Must-see attractions in Tamil Nadu

Within this mural-covered space, Tara Books stages free exhibitions, author talks and workshops with visiting artists, and displays its own highly…

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…

This small but stunning temple stands on a dramatically deserted rock slope 1km southwest of Narthamalai village (16km north of Pudukkottai). Reminiscent…

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…

If you're interested in the Nilgiris' tribal communities you'll love this slightly scruffy, erratically open museum, with its fascinating exhibits on…

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…

Goodness knows how this converted late-18th-century villa keeps its artefacts from disintegrating, considering there’s a whole floor of French-era…

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…

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…

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…

At the southern end of the Mamallapuram Hill complex, the Mahishamardini Mandapa is carved from the rock, displaying very fine scenes from the Puranas …

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…

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…

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…

Just 8km southwest of Pudukkottai, this is an outstanding village shrine dedicated to the pre-Hindu guardian-god Ayyanar, worshipped only in rural Tamil…

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…

With perhaps the most exquisitely painted wood-carved ceilings in Chettinadu, Athangudi Palace is a popular film set. Take in the especially fine…

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…

The relics of Chettinadu's bygone days are on display at this wonderful museum, 4km north of Pudukkottai train station. Its eclectic collection includes…

Visiting forest-fringed Berijam Lake, 21km southwest of Kodaikanal, requires a Forest Department permit (₹250). Taxi drivers will organise this, if asked…