South India - Tamil Nadu
Other Suggested Itineraries: Maharajas, Mountains and Monks | South by Southwest | Treasures of India's Northwest | Ladakh and Kashmir
Tamil Nadu Itinerary
Day 1
VIP arrival in Chennai: Upon arrival, you will be met by your guide and taken through the expedited customs line. You will be driven in a luxury car to the Taj Fisherman's Cove, set on Covelong Beach in a former Dutch Fort.
Day 2
Wake up to the sound of the Indian Ocean crashing on your doorstep. Spend a relaxing day on the beach where a variety of activities are available to you: renting a catamaran, fishing, or enjoying a private meal in a raised bungalow on the beach. The Taj's spa, here called Jiva Spa, is famed for reviving ancient therapies, some originally created/offered exclusively for royalty. At Fisherman's Cove, indulge in a 2-hour Jivaniya (Invigorate) treatment that involves a scrub made from local spices and herbs followed by a circulation-stimulating massage.
Day 3
Take a private yoga lesson on the beach in the morning, followed by breakfast served to you on your private beach cottage's porch, which overlooks the ocean.
Check out and drive 30 minutes to Mahabalipuram, an ancient city from the 7th century on the coast with several Hindu temple ruin sites. Receive a primer on Hinduism and its aesthetics at a massive outdoor bas-relief, which depicts Arjuna's Penance. Continue on to what is believed to be the practice area for the sculptors who worked on Mahabalipuram's main temples. The five or six structures here were left in various states of completion; sliver-like grooves line what would have been open spaces between columns – the meticulousness of the artisans and the time-consuming nature of their work truly comes to life here. Finally, visit the Shore Temples of Mahabalipuram, which are Vishnu temples overlooking the Bay of Bengal.
Have dinner at Temple Bay GRT, a seaside property ten minutes away from Mahabalipuram, before driving 1.5 hours to Pondicherry, a quaint town that was a French colony. Check into Le Dupleix, which is the former home of the mayor of Pondicherry and is named after one of the most illustrious governor generals of the French establishment in India, Joseph Francois Dupleix (1697-1763). It is housed in a beautifully restored 18-century mansion complete with furnishings from that era.
Day 4
Pondicherry's charm is infectious. From its wide, clean streets, fastidiously kept that way by women employed to collect trash twice a day, to its street signs with Tamil and French names, Pondicherry is an excellent place to unwind and do as the locals do.
Start the morning off with an authentic croissant and coffee at a patisserie where you can chat with the owner about his upbringing in Pondicherry, and how he came to learn his craft.
Visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram, founded by Sri Aurobindo who came from a prominent Brahmin, or first caste, family. He was the first guru of his eponymous ashram, and the second, “the Mother”, was a French woman who was one of his students. Most gurus are male and Indian, so the Mother is rarity in every sense. She died in 1974, and there is no present guru as both Sri Aurobindo and the Mother left an enormous amount of teachings behind, which have been published into books and are available for purchase in the ashram's gift shop. The teachings are not didactic religious tomes, but rather suggestions on how to lead a more purposeful, spiritual existence.
Have dinner in the home of a prominent Soldat family. When the French returned Pondicherry to India, they offered French citizenship to any resident of Pondicherry. This was an excellent opportunity for the untouchables, or the lowest caste, to raise their station in life. Many worked in governmental positions in France braving the cold in a land far different from India. The Soldats returned to Pondicherry as heroes, rocketing to the top of society as the money from their French pensions made them instantly wealthy back at home. Hear the fascinating rags to riches story of this family over dinner and aperitifs.
Day 5
Spend the morning shopping. Pondicherry's commercial side is booming, although one wouldn't know it from the relatively quiet streets. New shops are opening everyday and there is a real buzz about the town. Go to a shop called Gaur Kala and meet Manisha, a famed silk designer who even Skypes with her clients overseas to show them her newest creations. Her shop has many fine examples of her table and bed linens and sari silk from various parts of India that she personally sources and carries back to Pondicherry.
As you shop, you will also be on comprehensive walking tour of the town, passing by its quaint French colonial buildings such as churches, the war memorial, commemorating the loss of French soldiers' lives in World War I, and Ecole Francaise d'Extreme Orient (EFEO), which was founded in 1900 in Hanoi but is now headquartered in Paris.
Pause in the school to meet with students studying Asian societies, the focus of the EFEO, and have tea with professors who have dedicated their lives to this academic field.
Walk through Ville Blanche (white town) and Ville Noire (black town), so named because the former was where most of the French lived and the latter was the Tamil side. Its colonial past notwithstanding, the town today is very integrated as former colonies go.
Stop at the Ganesh temple, which is usually bustling with locals wishing to get everything from their children to their motorbikes blessed by Lakshmi, a 19-year old female elephant that has been living in Pondicherry for nearly her entire life. She leads quite an enjoyable life, pausing for lunch and a nap for a few hours in the middle of the day and retiring just after sundown. Feed her some fruit and she'll tap you on your bowed head with her trunk, an unreal sensation.
Have drinks and dinner at Sal a Manger, the restaurant of The Calve, a property in black town that was a former home of a prominent Chettinad family. It was built 150 years ago and restored with authentic materials such as Chettinad plaster and Atangudi tiles.
Day 6
Drive three hours back to Chennai. On your way into the city, stop at Cholamandal Artists' Village located about 12 miles south of Chennai. The village was set up in the mid-1960s by the principal of the Madras School of Arts and Crafts for artists to pool their talents and resources to learn from and influence each other. The result is this thriving, tranquil respite from the city where many artists make their home and have their own studios. There are a few galleries that exhibit works for sale; most have reasonable price tags.
Have lunch at Saravana Bhavan, a successful Indian franchise of south Indian vegetarian restaurants that has made it as far as New York, London, Singapore and elsewhere. Learn how to eat with your hands as you devour your thali, which has roughly 14 different cups of curries, raita (yogurt) and other staples of the south Indian diet. When you are finished, meet with the head chef and walk through the kitchen for a cooking demonstration to see how so many dishes are made for every meal.
Visit the Bronze Gallery in Government Museum, which houses several collections of British doctors. The museum itself is a fine example of Indo-Sarcenic architecture, which blends Rajput, Hindu, and high Victorian architectural styles. Stop by the Southern Railway terminus in town for another example of this gorgeous, unique style. You will be hosted by a top curator, who will take you to the back store rooms to see some bronzes that are being restored.
Fly from Chennai to Madurai and check into the Gateway Hotel. Have a private dinner served to you on the terrace of your suite, which overlooks Madurai.
Day 7
In the morning, visit Thirumalai Nayak Palace, which was built in 1636 by King Thirumalai Nayak with the help of an Italian architect. King Thirumalai was the first and greatest of the Nayakas rulers; Madurai was the principal seat of the Nayakas from the 16th century up to the 18th century. The current structure, while striking in scale, is actually just ? the size of the original palace. King Tirumalai's grandson, Chokkanatha Nayak, destroyed the original, and its valuables were moved elsewhere. Of particular interest is the enormous courtyard, also called Swargavilasa or Celestial Pavilion, which gives an indication of the palace's opulent past.
Have lunch in the area and if the weather's fine, walk 20 minutes to Meenakshi Amman temple where you can easily spend a few hours. It is a living temple, which makes a visit here wonderfully interactive. Ideally, visit the temple on a Tuesday or Friday as more women take full baths and go to temple on these days, and are dressed in their very best. On any given day, nearly 10,000 people pass through Meenakshi Amman. Soak in the atmosphere of people prostrating themselves in front of the statues of Ganesh; buying colorful bangles; making offerings to different Hindu gods – in addition to the “big three,” Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma, there are literally hundreds of other deities; and drawing floral patterns called kolams with rice flour on the floor. Have a private blessing with a priest and help him light the hundreds of oil lamps the line the temple's passageways.
Day 8
Drive two hours to Karakkudi, the capital of Chettinad, a region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu. Having made their money in banking and trading with Burma, Malaya, and Ceylon in the 19th and 20th centuries, the Chettinads are a wealthier group and have built “palaces”, which are actually early 20th-century mansions, in Karakkudi and the surrounding areas. Many of these have been turned into heritage properties; you will be staying in one called Visalam, which was built by K.V.AL.M. Ramanathan Chettiar for his eldest daughter, Visalakshi.
Have a private tour of Visalam and visit other Chettinad palaces. Many of them bear markers of the Chettinads' success abroad, such as opulently carved doors and pillars from Burma teak. The old world aura of these homes is unmistakable, and many of them still have portraits and photos from the family that built the property.
Have dinner with a prominent Chettinad family and learn about their fortune amassed abroad, and how the Chettinad culture was enriched from these international encounters.
Day 9
In the morning, visit a local market, which sells all manner of produce and goods for the home, from colored powders for kolams to flower garlands. You will be joined by a chef from the Bangala hotel, where you will have lunch and a cooking class.
Have lunch at the Bangala, a wonderful place to become immersed in Chettinadi cuisine and culture. While there are scores of dishes in the Chettinadi cook's repertoire, some common dishes that you'll likely see are pepper chicken, seer fish curry and pomegranate raita.
Take a cooking class here, using ingredients grown on-site. While your dishes are simmering away, complete the task of putting a meal together by harvesting the plates used – shiny, perfectly uniform banana leaves – which are also grown here. If you're lucky and an exceptionally good student, perhaps the grandmotherly owner will give you one of her prized jars of pickled or chili mangoes.
Day 10
Drive to Trichy, which is two hours away, to meet your flight to Bangalore.
Along the way, stop at Namunasamudram, a site with hundreds of terracotta horses lined along a dirt pathway. You will have to take your shoes off but wear your “temple socks”, which your guide will provide to you, as there are often fire ants crawling along this path. The horses represent one harvest season and families that travel to this area as migrant labor commemorate their time here with a new terracotta horse. It is surreal to see these horses in various states – some are brightly painted while others are headless due to natural wear and tear over the centuries – standing in a pin-drop quiet, uninhabited area. This is a rarity in India; enjoy the silence while you can.
Back on the road, you will witness a number of cottage industries along the way – people drying peanuts right on the asphalt, roasting cashews, husking millet (via cars driving over freshly harvested heaps of the stuff) and dying cotton. To be sure, these are antiquated ways of doing things, but the challenge in India is this – if any of these processes were automated, literally millions of people would be out of work overnight. It is unclear how or when this issue will be addressed in any meaningful, widespread manner. But for now, feel free to stop and buy some cashews, which are delicious and much fresher than what you'd get at home, and chat with the roasters through your guide/translator.
Fly from Trichy to Bangalore.
Arrive in Bangalore – recently renamed Bengaluru – and skip the yawn-worthy sights in the city. Drive for one hour to Shreyas, a boutique property cum wellness center, your last stop on your journey through South India. Shreyas is located in the idyllic outskirts of this city famous for its plethora of engineers.
Begin your stay with a soothing Ayurvedic massage or spa treatment. Dating back nearly 5,000 years, Ayurveda is an ancient health-care practice that began in India and is now widely practiced throughout the subcontinent. A compound word originating from the Sanskrit words ayur and veda that roughly translates to “knowledge of life”, Ayurveda is concerned with measures to protect ayus, which includes healthy living along with therapeutic measures that relate to physical, mental, social and spiritual harmony. This is accomplished by alleviating the body of toxins with natural ingredients, specialized massage that pinpoints problem areas and concentrate on marma (vital energy points) and meditation.
Day 11
Have breakfast prepared especially for you by one of Shreyas' top chefs. The property serves exquisite vegetarian fare that is as tasty as it is healthy.
Meet with a resident nutritionist and learn about how you can improve your overall wellbeing through minor changes to your diet.
Follow your meeting with a cooking demonstration with one of the property's chefs who will recommend ingredients and cooking methods to you in light of your nutritionist's instructions.
Learn the art of meditation during an afternoon group meditation session, which takes place everyday at 4pm. All guests and staff participate, further enhancing the experience of staying in a luxurious environment that is also enriching and educational.
Walk through Shreyas' extraordinarily varied and well-kept organic gardens with one of the property's managers, who will point out all of the interesting herbs, vegetables and fruit growing here, in addition to the property's small dairy farm, which houses probably the healthiest looking cows you'll have seen thus far in India. Another interesting aspect of Shreyas is the fact that none of the staff are trained in the hospitality industry; all have had jobs in other industries before coming here. Hence, your guide through the gardens may also double as a yogi in addition to his management duties.
Your last meal will be a specially prepared meal served to you in a thatched pavilion in the organic garden. Toast the end of your journey in this idyllic environment.
Day 12
Drive to Bangalore International Airport and meet your flight home. Bangalore has non-stop flights to several international hubs such as Singapore, London, Frankfurt and San Francisco, and there are several flights a day to Bombay and Delhi where you can connect to your flight home.