India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [298]
Tip: If you plan to include Mysore in your South India itinerary, you could head over from here, scaling the Eastern Ghats to overnight at sister property: the atmospheric Lake Forest Hotel, located on Yercaud Lake, a hill station near Salem, before continuing on to Mysore.
6/30B Timmakudi Agiraharam, Baburajapuram PO, Swamimalai (4km/2 1⁄2 miles from Kumbakonam) 612 302. 04352/480-044.www.indecohotels.com. 27 units. Rs 4,800 deluxe double; Rs 6,700—Rs 7,530 suite double. Excludes taxes. MC, V. Amenities: Restaurant; Ayurvedic center; pool; pottery; yoga. In room: A/C, TV, minibar (soft drinks only).
Chettinadu Mansion This is the closest you get in southern India to experiencing a night in a Rajasthani heritage hotel, with a semiaristocratic (in nature if not title) host at the helm, and a palace as neighbor. This is the family home of larger-than-life Mr. Chandramouli (cousin of Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar, owner of the neighboring Palace) and with luck he’ll be holding court on the deep thinnai beside the arched entrance. The house is a classic Chettinad beauty: black-and-white marble tiles and massive granite pillars from Italy, brilliant blue cast-iron pillars imported from Birmingham, and so on. Upstairs you’ll find the most delightful rooms (insist on one of these seven rooms), each painted with trompe l’oeil Art Nouveau–style tile patterns and furnished with antique beds and reproduction fittings and furnishings. Bathroom fittings are cheap and showing their age. There’s an outdoor terrace from which to enjoy the rooftops of the heritage village as the sun starts to dip, as you sip the best chai in Tamil Nadu.
SARM House, behind Raja’s Palace, Kanadukathan, Sivaganga Dist, Tamil Nadu 630 103. 04565/273-080.www.chettinadumansion.com. chandramoulia@yahoo.com. 11 units. Rs 4,400—Rs 5,500 double. Meals Rs 600. MC, V. Amenities: Dining hall; room service; station transfers.
Visalam We wouldn’t dream of coming to Tamil Nadu without spending at least one night in this beautifully restored Art Deco home, built by one of the wealthy Chettiars for his eldest daughter Visalakshi. Now owned by Visalakshi’s granddaughter, it was restored and skillfully renovated in 2007 by the excellent Kerala-based company CGH Earth. Bedrooms are gorgeous and huge (ask for the room on the top floor) and service is sterling: staff (sourced from the village) are genuinely warm and thoughtful, while CGH manager Johny runs what is the best boutique hotel in the Chola heartland with military precision. The large walled pool garden and generally immaculately maintained grounds are a further boon. Johny will plan plenty of activities to fill your days; we opt to do nothing but relax and wander around the village, and it remains the highlight of every Tamil trip.
Kanadukathan, Sivaganga Dist, Tamil Nadu 630 103. 04565/273301.www.cghearth.com. johnypeter@cghearth.com. 15 units. Rs 5,625 double, breakfast included. (Rs 9,005 double, full board.) Extra person Rs 2,000. MC, V. Amenities: 2 restaurants; room service; station transfers.
5 Madurai
498km (309 miles) SW of Chennai; 100km (62 miles) S of Trichy
The holy temple town Madurai—apparently named for the nectar that flowed from Shiva’s hair as a blessing for the new city (madhuram is the Tamil word for sweetness)—was built by the Pandyan king Kulasekara. The oldest living city in the Indian peninsula, it was the capital of a kingdom that ruled much of South India during the 4th century B.C., and conducted trade as far afield as Greece, Rome and China—one of the earliest written records of its splendors, written by the Greek ambassador Megasthenes, dates from 302 B.C. Along with great wealth, Madurai generated great festivals of poetry and writing—the Tamil Sangams—the first of which are said to have