Vellore, 145km west of Chennai, is a dusty bazaar town whose well-preserved Vijayanagar Fort and temple are the main features on the tourist trail. The city is also famed for its Christian Medical College (CMC) Hospital – a leader in research and health care, recognised as one of the finest hospitals in India. The hospital attracts international medical students as well as patients from all over India, giving this small town a cosmopolitan feel.
Tiruchirappalli, universally known as Trichy, is a sprawling but extremely enjoyable city with two extraordinary temples – one perched high above the town on a rocky mount – and many travellers find Trichy more enjoyable than the clamour of the more renowned Madurai. It’s a well-serviced regional transport centre, always busy with locals especially during auspicious marriage seasons when gorgeously clothed families abound in every hotel.
The small, unassuming town of Tiruvannamalai, 85km south of Vellore, is something of a hidden gem in a region overwhelmed by significant temples. Flanked by Mt Arunachala, this is an important Shaivite town where Shiva is revered as Arunachaleswar, an aspect of fire. At each full moon the hill swells with thousands of pilgrims who circumnavigate the base of the mountain, but at any time you’ll see gatherings of Shaivite priests, sadhus (spiritual men) and devotees gathered around the temple. Tiruvannamalai is also home to the Sri Ramanasramam Ashram.
The Western Ghats stretch out like a mountainous spine for around 1400km from the north of Mumbai, across Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, before petering out at the southernmost tip of Tamil Nadu. The hills (with an average elevation of 915m) are covered with evergreen and deciduous forest, and are the source of all the major rivers in South India. They also form a diverse biological and ecological haven with 27% of all India’s flowering plants, 60% of all medicinal plants and an incredible array of endemic wildlife, along with several tribal groups whose traditional lifestyle is fast being eroded.
Dominated by the superb World Heritage–listed Brihadishwara Temple, and a sprawling Maratha Palace complex, Thanjavur is an easy-going town and a worthy detour off the Chennai–Madurai route.
If thoughts of temples and tigers appeal, then Tamil Nadu – land of the Tamils and heartland of southern India – is the place to be. Long coastlines and forested mountains form stunning backdrops to this, the cradle of Dravidian civilisation. Manifestations of its ancient culture are everywhere, from vast temple compounds with steeply stepped, riotously coloured gopurams (gateway towers) to beautifully detailed rock carvings, and classical music and dance that are both complex and compelling. Pilgrims pour into the ancient sites of Kanchipuram, Chidambaram, Kumbakonam, Trichy (Tiruchirappalli), Thanjavur (Tanjore), Madurai, Kanyakumari and Rameswaram – far outnumbering tourists.
India’s tropical southern tip is a magical place to start, stop or turn around. Go all the way down to Kanyakumari, and you’ll be able to see the sun rise and set over two different seas on the same day.
Rameswaram is one of the most significant pilgrimage centres in South India for both Shaivites and Vaishnavaites. It was here that Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu and hero of the Ramayana) offered thanks to Shiva. At the town’s core is the Ramanathaswamy Temple, one of the most important temples in India, and here you’ll see a representation of India in miniature, with pilgrims including everyone from urbane sophisticates to colourfully clad Rajasthani tribespeople.
With its seafront promenade, wide boulevards, enduring pockets of French culture and architecture, and a popular ashram, charming Puducherry – whose name officially changed from Pondicherry in October 2006 – is unlike anywhere else in South India. That’s hardly surprising – the former French colony was settled in the early 18th century as a colonial enclave and it retains a mildly Gallic air superimposed on a typical Indian background.
Ooty is South India’s most famous hill station, established by the British in the early 19th century as the summer headquarters of the then-Madras government and memorably nicknamed ‘Snooty Ooty’.