Tamil Nadu is India’s southernmost state, and in many ways the most distinctly itself. Tamil is one of the world’s oldest living languages and the pride people take in it is palpable — Hindi has never made much inroad here, but English is widely spoken in cities and tourist areas. The food is the foundation of south Indian vegetarian cooking: the dosa, idli, sambar, and rasam that have spread across India all come from here. If you’ve only eaten those dishes elsewhere, eating them in Tamil Nadu is a revelation.
The state is defined by its Dravidian temple architecture — enormous complexes with soaring gopurams (gateway towers) encrusted with thousands of painted figures. These temples are not just tourist sights; they are living religious centres that have operated continuously for centuries. The Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameshwaram, the Meenakshi Amman Temple at Madurai, the Brihadeeswarar Temple at Thanjavur — each is a serious pilgrimage destination as well as an extraordinary piece of architecture.
Chennai is the capital and the most practical entry point — a large, confident city with good connections and a reasonable beach at Marina. Not far south is Mahabalipuram, a coastal village with some of the finest open-air rock-cut sculpture in India, the Pallava shore temples carved directly from granite boulders on the beach. Madurai is the temple city par excellence, centred on the vast Meenakshi complex. Thanjavur has the Brihadeeswarar Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the high point of Chola-era architecture.
For a break from the heat and temples, Kodaikanal and Ooty are hill stations in the Western Ghats with cool air, lakes, and walking. The temple circuit along the Cauvery Delta — Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Gangaikonda Cholapuram — is rewarding for anyone with a serious interest in South Indian history.
Destinations in Tamil Nadu
Chennai Madurai Mahabalipuram Thanjavur Rameshwaram Ooty Kodaikanal Pondicherry Kanyakumari Tirunelveli Ramanathapuram Mannargudi Nagapattinam
