South India tour

Arrive Chennai International Airport. On arrival, the guest will be met by our representative and directly proceed to Covelong (43 kms/1 hr). On arrival check-in hotel.

It is also recommended to add days to the itinerary to stay and enjoy siteseening in Chennai.

Overnight in Covelong.

Fullday sightseeing tour of Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram.

Overnight in Covelong.

After breakfast drive to Pondicherry (162 kms/4 hrs)

Tour of Pondicherry - visiting Botanical garden, Eglise De Sacre Coeur De Jesus and Sri Aurobindo Ashram. Later visit township of Auroville or the city of Dawn. Designed by a French architect Roger Arger, it is an entirely new concept in education and urban living.

Overnight in Pondicherry.

After breakfast drive to Tanjore (177 kms/4.5 hrs). Upon arrival at Tanjore - check into hotel.

Afternoon sightseeing tour of Tanjore - was the capital of the Chola Empire from the nineth to the thirteenth centuries. A Chola king, Raja Raja Chola, who held the throne from 985 to 1012, built the greatest of the empire's 74 temples, the Brihadeeswarar, with its soaring tower over the inner sanctum. This tower rises more than 62 meters (200 feet). On its dome rests a single block of granite weighing 80 tons.

Overnight in Tanjore.

After breakfast drive to Madurai (190 kms/5.5 hrs) enroute visiting Tiruchirappalli. Visit the Rock Fort Temple which rises abruptly to a height of 273 ft. A steep staircase cut into the rock leads upto the Fort. At the first level are the remnants of a huge hall blasted into ruins in 1772. The next storey is the Sri Thayumanaswamy dedicated to Shiva. Finally at the top of the hill, the Uchhi Pillayar temple - a Ganesh Temple offering a commanding view of the city.

Thereafter continue drive to Madurai. Upon arrival at Madurai, check into hotel. Evening visit of the Meenakshi Ammon temple - Leave the hotel for the temple by cycle rickshaws. At 9 PM, attend the night ceremony at the temple. This is a ceremony that takes place every evening when the temple bronze of Lord Shiva is carried to the bed chamber of Parvati. The procession is accompanied by religious prayer and temple music.

Overnight in Madurai.

After early breakfast city tour of Madurai visit the Meenakshi Ammon temple, one of the biggest temple complexes in India - 46 ft. long by 790 ft broad built in the 17th Century. It is a rectangular twin shrine the southern temple dedicated to Meenakshi (the consort of Shiva) and the other to Shiva. It is Madurai's greatest landmark - a file city within a city the complex includes a bazaar that bustles from dawn to nightfall. The high point of the Meenakshi Ammon temple is Hall of a "Thousand Pillars", built in the 16th C which is as great a work of structural engineering as it is of art. Also visit Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace which is an example of the architectural mastery of the Nayaks - a blend of Hindu and Saracen architecture. It's enormous roofed arcade supported by 48 foot high stoned pillar still stands.