India, India Tours, Agra, Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Travel India

Days 1-2: Arrive Chennai (Madras), Spend a day exploring the city’s highlights including the Government Museum with its excellent collection of South Indian archaeological treasures including stone sculptures and Chola Bronzes. Kapaleswarar, an 8th century Pallava Temple in the characteristic Dravidian style. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple has some beautiful sculptures including 63 Saivaite Saints (Nayanmars) in bronze, which adorn the outer courtyard. San Thom Cathedral Basilica church at the southern end of Marina derives its name from St Thomas, the apostle of Christ who is believed to have come to Madras sometime during 52 AD. “Marina Beach” the pride of Chennai is the second longest beach in the World and has a wide sandy foreshore.

Day 3: Drive along the Coromandel Coast to Pondicherry, a former French enclave that is especially famous because of the mystic Sri Aurobindo who’s followers founded temples, Ayurvedic clinics and a number of other businesses here.

Day 4: Mamallapuram has been a stone carving center since the 5th century. It is speculated that its most popular monument, the Shore Temple was intended not for worship, but to display local artistic talent. The town is also a showcase of Pallava abd Dravidian temple architecture – the Krishna Mandapa and Arjuna’s Penance amongst the most complex. A banana leaf lunch at one of the town’s oldest restaurant introduces some of the flavors of South India.

Days 6-7: Center of sandalwood, silk and incense industries, Mysore is dominated by the Maharajah’s Palace – a fairytale spectacle designed in a hybrid “Indo-Saracenic” style by a British architect. Sightseeing includes Saravana Belagola, one of the oldest and most important Jain pilgrimage centers in India and the Palace of Mysore. In the evening visit the bull temple and a 2000-year-old temple dedicated to Goddess Chamundi.
Kesava Temple at Somnathpur, 33kms from Mysore is one of the most famous Hoysala temples in Karnataka. This star shaped temple, built in 1268, is covered with beautiful sculptures depicting stories from the epics.

Day 7: Head for Ooty (Uthagamandalam) - the famous hill station in the Nilgiri Hills (Blue Mountains). Before its adopteion by the British in the 19th century the area was inhabited by tribal people named Todas. The miniature railway is also famous here. At 03.00pm board the steam train to enjoy a trip from Ooty to Coonoor affording some spectacular views of the precipitous eastern slopes of the rain-forested Nilgiris. Reach Coonoor 04.00pm and plantation tour in Coonoor.

Days 8-9: Cochin is situated on a number of small islands and peninsulas. Ferries join the islands and you are transported by boat through the green lagoons that form the city’s harbor. In 1653 the Dutch settled in Cochin to trade in pepper. The spice trade is still important, as is shipbuilding. In the Dutch Palace beautiful murals depict episodes in Hindu mythology. Cochin boasts a 16th century Jewish synagogue and the only Jewish neighborhood in India. The ten meter high Chinese fishnets that Marco Polo mentioned are wonderful to see - a method of fishing that originated in the 11th century. After a trip to a backwater village finish the evening with the famous dance drama of Kerala, the Kathakali. Grotesque gesticulations, amazing costumes and very extensive make-up characterize this dance. The stories are mostly taken from the Mahabharaata and Ramaayana.

Day 10: The route to Alleppey is through a beautiful landscape of tea gardens. The backwaters are crisscrossed by canals, rice fields and beautiful palms; canoes with huge sails still transport people and you can find vegetable sellers, fisherman and other household materials being brought door to door in small wooden boats. The major crop here is coconut and it is said that the name Kerala derives from an old word for coconut, Kera. You can sunbathe on the deck or observe the landscape from the protection of the cabin. The population’s whole life takes place here on the water. The people sail, fish, swim and bathe here. They do their washing and their washing up. They are so adapted to the water that you can see people talking for an hour, while they are up to their necks in water. Peddlers take care of the supplies and the public transport goes on the water. Countless water birds wait for their chance to catch a fish.

Day 11: Kumarakom, the best of Kerala’s backwaters, is situated on Vembanad Lake near Kottayam. A paradise of mangroves, paddy fields, water lilies, kingfishers and coconut groves networked by a maze of waterways and canals. The Kumarakon Bird Sanctuary attracts numerous migrating flocks.

Days 12-13: Wake up to a hive of activity, tiny canoes ferrying fruit and vegetables, children rowing to school, fishermen casting for the day’s catch, the tempting aroma of fried fish and juicy mussels. Then it is a lonish drive to Tamilnadu’s oldest and holiest city – Madurai. In the evening visit Meenakshi temple for the night ceremony where God Shiva (Meenakshi`s husband) is taken in a palanquin to the bedroom of Meenashi. This is a daily procession and next day early morning before sunrise God Shiva is brought back to his shrine with in the temple complex. Sri Meenakshi Temple is the town’s most famous - thousands of priests and worshippers come daily and people are blessed by the temple elephant and astrologists read your stars and palm. You can also get your fortune read by parrots that pick tarot cards out of a pile. All the believers bathe themselves in the temple baths. The temple in-houses a thousand pillared hall and is one of the major attractions of the temple. You will also visit ‘Thirumalai Nayak Mahal’, built in 1636 by King Thirumalai Nayak with the help of an Italian Architect.

Day 14: The morning flight back to Chennai leaves you time for further shopping and sightseeing before a final dinner.

Day 15: Depart

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