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South India Tour

Duration : 15 Days 14 Nights
Destination : Chennai - Mahabalipuram - Pondicherry - Truchy - Madurai - Periyar - Alleppey - Cochin - Ooty - Mysore - Banglore

Day 01 Arrive Chennai
Arrive Chennai
You will be met on arrival and transferred to your hotel for one night

Day 02 Chennai - Mahabalipuram
Drive from Chennai to Mahabalipuram (about 4 hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for two nights
Enjoy a visit to Mahabalipuram & the Crocodile bank.
(To see the 10th century Pallava Dynasty Shore Temple & Rock carvings)

A few miles south of Chennai, at Mahabalipuram, on the sandy shores of the Bay of Bengal, a beautiful group of rock-cut monuments evokes the past. Seventh-century carvings of the Pallava dynasty include a series of freestanding boulders carved to resemble small temples and animals. Rock-cut caves and a masterful stone bas-relief are nearby. The 'Penance of Arjuna’s' relief, cut on two huge rocks, shows scores of figures of deities, people and animals including, according to one interpretation, the emaciated figure of Arjuna, the great warrior of the Mahabharata, standing on one leg and doing penance, praying to Lord Shiva for the strength to destroy his enemies. Sadhus of today perform this exact act of sacrificial devotion. On the adjacent beach stands one of South India's oldest temples, the Shore Temple, its foundations washed for twelve centuries by the frothy sea.

Day 03 Mahabalipuram
Enjoy an excursion to Kanchipuram and the temple at Tirukkalikundram.
This relaxing coastal village some 57 kms south of Chennai (Madras) is world famous for its romantic shore temples, which have World Heritage listing and are probably the most photographed monuments in India. The village was once the second capital and port of the Pallava kings of Kanchipuram, but today it's a favourite travellers' haunt with the fascinating remains of a 1300-year-old Indian kingdom. The temples are refreshingly uncluttered. Highlights include Arjuna's Penance, the mythical story of the River Ganges carved in relief on the face of a huge rock; eight mandapams (shallow rock-cut halls) with figure sculptures; the Rathas, architectural prototypes of all Dravidian temples; and the beautiful wind and sea-ravaged shore temples, which represent the final flowering of Pallava art.

Day 04 Mahabalipuram - Pondicherry
Drive from Mahabalipuram to Pondicherry (about 3 hours drive) enroute a short stop at the temples of Kumbakonam
Check in at your hotel for one night
Enjoy sightseeing tour of Pondicherry

Pondicherry is a union territory which lies within the state of Tamil Nadu. The inherent ambience of Pondicherry becomes most evident in the oldest part of the town which flanks the seashore boulevard. Quiet beaches and peaceful resorts to the north and south balance the towns bustling, yet easy going life. But Pondy hasn't only its own special attractions to offer.

Colonial buildings which trace back to the 18th century, line along a grid of straight clean streets and house the French institutions, private homes and businesses, and the sprawling premises of the famous Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The visitor is greeted by mellow colours of cream, yellow, pink and grey with flamboyant bougainvillea bursting over gates and compound walls of cool courtyards.

Day 05 Pondicherry - Trichy
Drive from Pondicherry to Trichy via Tanjore (about 5 hours drive)
Tanjore was once the capital of the Chola kings, and is the cultural capital of the region. Tanjore reached its pinnacle of glory under the later Cholas (10th to 14th century), who were great temple builders, and developed the art of making bronze figures.
Check in at your hotel for two nights

Day 06 Trichy
Enjoy a sightseeing tour of Trichy
(Including the Rock Fort and Srirangam temples)
Situated on the banks of River Cauvery, Tiruchirapalli is the fourth largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu. Trichy came to be occupied in turn by the Nayaka of Madurai, the Marathas, the Navabs of Carnatic, the French and finally the British. Trichy is fine blend of tradition and modernity built round the Rock Fort.

Day 07 Trichy - Madurai
Drive from Trichy to Madurai (about 4 hours drive) via Chettinadu (explore on your own)
Check in at your hotel for one night
Enjoy a sightseeing of the town in the morning.
(Including the famous Meenakshi Temple and the busy bazaars)

The life of Madurai revolves around the Sri Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple. This magnificently carved temple is the main attraction of Madurai and its huge Gopurams towers over the city. Meenakshi Temple as a thousand pillared 'Mandapam'. Precisely there are 985 pillars and each of them is delicately and exquisitely carved. Among these are the musical pillars, which produce music when tapped. Surprisingly, these musical pillars are carved out of a single granite rock. The temple has been a hub of Tamil culture and has been sponsoring literature, art, music, and dance in the region for a long time. The temple also has an art museum.
Afternoon is at leisure.

Day 08 Madurai - Periyar
Drive from Madurai to Periyar (about 4- 5 hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for one night
Afternoon enjoy a boat-ride on Lake Periyar to spot herds of wild elephants.

The Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary lies around the lake, on the cool hills of the Western Ghats; the heartland of which luxuriate in matted coffee, tea, pepper and cardamom plantations. Periyar offers one of the most sybaritic ways of seeing big game. The tropical jungle around Periyar Lake can be explored on the foot as well but we lounge in a motor launch as it drifts around a bend and comes into sight of elephants, deer or bison coming to the shores of the lake for a drink. It is famous for its wild elephants and boasts a large population of Gaur, Sambar, Cheetal, Sloth Bear, Wild Dog and many species of birds. During the dry season when water-holes within the forest are dry, leopards and tigers also pad up to the lake for water.

Day 09 Periyar - Alleppey - Backwaters
Board a private riceboat for a cruise along the backwaters.
(Boat built in traditional style)

The House Boat traditionally known as 'Kettuvallam' is made entirely of natural materials; wood, rattan and bamboo, in harmonious tones of brown and honey. It has neither engine nor machinery of any other sort on board. Sixty eight feet long and ten feet wide, with a slightly unturned prow and rear, it sits low in the water. In front, roofed but otherwise open to air, is the living and dining area, its sides shaded by shutters props open at midway by bamboo poles.
 

This comfortable space is covered with coir matting and is furnished with four rattan chairs and a little table. Although the superstructure was only few years old, the boat itself is century old - until it was reconditioned as a house-boat, it has transported rice and wood. Two handsome dark, broad wooden thwarts - original features of the boat - lay across the space like benches. Lashed to the ceiling were wooden paddles and a couple of life preservers.
Overnight is on board the boat

Day 10 Backwaters - Cochin
Disembark from houseboat at Alleppey and drive to Cochin (drive time – 1 ½ hours approximately)
Check in at your hotel for two nights
Afternoon is at leisure
In the evening enjoy a Kathakali dance performance, the traditional dance-form of Kerala.
(Suggest arrive early to see make-up being put on by the artists)

The most popular and sacred dance-drama of Kerala, Kathakali evolved across the last 400 years. This classical dance requires lengthy and rigourous training to attain complete control of the body and sensitivity to emotion so as to be able to render all its nuances through facial expressions and hand gestures. Themes centre on the two great Indian epics - the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Day 11Cochin
Enjoy a sightseeing of the town in the morning.
(This will include the Synagogue, Dutch Palace and St Francis' Church)
Jewish Synagogue is closed on Saturdays
Dutch Palace is closed on Fridays

Cochin - formerly a princely state beckoned travelers from distant shores. This commercial city, also called “The Queen of the Arabian Sea” is famous for its exquisite designer Gold Jewelry. The Indian Navy, the Port and the Airport share the largely man-made Willingdon Island. The sightseeing includes the visit to Dutch Palace built by the Portuguese for a local King in 1555 A.D. The famous Jew Street, a cul-de-sac leading to the beautiful Parsi Synagogue built in 1568. A walking tour of Fort Cochin will take you through the streets still graced with traces of Portuguese, Dutch & British colonial architecture, including a few old trad­ing factories, the only ones still standing anywhere in the world.

Evening enjoy a sunset cruise to see Chinese fishing nets.
(The boats have safety rings but no life jackets)
At the entrance of Cochin Harbour, Chinese fishing nets are a fascinating sight. Built of teakwood, these nets were erected between 1350 and 1450 AD. They are mainly used at high tide, requiring at least four men to operate their system of counterweights. The nets are lowered into the water by the crane like structure and raised a few minutes late

Day 12 Cochin -Ooty
You will be driven to Ooty (about 10 hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for one night
Rest of the day is at leisure

Day 13 Ooty - Mysore
Drive from Ooty to Mysore (about 4 ½ hours drive)
Check in at your hotel for two nights
Rest of the day is at leisure

Day 14 Mysore
Enjoy sightseeing to include the Mysore Palace and Srirangapatnam.
Srirangapatnam is a name that has filled the pages of British history in Karnataka. It is a picturesque place on the banks of River Kaveri on the Mysore-Bangalore highway at a very short distance from Mysore. The island of Srirangapatnam in the River Kaveri, 14km north of Mysore, measures 5km by 1km. long a site of Hindu pilgrimage, it is named for its tenth-century Sriranganathaswamy Vishnu temple. In the year 1133 it served as a refuge for the philosopher Ramanuja. The Vijayanagars built a fort here in 1454, and in 1616 it became it became the capital of the Mysore Wadiyar Rajas. However, Srirangapatnam is more famously associated with Hyder Ali, who deposed the Wadiyars in1761, and even more so with his son Tipu Sultan. During his seventeen-year reign-which ended with his death in 1799, at the bloody battle of "Seringapatnam" Tipu posed greater threat than any other Indian ruler to British plans to dominate India. Tipu and his father were responsible for transforming the small state of Mysore into a major Muslim power. His burning life-long desire to rid India of the hated British invaders naturally brought him an ally in the French. He obsessively embraced his popular name of the "Tiger of Mysore", surrounding himself with symbols and images of tigers; much of his memorabilia is decorated with the animal or its stripes. Tipu's Srirangapatnam was largely destroyed by the British, but parts of the fort area in the northwest survive, including gates, ramparts, the grim dungeons, and the domed and minareted Jami Masjid mosque. 

Day 15 Mysore - Bangalore - Fly Out
Transfer to Mysore railway station to board the train 2008 Shatabdi Express to Bangalore
Air-conditioned chair car – 1420:1615 hours; daily except Tuesday
You will be met on arrival and transferred to Bangalore international airport for your flight back home

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