Chennai (Madras)
Within this mural-covered space, Tara Books stages free exhibitions, author talks and workshops with visiting artists, and displays its own highly…
Must-see attractions in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
DakshinaChitra, 22km south of Chennai's Adyar River, offers a fantastic insight into South India's traditional arts and crafts. Like a treasure chest of…
Tamil Nadu
This small but stunning temple stands on a dramatically deserted rock slope 1km southwest of Narthamalai village (16km north of Pudukkottai). Reminiscent…
Chennai (Madras)
The tranquil, flowery grounds of the Ramakrishna Math are a world away from Mylapore's chaos. Orange-robed monks glide around and there’s a reverential…
Ooty (Udhagamandalam)
If you're interested in the Nilgiris' tribal communities you'll love this slightly scruffy, erratically open museum, with its fascinating exhibits on…
Kanchipuram
This 1200-year-old Vishnu temple is a Pallava creation. The passage around the central shrine has lion pillars and a wealth of weathered but extremely…
Puducherry (Pondicherry)
Goodness knows how this converted late-18th-century villa keeps its artefacts from disintegrating, considering there’s a whole floor of French-era…
Chennai (Madras)
The reputed site of St Thomas’ martyrdom in AD 72 rises in the southwest of Chennai, 2.5km north of St Thomas Mount train station. The Church of Our Lady…
Chennai (Madras)
Between the Adyar River and the coast, the 100-hectare grounds of the Theosophical Society provide a peaceful, green, vehicle-free retreat from the city…
The Western Ghats
Just 2km north of Kotagiri centre, the house built in 1819 by Ooty founder John Sullivan has been refurbished in bright red and filled with fascinating…
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
At the southern end of the Mamallapuram Hill complex, the Mahishamardini Mandapa is carved from the rock, displaying very fine scenes from the Puranas …
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
Home to some of Mamallapuram's most brilliant carvings, the Varaha Mandapa depicts Vishnu's boar avatar, Varaha, lifting the earth out of the oceans (left…
Tamil Nadu
Founded by the Cholas in 886, this is Kumbakonam's oldest temple, dedicated to Shiva as Nagaraja, the serpent king. On three days of the year (in April or…
Chennai (Madras)
This 1821 neoclassical Scottish Presbyterian church is one of India's most exquisite churches, rising up in leafy grounds in the middle of frenzied Egmore…
Tamil Nadu
Just 8km southwest of Pudukkottai, this is an outstanding village shrine dedicated to the pre-Hindu guardian-god Ayyanar, worshipped only in rural Tamil…
Chennai (Madras)
A leafy, frangipani-scented haven in the midst of the George Town mayhem, the 18th-century Armenian Church is testament to the city's once-flourishing…
Tamil Nadu
With perhaps the most exquisitely painted wood-carved ceilings in Chettinadu, Athangudi Palace is a popular film set. Take in the especially fine…
Tamil Nadu
Kumbeshwara Temple, entered via a nine-storey gopuram, a small bazaar and a long porticoed mandapa, is Kumbakonam's biggest Shiva temple. It dates from…
Tamil Nadu
The relics of Chettinadu's bygone days are on display at this wonderful museum, 4km north of Pudukkottai train station. Its eclectic collection includes…
Kodaikanal (Kodai)
Visiting forest-fringed Berijam Lake, 21km southwest of Kodaikanal, requires a Forest Department permit (₹250). Taxi drivers will organise this, if asked…
Tamil Nadu
Backed by the typical succession of pillar-lined courtyards, the impressive reception hall of this 'twin house' is shared by two branches of the same…
Trichy (Tiruchirappalli)
The first, southernmost and highest of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple's gopurams, the Rajagopuram, was added to the 20 older ones in 1987. At 73m high, it's…
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
Just south of the Arjuna's Penance relief carving, the Krisha Mandapa has a fine 16th-century colonnade and contains a famous carving of Krishna…
Tamil Nadu
One of Chettinadu's oldest mansions, built in 1870 with distinctive egg-plaster walls, Burmese-teak columns, patterned tiled floors and intricate wood…
Chennai (Madras)
Styled with blue-and-white baroque elegance, pretty little palm-fringed Luz Church is Chennai's oldest European building, dating to 1516 – which also…
Institut Français de Pondichéry
Puducherry (Pondicherry)
This grand 19th-century neoclassical building is also a flourishing research institution devoted to Indian culture, history and ecology. Visitors can…
Kodaikanal (Kodai)
Assuming it isn't cloaked in opaque mist, the views from paved Coaker’s Walk are beautiful, all the way down to the plains 2000m below. The stroll takes…
Chennai (Madras)
The printing workshop of Tara Books, where you can watch pages being silk-screened and hand-bound into books.
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
Decorated with lion-shaped pillar bases, the Ganesh Ratha is carved from a single rock and was originally a Shiva shrine.
Kodaikanal (Kodai)
About 7km west of town, these towering boulders have jaw-dropping views to the Tamil Nadu plains below.
Chennai (Madras)
Take an early morning or evening stroll (you don’t want to roast here at any other time) along the 3km-long main stretch of Marina Beach and you’ll pass…
Ooty (Udhagamandalam)
Perched above Ooty's centre, immaculate pale-yellow St Stephen’s, built in 1829, is the Nilgiris' oldest church. It has lovely stained glass, huge wooden…
Tamil Nadu
The legends say the kanya (virgin) goddess Kumari, a manifestation of the Great Goddess Devi, single-handedly conquered demons and secured freedom for the…
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram's oldest temple is small, interesting mainly for its stonework. Dedicated to Shiva, it was built in the 8th century by Pallava king…
Chennai (Madras)
Finished in 1653 by the British East India Company, the fort has undergone many facelifts. Inside the vast perimeter walls (the ramparts are 18th-century…
Tamil Nadu
Housing the world’s most sacred sand mound (a lingam said to have been created by Rama's wife Sita, so he could worship Shiva), this temple is one of…
Chennai (Madras)
Founded in 1936, Kalakshetra is a leading serious school of Tamil classical dance and music (sponsoring many students from disadvantaged backgrounds), set…
Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram)
This marshy bird sanctuary, 55km southwest of Mamallapuram (an easy day trip), is a spectacular 30-hectare breeding ground for many kinds of waterbirds,…
Chennai (Madras)
This 1976 memorial honours the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar and his classic work, the 133-chapter Thirukural. Its most striking element is a 31m-high stone…
