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Tamil Nadu · 9 Days
Tamil Nadu — the Great Living Chola Temples
A temple-weighted route — the Pallava carvings, all three Great Living Chola Temples, Srirangam and Madurai.
Day by Day
9 Days, In Full
The route for travellers who come for the temples themselves. The Pallava monuments at Mamallapuram, with a full day among them. Chidambaram's hall of the dancing Shiva on the way to Thanjavur. Two nights at Thanjavur for the Big Temple and a full day in the Chola belt — Darasuram, Kumbakonam and the Swamimalai bronze casters. Then Srirangam, the largest working temple in the world, and Madurai's Meenakshi temple. A guide steeped in the iconography makes the difference on this one.
Chennai
Arrive in Chennai
Chennai is the usual gateway to the south, with direct flights from the Gulf, South-East Asia and across India. You are met at the airport and driven to the hotel. If the arrival is early enough, the afternoon covers Mylapore: the Kapaleeshwarar Temple with its painted tower, the lanes of flower sellers, and San Thome, the church built over the tomb of the apostle Thomas. The evening is free, perhaps a first South Indian meal and a walk on Marina Beach as it cools.
Chennai → Mahabalipuram
Chennai to Mahabalipuram — Down the East Coast Road
A short drive south, about two hours, down the East Coast Road along the sea. Stops on the way: the Cholamandal artists' village, India's largest artists' commune, and DakshinaChitra, an open-air museum of relocated South Indian houses and living crafts. You reach Mamallapuram by early afternoon. The rest of the day is the Shore Temple on the beach, best in the low evening light, and a walk through the carvers' workshops along the main road.
Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram — the Pallava Monuments
A full morning among the seventh-century Pallava monuments, all within walking distance and part of one World Heritage Site. The Five Rathas, each temple cut whole from a single rock and left unfinished. Arjuna's Penance, a thirty-metre relief crowded with gods and life-size elephants. The Krishna Mandapa, the Varaha cave, and the lighthouse hill with its Mahishasuramardini cave and the balancing rock called Krishna's Butter Ball. The afternoon is free for the beach or a short stone-carving lesson with a local sculptor.
Mahabalipuram → Pondicherry
Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry — the Coast Road
A drive of about two and a half hours further down the coast to the old French town of Pondicherry. The road runs past salt pans and fishing villages, with an optional stop at the Sadras Dutch fort or the bird sanctuary at Vedanthangal in season. You arrive in White Town by afternoon and settle into the quieter pace. The evening is for the Promenade, closed to traffic, as the town comes out to walk by the sea.
Pondicherry → Thanjavur
Pondicherry to Thanjavur — the Chola Temple Country
A long but rewarding drive inland, about four and a half hours, through the rice country of the Kaveri delta. Two great temples break the journey: Chidambaram, where Shiva is worshipped as the cosmic dancer Nataraja in a gold-roofed hall, and Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the near-empty temple a second Chola king built to match the one at Thanjavur. You reach Thanjavur by evening, in time to see the Brihadeeswarar Temple lit and quiet after the day's crowds have gone.
Thanjavur
Thanjavur — the Big Temple and the Palace
A morning at the Brihadeeswarar Temple, finished in 1010, before the heat: the sixty-six-metre granite tower, the giant Nandi bull, the Chola frescoes and inscriptions along the inner walls. Then the rambling Maratha palace: the Art Gallery of Chola bronzes in a Nayak hall, the Saraswathi Mahal manuscript library, and the painted durbar hall. The afternoon can take in a Tanjore painting studio, where images are built up in gold leaf and inset stones, or the bronze casters of Swamimalai nearby.
Thanjavur
Thanjavur — the Chola Belt: Darasuram and Kumbakonam
A day out among the smaller Chola towns of the delta. Darasuram, where the Airavatesvara Temple, the third of the Great Living Chola Temples, is a jewel box of fine carving, with a stone bridge that rings like a bell. Kumbakonam, a temple town of tanks and gopurams, for the Sarangapani and Nageswaran temples. Swamimalai, where families still cast bronze images by the lost-wax method their ancestors used for the Thanjavur museum's figures. It is a full, slow day in working temple country.
Thanjavur → Madurai
Thanjavur to Madurai — via Trichy's Temples
A driving day of about four hours with two major temple stops at Tiruchirappalli, halfway. Srirangam, on an island in the Kaveri, is the largest working Hindu temple complex in the world, seven walls and twenty-one gopurams around the shrine of Vishnu as Ranganatha. The Rock Fort rises straight out of the town, an 83-metre outcrop with a Ganesha temple on top and a long stair climb for the view. You reach Madurai in the evening for the Meenakshi night ceremony.
Madurai
Madurai — the Meenakshi Temple and the Nayak City
A full day in the old city. The Meenakshi Amman Temple in the cool of the morning: the fourteen painted towers, the twin shrines to the goddess and to Shiva, the hall of a thousand carved pillars, and the golden-lotus tank. Then the Thirumalai Nayak Palace and the Gandhi Memorial Museum, housed in a Nayak queen's palace. The afternoon is the flower and produce market and the tailors' hall by the east tower, and, if there is time, the drive out to the Tiruparankundram rock temple.
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Priced Packages On This Route
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luxury · 8 Nights
Great Living Chola Temples — Luxury
per person, twin sharing — enquire for current pricing
premium · 8 Nights
Great Living Chola Temples — Premium
per person, twin sharing — enquire for current pricing
luxury · 8 Nights
South India Temple Trail — Luxury
per person, twin sharing — enquire for current pricing
premium · 8 Nights
South India Temple Trail — Premium
per person, twin sharing — enquire for current pricing
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