If you’re thinking about visiting Tamil Nadu, for a decent period of time, then you can’t miss the spectacular ancient Hindu temples dotted all the way down the Southeast coast of India. When I went this time last year, (late Jan-February), in 10 days I covered Mamallapuram, Pondicherry, Thanjavur and Trichy, (not including Chennai which was just my entry and exit). You might ask me why am I writing this a whole year later? Because it turns out, quite a few people want to go to Tamil Nadu, and have asked for recommendations. So here it is - I am going to attempt to consolidate my highlights, with only the help of photos, (since I am no longer speaking to my now ex-boyfriend, who was travelling with me, just for this stint). Sad, I know. But alas, I have no bitterness clouding my fond memories - they are only rose-tinted.

Having studied these temples only from books and images on projector slides from my postgrad at SOAS, I found myself speechless when I saw them in the flesh - it was the sheer scale and intricacy of the details - in addition to the sounds, smells, and rituals leading up to, and within the temple complexes - that astonished me. At times it did feel like we were the only non-Indian tourists wondering around, perhaps it was the season, or post-covid effect.

Mamallapuram/Mahabalipuram (you can say both). It’s a sleepy seaside town, semi-undeveloped, but with tourist facilities built around the UNESCO World Heritage Site - a temple complex dating from the Pallava dynasty (7th century BCE).

This was the first place we visited straight after flying into Chennai. We had initially planned 3 days I think, but landed up leaving early as we managed to see all the temples - and after that, there’s not much to do. There weren’t a huge amount of options for accomodation, but we felt safe in a guest house-type place called the Mahizah Home - quite remote, frogs might jump into your bed (not the french kind if you get me), and a bit of a walk into town, however our host was so lovely and really helped us a lot.

The images below include:
Descent of the Ganges, Arjuna's Penance, Cave Temples, The Shore Temple, a view from the lighthouse, and Krishna's Butterball.

Descent of the Ganges - Arjuna's Penance

2. Next stop - Pondicherry. No temples in town! An ex-French colony, European architecture. Stayed in a lovely Heritage home in town, with tall ceilings, wooden beams. Lots of life, good beer, croissants, and you could take a trip to beach - but they're quite undeveloped, as in no facilities. (We didn’t go to any resorts, but I think there are some). We could have stayed longer here - there were lots of things we didn’t do, such as Auroville - which requires some planning. One morning we got up very early and took a day trip to Gingee, a fort on a hill - which was again, very remote, no tourists. Lots of monkeys though, and upon entry the guards gave us a wooden stick, to fight the monkeys in case they came to inspect us…which they did. In fact we made some friends fending off a monkey who had come to ‘play’ with their toddler. Traumatic to say the least.

Here’s me, looking very happy in Pondicherry, wearing the shortest shorts I brought on the trip. I dressed like a nun for the most part.

A heritage home converted into a hotel and restaurant in Pondicherry

3. Thanjavur. You must visit Brihadishvara Temple! I would probably say this was my favourite temple complex by far. We visited twice, during the daytime and at sunset. The golden hour here is really worth it as it illuminates the warm sandstone of the temples. It’s also easier to manage compared to the others, like, Kanchipuram, which have endless doorways and sections.

4. Kanchipuram. The land of 1000s temples and silk saris! We certainly saw a lot of temples here. Be prepared for a bit of a different experience to the first towns I mentioned. Around festivals it can become quite intense around the temples. Cover your shoulders and knees - take off your shoes long before arriving at the temple - even when approaching the road leading up to the temple you should be appropriately dressed, otherwise you might get yelled at! That said, everyone was super welcoming and encouraged us to take puja when entering the temple.

5. Trichy - Tiruchirappalli - sorry my least favourite experience of a city, but again the temples along the way were amazing. I need to find more photos for this one. I think this was the point where my rose-tinted spectacles wore off… I found the elephant outside too sad.

We took a couple trains here and there but mainly booked a taxi or asked for a driver which was better for visiting temples. We found booking train tickets online impossible, and had my friend Afreen to ask her very kind sister Anam, to come to the rescue. I actually don’t think we would have managed to do it otherwise. The trains we took were actually very nice - see pic below. In first class they give you a blanket and linen if it’s a sleeper.

Chennai was our last stop, before we went our separate ways - as I went off to Delhi. (You can read my other article for my shopping tips for Jaipur!)

Thanks for reading! If you want any recommendations for where to stay, where to eat or what to prioritise, drop me an DM and I’ll dig into the archives…without phoning my ex - I promise!

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Feb 11 10 days in Tamil Nadu, South India

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Feb 11 10 days in Tamil Nadu, South India

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