3 places to see, with what each one is and how long it takes.
Attraction
Built rather than carved, around the year 700, and among the oldest structural stone temples in south India. The sea has been eating the carving for thirteen centuries, so the detail is soft. The 2004 tsunami drew the water back far enough to expose other structures offshore.
Attraction
Five temples cut from one granite ridge in the seventh century, each in a different form — the carvers appear to have been working through the possibilities. None was finished, and the Pandava names were attached long afterwards.
Viewpoint
One of the largest open-air rock reliefs anywhere: a wall carved with life-sized elephants, the forest around them, and celestial figures.
Not in Mahabalipuram — these are in other towns across the state.
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Attraction
The city's oldest temple, an 8th-century Pallava sandstone masterpiece.
Attraction
The grand seaside Marian basilica at the heart of the pilgrimage.
Attraction
The sanctum under a gilded vimana, with the Sri Chakra that tradition credits to Adi Shankara set before the seated Kamakshi. Non-Hindus are not admitted to the innermost part.
Attraction
An island memorial reached by ferry, with a giant Thiruvalluvar statue alongside.
Viewpoint
The tip where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean.
Attraction
Srirangam (Ranganathaswamy Temple)
The massive 73-metre-high monumental base tower gateway, dominating the southern skyline with its multi-tiered structural reliefs.
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Attraction
Madurai (Meenakshi Amman Temple)
Nine hundred and eighty-five pillars rather than a thousand, put up in 1569 and now used as the temple museum. Every column is carved differently, which is easier to take in along the edges than in the middle.
Experience
The beach break and surf schools that made the town a surfing hub.
Viewpoint
The long seafront walk lined with statues and food stalls.
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Attraction
Thanjavur (Brihadeeswarar Temple)
The colossal 216-foot granite pyramid spire housing a massive 12-foot-high Shiva Lingam, decorated entirely with multi-century old Chola murals.
Experience
The historic UNESCO World Heritage steam toy train that winds scenic tracks across deep gorges, high bridges, and dark pine valleys.
Attraction
The inner sanctum under a gold-plated roof, holding the Nataraja bronze and, beside it, the curtained empty space worshipped as ether. Ask a Dikshitar priest when the curtain is drawn back.
Attraction
Man-made, dug in the 1860s, and star-shaped only from the air. The five-kilometre perimeter road is the good part, so hire a bicycle. Boats are rowed or pedalled and the queue at the boat club is long on weekends.
Viewpoint
Three granite pillars standing about a hundred and twenty metres, side by side. The viewpoint is fenced and ticketed. Like everything on this ridge it is either remarkable or completely white with fog.
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Attraction
Laid out in 1848 across fifty-five acres, with a fossilised tree trunk near the middle that is around twenty million years old. The flower show in May is when Ooty is at its most crowded.
Attraction
Srirangam (Ranganathaswamy Temple)
A sixteenth-century hall where each pillar is carved as a rearing horse with an armed rider, cut from a single block. It sits off the main route through the temple, so ask — most visitors never find it.
