Dine with a prominent Chettinad family and learn about their family history; gain insights into the extensive trade and international exchange that formed the basis of the Chettiar fortune.

Have lunch at the Bangala Hotel, and afterwards take a cooking class using ingredients grown on-site. Some common dishes that you may learn to make include pepper chicken, seer fish curry, and raita, or cool, refreshing yogurt laced with sweet pomegranate seeds. Afterwards, complete your cooking lesson by harvesting the plates used – shiny, uniform banana leaves – which are also grown here.

Visit a local market that sells all manner of produce and goods for the home, from colored powders for kolams, elaborate, polychrome designs drawn for good luck and prosperity, to colorful flower garlands for weddings, births, and other important festivities.

Stop at Namunasamudram, a site with hundreds of terracotta horses lined along a dirt pathway. Each horse represents one harvest season: workers that travel to this area as migrant laborers commemorate their time here with a new terracotta horse. Some are brightly painted while others are headless due to natural wear and tear over the centuries.

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 heavy pillars made of teak from Burma. These homes are storied, historical residences, and many of them still have portraits and photos from the family that built the property.