ball

Krishna's Butter Ball ouvre à 06:00 et ferme à 18:30. Ces horaires valent aussi le samedi et le dimanche.

Horaires d'ouverture: 06:00–18:30; Mon–Sun 06:00–18:30; Sunrise – sunset, approximately 06:00 – 18:30, open access
Fermé le: Ouvert tous les jours

Mon–Sun	06:00–18:30

Horaires d'ouverture établis à partir de tamilnadutourism.tn.gov.in et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Prix d'entrée de Krishna's Butter Ball

Entry fees for Krishna's Butter Ball
Billet	Prix
Visiteurs indiens	Gratuit
Visiteurs étrangers	Gratuit
Enfants	Gratuit
Caméra	Gratuit

No admission fee. The boulder sits on open public ground with unrestricted free access.

Tarifs établis à partir de tamilnadutourism.tn.gov.in et de sources publiques, mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Ils peuvent changer sans préavis — vérifiez avant de partir. Comment nous rédigeons ces guides

Meilleure période pour visiter Krishna's Butter Ball

Quiet
Moderate
Busy
Very busy

06:00 – 09:00
Quiet MorningBest time to go
Few visitors this early; the best window for an unobstructed photograph of the boulder against the morning sky.
Quiet
09:00 – 12:00
Mid-Morning Groups
Visitors combining the stop with Arjuna's Penance and Ganesha Ratha begin arriving in small clusters.
Moderate
12:00 – 16:00
Midday Tour Buses
Domestic tour groups pose for photographs beneath the boulder; a short wait forms for the classic low-angle shot.
Busy
16:00 – 18:30
Sunset Photo Rush
The busiest window of the day as visitors return for evening light and family photographs before heading to dinner.
Very busy

Histoire de Krishna's Butter Ball

Krishna's Butter Ball has sat on its granite slope for longer than any written record of Mahabalipuram covers, making its exact age impossible to date the way the town's carved monuments can be. British colonial administrators treated the boulder as an engineering puzzle rather than a natural curiosity: in 1908, Arthur Lawley, then acting governor of Madras, ordered seven elephants harnessed to the rock in an attempt to roll it off the slope and clear what colonial planners worried was a public-safety hazard above the town. The elephants failed to shift the boulder by any measurable distance, and the attempt was abandoned, an episode still repeated by local guides as proof of the rock's improbable stability. No temple, inscription, or Pallava-era text references the boulder directly, which sets it apart from every other site in the Group of Monuments; its inclusion in the UNESCO listing rests on its setting within the same granite outcrop as the carved monuments around it.

Règles et étiquette à Krishna's Butter Ball

Krishna's Butter Ball charges no entry fee and sits on open ground with unrestricted access from sunrise to sunset. Climbing directly onto the boulder is officially discouraged by posted signage, though enforcement is inconsistent and the smooth granite surface is genuinely slippery, particularly after rain — visitors in flip-flops should be cautious on the slope beneath it. Vendors selling coconut water, sliced fruit, and cold drinks operate informally around the base and prices are negotiable; there is no fixed concession stand. The site has no shade structure, so the exposed rock face and surrounding slope can reach uncomfortable surface temperatures by midday in the dry season.

Conseils pour visiter Krishna's Butter Ball

1
Krishna's Butter Ball photographs most dramatically from a low angle at the base of the slope, where the boulder's overhang against the sky exaggerates the sense of impossible balance. Visit in the same outing as Ganesha Ratha and Arjuna's Penance, both within a five-minute walk, since the boulder sits on the same low granite hill as the rest of central Mahabalipuram's open-air monuments. Weekend afternoons draw domestic tourist groups who pose beneath the rock's shadow for photographs, creating a short queue for the best vantage points; arriving before 09:00 or after 16:00 avoids the wait entirely. There is no official parking directly beside the site — visitors typically walk in from the Five Rathas or town-centre parking areas.

Comment se rendre à Krishna's Butter Ball

L'étoile rouge indique Krishna's Butter Ball ; les repères numérotés sont les 7 lieux les plus proches de nos guides, chacun avec son classement dans sa ville. Touchez un repère pour plus de détails.

Bhaskara Hill, off West Raja Street, Mahabalipuram, Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu 603104Itinéraire sur Google Maps

Depuis Five Rathas Complex
1.5 km · 5 min
Walking distance; ₹40–₹60 by auto
Depuis Arjuna's Penance
0.5 km · 5–7 min walk
Free (walking distance)
Depuis Mahabalipuram Bus Stand
₹40–₹60
1 km · 12 min walk / 5 min auto
Auto

Aéroport le plus proche

Depuis Chennai International Airport (MAA)

approximately 58 km, 1h 15m–1h 45m by road via ECR/OMR depending on traffic.

Gare la plus proche

Depuis Chengalpattu Junction (CGL)

approximately 29 km, 45–60 minutes by road.

FAQ — Krishna's Butter Ball

Is there an entry fee for Krishna's Butter Ball?

No. The boulder sits on open public ground with free, unrestricted access during daylight hours.

Has anyone ever managed to move the boulder?

No. A 1908 attempt by Madras' acting governor Arthur Lawley to shift it using seven elephants failed to move the rock any measurable distance, an episode still cited as proof of its stability.

Is Krishna's Butter Ball a natural rock or a carved monument?

It is a natural granite boulder shaped by weathering, not carved or placed by human hands, which distinguishes it from every other structure in the Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram.

Is it safe to climb on the boulder or the slope beneath it?

Climbing is officially discouraged and the granite surface turns slippery when wet; visitors should wear grip-soled footwear and take particular care after rain.

Rédigé avec l'assistance de l'IA à partir de sources officielles et de registres publics, et publié seulement après les vérifications décrites dans Comment nous rédigeons ces guides. Personne chez Traveliac ne s'est rendu sur place. Mis à jour le 18 septembre 2026. Comment nous classons et vérifions les lieux