11 Days/ 10 Nights
Mahabalipuram, Kanchipuram, Vellore, Pondicherry, Tanjore, Srirangam, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Trivandrum.
Tentative Price: June to September (Monsoon season)
Package Stay | 2 Pax | 4 Pax | 6 Pax |
H-BNB Bed& br. | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Standard 3 Star |
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Deluxe 4 Star |
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Premium 5 Star |
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*Price is per person & valid when minimum Pax travelling together
Tour Services starts from- Chennai
Tour Services ends at – Trivandrum
Detailed Tour Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive at Chennai – Transfer to Mahabalipuram (60km 1:30hrs journey Approx.)
Welcome to The Eternal Heritage of Tamilnadu (Grand Dravidian Architecture Tour)tour, on arrival in Chennai Airport/ Railway station our representative will meet you and transfer to Mahabalipuram. After reaching to Mahabalipuram we Check-in hotel, freshen up and have a Lunch.
Mahabalipuram (Mamallapuram) was the major sea port of the 7th Century ancient Pallava Kingdom based at Kanchipuram, and a wander round the town’s great, UNESCO World Heritage- listed temples and carvings inflames the imagination, especially at sunset. We cover Shore temple, Five Ratha’s (Draupadi Ratha, Arjuna Ratha, Bhima Ratha, Dharmaraja Ratha and Nakula-Sahadeva Ratha), Arjuna’s Penance the crowning masterpiece of Mamallapuram stone work, this giant relief carving is one of the greatest art work of ancient India. Krishna’s butterball an immovable, but apparently balancing precariously, it’s a favourite photo opportunity. Trimurti cave temple, light house and Mahishamardini mandapa.
Rest of the evening is free for your own activities.
Overnight stay at the hotel in Mahabalipuram
(Dinner)
Day 2: Mahabalipuram – Kanchipuram – Vellore (140km 3:30hrs journey Approx.)
Today morning after having Breakfast at hotel we leave for Kanchipuram. A 70km travel from Mahabalipuram. Was a capital of the Pallava dynasty during the 6th to 8th centuries, when the Pallava’s were creating the great stone monuments of Mahabalipuram.
It is famed for its numerous important and busy temples, some dating from Pallava, Chola or Vijayanagar times, and also for its high-quality silk sarees, woven on hand looms by thousands of families in the city and nearby villages.
We visit some of famous temples like, Kailashnath Temple, Ekambareshwara Temple one of the five South Indian Shiva temples associated with the five elements, this 12- hectare precinct is the shrine of earth. Kamakshi Amman temple, Varadaraja Perumal Temple is dedicated to Vishnu and was built by Cholas in the 11th century. Then we proceed to Vellore a further 70km drive from Kanchipuram.
We check-in to the hotel after reaching to Vellore, afternoon we cover Vellore Fort is spread in 133 acers, it is a circuit of the moat- Surrounded ramparts of the splendid fort is the most peaceful experience. Golden temple (Sri Lakshmi Narayani Temple) whose Vimana and Ardha Mandapam is covered with pure gold. The temple is located on 100 acers of land and has been constructed by Vellore based charitable trust.
Overnight stay at the hotel in Vellore
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 3: Vellore – Tiruvannamalai – Pondicherry (200km 4:30hrs journey Approx.)
After having a breakfast at the hotel, we proceed to Tiruvannamalai 85km journey from Vellore. There are temple towns, there are mountain towns and there is temple- mountain towns where God appears as a phallus of fire. Welcome to Tiruvannamalai. Set below boulder- strewn Mt. Arunachala, this is one of South India’s five ‘elemental’ cities of Shiva. Here we visit Arunachaleshwara Temple is dedicated to the lord Shiva, Located at the base of Arunachala Hill on 25acers of area. Mt. Arunachala this 800m- high extinct volcano dominates Tiruvannamalai and local conceptions element of fire, which supposedly find its sacred abode in Arunachal’s heart. Later we further proceed to Puducherry a French colonial town until 1954 and is 108km journey from here.
Check-in hotel after reaching Pondicherry, rest of the day is leisure for your own activities.
Overnight stay at hotel in Pondicherry
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 4: Pondicherry
Today morning after having a delicious breakfast at hotel we proceed for a sightseeing of Pondicherry, we visit French Quarter pocketed away just behind the seafront is a series of cobbled streets, white and mustard buildings in various states of romantic dishevelment, and a slight sense of gallic glory gone by, otherwise known as the French Quarter. Seafront, Sri Aurobindo Ashram and Pondicherry Museum. Churches like Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral completed in 1791, Sacred Heart Basilica is a set off by stained glass and Gothic sense of proportion. And Notre Dame des Anges built in the 1850s, looks sublime in the late- afternoon light. The smooth limestone interior was made using eggshells in the plaster. Afternoon we return to the hotel and have a lunch. Rest of the day is free for your own activities.
Overnight stay at hotel in Pondicherry
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 5: Pondicherry – Chidambaram – Tanjore (180km 4:30hrs journey Approx.)
Today morning after having a breakfast we head towards southern part of Tamilnadu and Kingdom of Great Cholas. First, we visit Nataraja Temple at Chidambaram a 64km journey from Pondicherry, the great temple complex of Nataraja, Shiva as the dancer of Universe, one of the holiest of all Shiva sites, this also happens to be a Dravidian Architectural highlight. The temple was erected during Chola times (Chidambaram was the capital of Cholas), but the shrines at its heart date back to at least the 6th century. A 55acers sprawling temple complex houses many other attractions inside. Later we move further south through Gangaikonda Cholapuram a UNESCO world Heritage site.
Arrive to Tanjore in the afternoon, here are the ochre foundation blocks of perhaps the most remarkable civilization of Dravidian History, one of the few kingdoms to expand Hinduism beyond India, a bedrock for aesthetic styles that spread from Madurai to Mekong. A dizzying historical legacy was forged from Thanjavur, Capital of great Chola Empire.
Check-in hotel and relax for a while, later in the evening we visit “Brihadeeshawar Temple” (Big Temple) a UNESCO World Heritage site. In the evening, when the rocks capture a hot palette of red’s, oranges, yellows and pinks on the crowning glory of Chola Architecture, it was built between 1003 and 1010 by Raja raja I (whose name means King of Kings). It was the largest built stone structure on planet on that times it holds India’s largest monolith Nandi sculpture inside. Also visit Royal palace if time permits.
Overnight stay at hotel in Tanjore
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 6: Tanjore- Srirangam- Madurai (200km 4:00hrs journey Approx.)
Today after having breakfast at hotel we head towards Madurai another sprawling temple complex and icon of Tamilnadu. Enroot we cover Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple at Srirangam. It is 50km distance from Tanjore, located on the larger river island in Cauvery River. This temple is possibly the biggest temple in India and biggest performing temples in World after Angkor Watt in Cambodia – so large it feels like a self-enclosed city. It also in tentative list of UNESCO world heritage sites.
Later we head towards Madurai, a 140km journey from Trichy (Srirangam). Chennai may be the capital of Tamil Nadu, but Madurai claims its soul. Madurai is Tamil- born and Tamil-rooted, one of the oldest cities in India, a metropolis that traded with ancient Rome and was a great capital long before Chennai was even dreamt of.
Check-in hotel after we arrive at Madurai, in the evening we visit Meenakshi Amman Temple the abode of the triple- breasted goddess Meenakshi (fish-eyed – an epithet for perfect eyes in classical Tamil poetry) is considered by many to be the height of South Indian temple Architecture, as a vital to the aesthetic heritage of this region as the Taj Mahal is to North India. It’s not a so much a temple as an18-acer complex with 12 tall gopurams, all encrusted with a staggering array of gods, goddesses, demons and heroes (1511 of them on the south gopuram alone). Later we visit Gandhi Memorial Museum and Thirumalai Nayakar Palace if time permits in the same day, or we cover next day.
Overnight stay at hotel in Madurai
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 7: Madurai- Rameswaram (173km 4:00hrs journey Approx.)
Today morning after having a breakfast we will proceed to Rameswaram a 180km journey from Madurai. Rameswaram was once the southernmost point of sacred India; to leave its boundaries was to abandon caste and fall below the status of the lowliest skinner of sacred cows. Then Rama, incarnation of Vishnu and hero of the Ramayana, led an army of Monkeys and bears across a monkey- built bridge to the island Srilanka, where he defeated demon Ravana and rescued his wife, Sita. Afterwards, prince and princes came to this spot to offer thanks to Shiva.
Check-in hotel after we arrive at Rameswaram, in the afternoon we visit Ramanathaswamy Temple is notable for its long , 1000- pillar halls and 22 Teertha’s (Tanks and Wells). Pilgrims are expected to bathe in all 22 as well as the sea before visiting this deity.
Overnight stay at hotel in Rameswaram
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 8: Rameswaram
After having a breakfast at hotel, we proceed to Danushkodi a 22km journey from Rameswaram towards Sri Lanka where mythological Ramasethu starts. Danushkodi was uninhabited due to monster cyclone devastated it in 1964. The shells of its train station, Church, Post office and other ruins still stand among a scattering of fisher’s shacks. This is the place where Indian ocean meets Bay of Bengal. Afternoon we return to the hotel and rest of the day is leisure.
Overnight stay at hotel in Rameswaram
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 9: Rameswaram- Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) (300km 06:00hrs journey Approx.)
After having breakfast, we head towards Kanyakumari a 300km journey from Rameswaram. There is a sense of accomplishment on making it to the point of the subcontinent’s ‘V’, past the final dramatic flourish of the Western Ghats and the green- fields, glinting rice paddies and slow- looping wind turbines of India’s deep south. Like all edges, there is a sense of the surreal here. At certain times of year, you can see the sun set and the moon rise over three seas simultaneously.
Check-in hotel after we arrive at Kanyakumari, have a lunch and relax for a while and later we visit Kumari Amman Temple, Vivekananda Memorial and Gandhi Memorial and Sun set.
Overnight stay at hotel in Kanyakumari
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 10: Kanyakumari- Kovalam- Trivandrum (91km 03:00hrs journey Approx.)
This morning we experience Sunrise as well, because Kanyakumari is most famous for its sunrise and sunset. Back to hotel freshen up and have a Breakfast. Later we drive towards Trivandrum, another sacred town located in Kerala and is 90km journey from Kanyakumari.
After reaching Trivandrum Check-in hotel, in the afternoon we visit Sri Padmanabhan Swamy Temple This 260-year-old temple is Trivandrum’s spiritual heart, in the inner sanctum, the deity Padmanabhan reclines on the sacred serpent and is made from over 10,000 salagramam (Sacred stones) that were purportedly transported from Nepal by elephants. Napier museum, Museum of History & Heritage. And evening we spent some time at Kovalam beach.
Overnight stay at hotel in Kanyakumari
(Breakfast, Dinner)
Day 11: Trivandrum- Transfer to Airport/ Railway station
Today a bid farewell toEternal Heritage of Tamilnadu (Grand Dravidian Architecture Tour)
tour. After having the breakfast, you will be transferred to the Trivandrum Airport/ Railway station for onward journey. Return to your home with the lifetime memories.
(Breakfast)
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