India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) - Keith Bain [81]
3 South India: Temples & Tea, Beaches & Backwaters
South India: Temples & Tea, Beaches & Backwaters
South India is where the great Dravidian kingdoms were established, and anyone interested in ancient history and grand temples must visit Tamil Nadu or Karnataka. Here we’ve included only a few temples, but if you crave more, you’ll find an exhaustive variety of exquisitely carved temples to explore. For natural beauty and rejuvenation, there are few places in India like Kerala, India’s most verdant state, where we recommend you end your trip. This itinerary also takes you through its tea estates, backwaters, wildlife parks, and rainforests.
Days 1 & 2: Bengaluru or Mumbai
Fly straight into Bengaluru or Mumbai. You’ll probably arrive in the middle of the night, so spend the day relaxing or wandering through Karnataka’s capital city. If you’re in Bengaluru, at some point take in Bull Temple on Bugle Hill. Built by the city’s original architect, Kempe Gowda, this 16th-century black-granite statue of Nandi (Shiva’s sacred bull “vehicle”) literally dwarfs its “master,” and is kept glistening by regular applications of coconut oil. Stay at either the ultramodern Park.hotel or the Taj West End for old-world charm. If you’re on a budget, book a room at lovely Villa Pottipati. If you arrive in Mumbai instead, you can spend the day relaxing at one of the city’s numerous luxury hotels (preferably in a heritage suite at the Taj Mahal Palace or on the top floor of the Four Seasons) or at a good-value option like Ascot. Set aside a few hours to wander around and acclimate yourself to India’s most bustling megalopolis.
Day 3: Chennai & Mamallapuram
From Bengaluru (or Mumbai), fly to Chennai (or take the train). You can either head straight down the coast to Fisherman’s Cove resort (1 hr.) or take a detour to Kanchipuram 80km (50 miles) southwest of Chennai to visit the temples there before heading to Fisherman’s Cove. If you prefer to be closer to Mamallapuram, book a room at Temple Bay resort instead. En route, stop along the scenic East Coast Highway at the cultural centers of Cholamandalam and Dakshina Chitra for local arts and crafts. Dakshina Chitra is a heritage center showcasing different living styles from India’s four southern states: Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh.
Day 4: Mamallapuram
Set out early and take in Mamallapuram’s monolithic shrines and rock-cut cave temples, which lie scattered over a landscape heaped with boulders and rocky hillocks. Among these, the excellent Shore Temple, built to Lord Shiva, and the Five Rathas, a cluster of temples named for the five Pandava brothers of Mahabharata fame, are definitely worth seeking out. The celebrated Arjuna’s Penance is the largest relief-carving on earth. When you’ve finished your tour, you can enjoy a great seafood meal at one of the numerous beach shacks or restaurants before continuing down the coast to the French colonial town of Puducherry (aka Pondicherry). Overnight at nearby Dune Eco-Village, or in Pondi at Miason Perumal or Hotel de l’Orient.
Days 5 & 6: Puducherry (Pondicherry) & Trichy/Thanjavur
Besides hanging out in your antiques-filled colonial hotel or sauntering around the oceanfront French Quarter, you can visit Auroville, an interesting experiment in alternative living, also optimistically known as the City of Dawn (if you plan ahead you can enter the sci-fi Matrimandir, well worth the extra effort it takes to book); or you can join New Age travelers and earnest pilgrims and visit the atmospheric ashram of Sri Aurobindo. While wandering the Quarter, you may want to take a look at the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Eglise de Sacre Coeur de Jésus), an 18th-century neo-Gothic Catholic church on South Boulevard; and at the Church of Immaculate Conception on Mission Street. At twilight, stroll to