Duration
: 6 Days
Destinations : Chennai - Covelong - Pondicherry -
Tanjore - Trichy - Madurai - Periyar
Day 01: Abroad -
Chennai - Covelong 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 at hotel the
guests will be provided with the traditional Indian welcome consisting of
aarti-tikka and garlands with non-alcoholic welcome drink.
Overnight at hotel.
Day 02: Covelong
Fullday 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 630-68). 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. Dinner and 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.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Day
05: Tanjore - Trichy - Madurai After breakfast drive to
Madurai (190 kms/5½ hrs) enroute visiting Trichy
City tour
of Trichy - 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 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.
Thereafter continue drive to Madurai
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.
Dinner and overnight at hotel.
Day 06: Madurai - Periyar Morning city
tour of Madurai 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 file 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.
After breakfast drive to
Periyar (177 kms/5 hrs)
Upon arrival at Periyar - check into
hotel
Thereafter join the
Spice
of Kerala Tour.
Click
Here for Reservation
