Home ::
Tour Packages :: The Southern Spectacle
THE SOUTHERN SPECTACLE
Route:Madras-Covelong-Pondicherry-Tanjore-Trichy-Madurai-Periyar-Kumarakom-Cochin-Madras

Day
01 Abroad Madras : Arrive Madras International airport. On
arrival, the guest will be met by our representative and directly proceed to
Covelong (43 kms/1 hr) Upon arrival, check-in at hotel. Overnight at
hotel.
Day 02 Covelong : Full day sightseeing tour of
Kanchipuram and Mahabalipuram
Kanchipuram known as the
Golden City of a Thousand Temples, is one of the oldest towns in India. It
is famous for both its temples, many of them remarkably well preserved and
for its hand-woven silks. Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of
India and it is the only one associated with both Shiva and Vishnu. Visit
Ekambareshwar Temple, Kailashnath Temple, Kamakshi Temple, the
Vaikunthaperumal Temple, all built in the 7th and 8th centuries. With a
weaving tradition dating back to the Pallava era (when silk was the royal
cloth), Kanchipuram is justly famous for its particularly fine silk saris,
embellished with stunning patterns. Visit the local homes of the weavers and
watch them create magic out of silk thread into saris.
Mahabalipuram This is a small, quiet seaside resort with a unique 7th century Shore
Temple, a lovely beach and some of the most beautiful rock cut temples in
the world. Situated on the shore of the Bay of Bengal, Mahabalipuram was
already a famous seaport in the 1st century AD. This, town was a workshop
for temple building. Visit the seven pagoda style shore temples, lashed by
the waves of the sea and the seven rathas or temple chariots, a group of
monolithic monuments & animal figures carved out of solid rock, the
earliest known examples of Dravidian architecture. They were constructed in
a single century long burst of creative enthusiasm, starting in the reign of
Narasimhavarman 1 (AD 63068). End the visit by photography of the beautiful
Shore temples at sunset.
Dinner and overnight at hotel
Day
03 Covelong Pondicherry : After breakfast drive to Pondicherry
(162 kms/4 hrs)
Pondicherry,
which was up until the 1950s, a far-flung outpost of the French maritime
empire. It is so different from the rest of Tamil Nadu that one feels that
one has entered another country! This busy coastal town is divided roughly
into two: the old White Town of elegant French houses, restaurants &
administrative buildings and the Black Town west of the canal where India
takes over again.
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 at hotel
Day 04 Pondicherry Tanjore
: After breakfast drive to Tanjore (177-kms/4-½ hrs) Upon arrival
at Tanjore check into hotel

Afternoon
sightseeing tour of Tanjore was the capital of the Chola Empire from the
tenth to the fourteenth centuries. A Chola king, Raja Raja Chola, who held
the throne from 985 to 1016, built the greatest of the empire's 74 temples,
the Brahadeeswarar, 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 at hotel
Day
05 Tanjore Trichy Madurai : After breakfast drive to Madurai (190-kms/5½-hrs) enroute visiting Trichy
City
tour of Trichy includes visit to 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 Mathrubhuteshwarer Shrine
dedicated to Shiva. Finally at the top of the hill, the 'Uchhi Pillayar
Koil' - a Ganesh Temple offering a commanding view of the city.
Upon
arrival at Madurai check into hotel
Evening visit of the Meenakshi 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
at hotel
Day 06 Madurai : Morning, visit the Meenakshi
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 virtual city within a city:
the complex includes a bazaar that bustles from dawn to nightfall. The high
point of the Meenakshi 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 the palace of Tirumala Nayak 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.
Day at leisure to explore on your own.
Overnight
at hotel.
Day 07 Madurai-Periyar : Morning after breakfast
drive to Periyar (177 kms/5 hrs)

Upon
arrival at Periyar check into hotel
Periyar- Sprawling
across 777 sq. kms. of the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats, Thekkady is
the home to one of the largest wildlife reserves in India. Alive with exotic
flora and vibrant wildlife, it is the perfect getaway tucked away among
hills.
Overnight at hotel
Day 08 Periyar
Kumarakom : Early morning boat cruise on the Lake of the famous
Periyar wildlife sanctuary to see wild life. Periyar an artificial lake or
reservoir created by a dam on Periyar River is the heart of the Wildlife
Sanctuary wild elephants, Asiatic Deer, Black Buck and even Tigers come to
shores of the lake for a drink.
Return to hotel for breakfast
Thereafter drive through the winding "Ghats" lined with
prosperous tea plantations & then arrive the fascinating countryside of
low-lying palms and paddy fields to Kumarakom ( 150 kms/ 4 hrs) enroute
visit the tea estates.
Kumarakom-is
a beautiful backwater village on the shores of the enchanting Vembanad Lake,
criss crossed with meandering waterways and ancient cottages.
Overnight
at hotel
Day 09 Kumarakom - Cochin :Morning at leisure
Then take a speed boat to Alleppey & disembark at Puthenagady Jetty. On
arrival proceed directly to Cochin
Cochin - Popularly
known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea, Cochin is the oldest European
settlement in India. Frilled with backwaters and rich with old world charm,
this city has lured many a great voyager to its shores. From time
immemorial, Arabs, Chinese, Dutch, British & Portuguese seafarers
followed the sea route to Kochi & left their impression on the town.
Modern Kochi is thus a splendid mosaic of these myriad influences.
Arrive
Cochin & check into hotel
Overnight at hotel
Day
10 Cochin : Morning tour of Cochin or "Kochi" the palm
green, commercial captial of Kerala. Visit the Dutch Palace, the Jewish
Synagogue, the Church of St. Francis, the Bolghatty Palace & the famous
Chinese fishing nets.
Evening witness the Kathakali dance
performance + make up demonstration - Kathkali is a unique dance which
has a 2000 year old history with more than 100 different mudras
or gesture depicting deities, demons, heroes, heroines and kings - each
based on episodes from the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the two epic Indian
myths.
Overnight at hotel
Day 11 Cochin - Madras : Morning at leisure
Afternoon transfer from hotel to the airport
for flight to Madras
Depart: Cochin at: 1510 hrs by: 9W 492

Arrive:
Madras at: 1610 hrs
Upon arrival met & transferred
to the hotel where rooms will be provided for wash and change
Later transfer to the International airport for onward flight
Day
12 Abroad - Madras : Leave Madras
The Southern Spectacle , Reservation Form