South India Holiday Tours
Duration : 16 Nights / 17 Days
Destinations Covered : Chennai - Mahabalipuram - Kanchipuram - Trichy - Madurai - Periyar - Cochin - Bangalore - Mysore - Belur - Halebid - Mysore - Hospet - Hampi - Badami - Goa - Mumbai
Day 01 : Arrive Chennai
Arrive Chennai. Transfer to hotel for overnight.
Day 02 : Chennai - Mahabalipuram - Kanchipuram
Full day tour of Mahabalipuram & Kanchipuram. Check-out at 1200 hrs. Kanchipuram (64 kms from Chennai (Chennai)) is the ancient capital of the Pallavas famous as a city of 1000
Temples and still has 124 shrines. The first temple dedicated to Shiva was built in the 7th and 8th century & has paintings on the walls. Temples of Ekambaswara, Kailasanatha, Sri Kamakshi and Varadarajaswamy are of interest. Kanchipuram is also famous for its silks. The city of
Mahabalipuram is famous for the seven pagodas. Here on the seashore is an interesting group of ancient rock hewn temples which are the examples of Dravidian style of Architecture. Evening transfer to rail-station for Trichy night train. Night on board.
Day 03 : Mahabalipuram - Trichy
Morning arrive Trichy and transfer to hotel. Afternoon city tour. Trichy was the citadel of the Chola dynasty in the medieval period. In the 18th century it witnessed the Carnatic wars fought between the French and the English. Lord Robert Clive's house is still there to see and so is the
Danish
Church . The Rock-Fort is the landmark of Trichy. A climb of 434 steps leads to the ancient
temple of
Ganapati on top and a further climb to a Shiva temple. Overnight Trichy.
Day 04 : Trichy - Madurai
Drive to
Madurai visiting Tanjore enroute. At Tanjore, the beautiful Chola Temple of Brihadeeshwara is capped by a monolithic cupola made of a single granite block weighing 80 tons which was taken to the top with the help of a 6 km long ramp, an old technique used by the Egyptians for building pyramids. Its bronzes and handicrafts make Tanjore one of the highlights of a visit to
South India . Overnight
Madurai .
Day 05 :
Madurai
Morning visit the great
Meenakshi
Temple dedicated to the consort of Lord Shiva with its towering gopurams (rising high above the surrounding country side). Later, visit the
Tirumala
Nayak
Palace - A gracious building in the Indo saracenic style, famous for the Stucco work on its domes & arches. Also visit the Alagar Hills and Tirupara Kundran Rock temple. Afternoon free. Overnight
Madurai .
Day 06 :
Madurai - Periyar
Morning drive to Periyar. The earliest sanctuary to be set up in 1934, it extends to 777 square kms & forms part of the high mountain ranges, the
Western Ghats . Wild life can be seen while cruising on
Periyar
Lake in a motor boat. Amongst the animals which can be seen are elephants, wild boar, sambar, tiger, leopard, wild dog, langur monkeys, etc. Overnight Periyar.
Day 07 : Periyar -
Cochin
Morning drive to
Cochin . Overnight
Cochin .
Day 08 :
Cochin
Morning tour of
Cochin .
Cochin is the natural harbour created by the famed underwater Malabar mud-banks whose quality ensures that the rougher the seas are outside the calmer the waters are within the Harbour. Vasco-de-Gama placed it on the world map. It has a Jewish synagogue, Portuguese churches, mosques & Hindu temples. Watch the Chinese Fishing Nets. Afternoon free. Overnight
Cochin .
Day 09 :
Cochin -
Bangalore
Morning transfer to airport to board flight for
Bangalore . Upon arrival transfer to hotel. Afternoon half day tour of garden city -
Bangalore . Overnight stay at hotel.
Day 10 :
Bangalore -
Mysore
Morning leave for
Mysore . Visit the palace of the Maharaja built in 1911-12. The palace is of harmonious syntheses of the hindu and saracenic styles of architecture with archways, domes, turrets, colonnades and sculptures which are magnificent. Visit the
Art
Gallery ; drive upto Chamundi hill to see
Chamundeshwari
Temple & a panoramic view of
Mysore . On the way back, see the Nandi Bull and brindaban gardens. Overnight
Mysore .
Day 11 :
Mysore - Belur - Halebid
Full day tour of Belur and Halebid. The Chenna Kesava
temple of
Belur built 900 years ago is an exquisite example of Hoysala art. Halebid's 12th century Hoysaleswara and Kedareswara temples are master pieces of Hindu art. On the way also visit Sravanbelgola. At Sravanbelgola, hewn out of a single rock and visible from a distance of 25 kms is the statue of Lord Gomteshwara which is bathed with milk and honey once every 12 years. Overnight in
Mysore .
Day 12 :
Mysore -Hospet - Hampi
Morning drive to Hospet. Visit Hampi. The once beautiful capital city of Vijayanagar Empire - greater than
Rome , had palaces, temples & sculptures, spread all over. The city was razed to the ground by the Sultanates of South in 1565. Some of the interesting ruins remaining are the Virupaksha, Vittala and Hazara Rama temples huge Ganesha and Narasimha images, the elephant stables, the Queen's
Bath , carvings on the Ramachandra temple & Lotus Mahal.
Day 13 : Hospet - Badami
Morning drive to Badami stopping at Aihole & Pattadakal on the way. Aihole is the cradle of stone temple architecture of the southern
Dravida
School . The oldest temple, Lad Khan goes back to the 5th century A.D. There are 70 temples in this group. The Durga temple is noted for its sculptures. The Meguti temple is built of 630 small stone blocks. The
Ravanaphadi
Cave has some beautiful carvings. Pattadakal, referred to as Petrigal, reached its pinnacle of glory under the Chalukya kings from 7th to 9th centuries. The oldest in this group is the
Sanghameswara
Temple . The
Mallikarjuna
Temple has pillars depicting life of
Krishna . Virupaksha temple has sculptures and panel scenes from the epics, the Ramayana & Mahabharata. The
Papanatha
Temple has impressive carvings on pillars and ceiling.
Day 14 : Badami
Morning tour of Badami. Badami also known as Vatapi is rich with Hindu and Jain temples carved out of sand stone hills. The carved temples date back to the 6th century. Of these, three are Hindu and one Jain. Sculptured out of solid rock they are adorned with carvings. The Fort, on top of a hill encloses large granaries, treasury & a watch tower. The Malegitti Shivalaya temple set on the summit of a hill is built of stones without mortar.
Day 15 : Badami -
Goa
Morning drive to
Goa . Transfer to hotel for overnight stay.
Day 16 :
Goa
In
Goa . Please inform us the number of days you wish to stay in
Goa .
Day 17 : Flight for Mumbai
Transfer to airport for
Bombay flight. Arrive at the domestic airport. Transfer to the city centre. Later in the evening transfer to international airport for your home with sweet memories.
Request Note: - The above proposed tour can be customized as per your need and requirements.
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