Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram is famous as one of the 108 Divya-deshams (holy places) revered by the Sri Vaisnava-sampradaya. Mahabalipuram was the birth place of Sri Bhuta Yogi, the second of the twelve Alvars (saints) in Sri Vaisnavism. In the center of the town is the temple of Sri Sthalasayana Perumal, which was also visited by Sri Caitanya Deva in 1510 AD. Mahabalipuram is a very ancient holy place and has many cave temples and shrines dating back several thousand years.

Nearby Mahabalipuram (14 kilometers to the west) is a place known as Pakshi-tirtha in Tirukkalukundram. The place is famous and considered a holy place for several reasons. The foremost of which is that every day for the past 5,000 years (or possibly more) two eagles have come to the summit of the mountain called Veda-giri to take the prasadam of Lord Siva from the hand of a local Brahmin. These two birds have been coming daily for thousands of years and hundreds of pilgrims gather daily at the summit of Veda-giri to witness the event.

To verify the antiquity of the daily arrival of these two eagles there is a stone pillar in the temple court yard which bears a carving of the two eagles.

The Archeological Survey Department of India has dated the stone pillar as being from the 7th century AD. There is also a mention in the Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila Ch. 9, Tx. 72 of Sri Caitanya having visited Pakshi-tirtha during His South India tour (1510 AD). (Further evidences of the antiquity of the two eagles coming to Veda-giri every day is available at the Archeological Survey of India at Chennai)

But the sad part of this story is that as of 1998 the two eagles have not visited Veda-giri to take prasadam. This was an event that had occurred for thousands of years and was witnessed by millions of people but now it has mysteriously come to an end.

One of the local temple priests told us that the two birds were in fact great devotees of Lord Siva and that they would come daily to Veda-giri for the duration of one yuga. The priest said that he thought that the yuga of the eagles must have come to an end and indeed he seemed sad if not worried. In any case the event that once occurred daily (and verifiably so) for thousands of years has now come to an end. Nevertheless, Vaishnavas are happy to visit a tirtha blessed by the presence of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.