Facing the Bay of Bengal, Tamil Nadu’s state capital is among the country’s largest cities and an important gateway to south India for tourism – especially the health sector – and business. In the early 17th-century the region comprised a clutch of modest fishing villages and hamlets. To further secure its lucrative spice trade, the East India Company sought out a potential port that was also relatively close to the Strait of Malacca, a vital shipping lane between peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. The company settled here, built Fort St. George – the first British fortress in India – in 1644, and the settlement gradually evolved from trading port to naval base and administrative centre.
Today it’s a dense sprawling metropolis somewhat tempered by a huge sandy beach. Its significant economic clout ranges from tech and IT to healthcare and automobiles. For tourists its usually seen as more of a gateway than a destination in its own right though there’s enough here to occupy a day or two’s sightseeing before moving on. 50Km south of the city, Mahabalipuram (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is an obvious day excursion.
Sixty kilometers south of Chennai and facing the Bay of Bengal, the seaside town of Mahabalipuram is a living testament to a stone-carving tradition dating back to the 6th- to 9th-century Pallava dynasty. Today dozens of rustic-looking workshops produce a vast array of sculpture ranging from diminutive statues to large monoliths. Their themes are mostly religious with depictions of Hinduism's principal deities and myths but here and there you might spot outliers such as a life-size Diana, Princess of Wales. Despite the large sandy beach and numerous low-key restaurants and diners, the town doesn't quite feel like a fully-fledged beach resort.
The real draw for visitors is a striking collection of ancient temples, shrines, friezes and rathas (temple 'chariots' typically used to transport idols in processions) all elaborately carved from granite boulders and facades that form part of the town's picturesque rocky backdrop. These monuments are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Created by the Pallavas when the town was a major port, it remains uncertain whether they were mainly designed to be active places of worship or rather as an extravagant showcase for the local sculptors' skills and technique which eventually spread into Indochina. Of all the town's monuments, the celebrated Shore Temple was most likely an active temple at least in the early centuries of its existence.
Set by the Bay of Bengal nearly a hundred miles south of Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu state, Puducherry was among the first places in southern India that saw early colonial powers gain a foothold. First came the Portuguese in the 1520s followed by the Danes and the Dutch. But it was France that really made its mark in 1674 with the beginnings of a French-style settlement that grew into a town – the heart and largest of Puducherry’s four separate and unconnected districts. Their rivalry with the British saw ‘Pondy’ (as it’s sometimes referred to affectionately) seized briefly several times but essentially France retained control until 1954. Yet, uniquely in India, a subtle French flavour endures in its architecture, tree-lined streets and cuisine.
Almost midway between Trichy and the Bay of Bengal coastline, Thanjavur stands around 13km south of the Kolidam River. The ancient city’s fortunes are most strongly linked with the rise of 9th-century Chola dynasty which controlled virtually all of southern India for centuries and pioneered developments in the arts, architecture, sculpture and even bronze casting. Utilising the region’s bountiful rivers (such as the Cauvery and Kolidam), the Chola kings also established an efficient irrigation network and the flat fertile land has become known as the ‘rice bowl of Tamil Nadu’. Chola prosperity helped enable the construction of several monumental temples in the 11th and 12th centuries. Today three of these – the so-called ‘Great Living Chola Temples’ – are UNESCO World Heritage Sites: outstanding examples of Dravidian temple architecture and key sights on Tamil Nadu itineraries. The city is also known for ‘Thanjavur painting’, a distinctive style that emerged in the 1600s.
Situated in the heart of Tamil Nadu state in India, the region of Chettinad is well-known for its agriculture, architecture, and unique cuisine. This region holds important cultural and historical treasures including French Art-Deco style palatial mansions peppered across the region, the magnificent Raja’s palace in Kanadukathan, and the 17th-century hilltop Thirumayam Fort. Browse antique markets in Karaikudi, sample the region’s flavourful and fiery cuisine featuring the famous Chettinad chicken, and visit to one of the impressively ornate temples. The town is also famous for its beautiful, hand-printed cotton fabric and traditional brightly-coloured Athangudi tiles.
Few cities in south India are as compelling – and none quite so ancient – as Madurai. Tamil Nadu's cultural capital has a recorded history dating back at least 2500 years; for around a millennia it was the Pandyan dynasty's capital and was trading with ancient Rome and China. These days the city is famed above all else for its enormous Sri Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar temple, still one of India's largest temple complexes with spectacular towered gateways and a seemingly endless cycle of worship and rituals servicing thousands of pilgrims each day. This makes Madurai a key destination for travellers to south India.
High in the evocatively-named Cardamom Hills by the state border with Tamil Nadu, Kerala’s Periyar National Park is known for its rolling thickly forested hills, montane grasslands, temperate climate and array of flora and fauna, some of it endemic. These are southern India’s loftiest peaks – the highest exceed 6,500ft – and their rolling topography forms the watershed for two of Kerala’s major rivers. Within the park lies Periyar Lake, a strangely convoluted 31-square kilometre stretch of water created in the 1890s by the Mullaperiyar Dam. While nearly 2000 species of flowering plants including 140 orchids might fade into the background, Periyar’s forests of teak, sandalwood, banyan and bamboo lend a more prominent backdrop to an array of wildlife. Elephants and tigers head a list of mammals including sloth bears, bison, flying squirrels, jungle cats, wild dogs along with around 270 species of birds, among them hornbills, flycatchers and storks.
Other nearby attractions include Chellarkovil waterfalls (the former at its best doing the monsoon season) and nearby Pandikuzhi, a lofty viewpoint. Just north of Periyar in Kumily town, the Kadathanadan Kalari Centre is a cultural centre featuring displays of kathakali (traditional Keralan theatre) and kalaripayattu (an ancient form of martial arts)
Located in the Indian state of Kerala, the bustling city of Alappuzha, also known as Alleppey, is set along the coast of the beautiful Laccadive Sea. Dubbed the ‘Venice of the East’, it is renowned for its sublime houseboat cruises which float along the tranquil canals of Kerala. Alappuzha is also said to be one of the most beloved tourist centres in the state. While cruising the palm-shaded canals is the most popular thing to do, visitors can also enjoy visiting Alappuzha’s beautiful beaches, exploring the little riverside villages dotting the lush countryside and discovering an array of resplendent temples. Don’t miss the annual Nehru Trophy Boat Race held at Punnamada Lake.
A major spice trading centre since the 14th century, Kochi (previously Cochin) is Kerala’s largest city and an essential destination for travelers to southern India. From ancient times it was known to an array of traders from Arabs to Portuguese, Greeks to Chinese, and was also home to India’s oldest Jewish community. Straddling several islands, a peninsula and part of the mainland, the city faces both ocean and backwaters so – unusually for India – all but the narrowest exploration of its sights involves bridges, ferries and water taxis. The main highlights are on Fort Kochi peninsula: built in 1503 the Church of St Francis is one of India’s oldest churches (and briefly interred the remains of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama) while the 16th-century Mattancherry Palace displays an extensive set of medieval murals inspired by the great Indian epics.