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Flying direct from north to south India, you understand why the country is often described as a ‘subcontinent’. In the south, the climate is more noticeably tropical; the light more intense; the greens that little bit greener; and the pace of life a notch less frenetic.
At a cultural level, too, things feel different. The populations of southern India were historically less subject to Muslim influence than their northern cousins. The Delhi Sultans made several incursions into the region, but the Turko-Persian invaders who so dominated the northern plains never penetrated far beyond the fringes of the Deccan plateau, leaving southerners free to develop their own distinctly ‘Dravidian’ way of life over two or more thousand years.
Tamil Nadu, in the far southeast, is where these ancient roots are most dramatically manifest today. Towering above the state’s rivers, palm groves and rice fields are huge, pyramidal temple gopuras, originally built by the Cholas from the late-9th century and later enlarged by the Vijayanangar kings. As well as serving as active places of worship and pilgrimage, these great Tamil shrines are also repositories of the world’s last surviving classical culture, which retains its own body of literature, music and dance forms, as well as sculpture and painting traditions.
The two sprawling states to the north of Tamil Nadu – Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh – span a zone of transition from the Hindu-dominated deep south to the Indo-Islamic world of the Deccan. From medieval times until the days of the British Raj, successive Muslim sultans ruled this more arid region from a necklace of citadel towns whose ruined palaces and tombs barely hint at the extraordinary wealth and power they once wielded.
Finally, separating the Tamil plains and Karnataka uplands from the coast, the Western Ghat mountain range retains magnificent forests with some of the most impressive biodiversity on the planet. A string of wildlife sanctuaries allow visitors access to these heavily protected areas, where tigers and elephant still roam wild.
Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, is a great place to visit for architecture – Golconda Fort, Charminar, Qutb Shahi Tombs, Mecca Masjid, and Charkaman all incorporate beautiful Indo-Islamic designs. European styles are evident in King Kothi Palace and Falaknuma Palace; the grandeur inside similar to the sumptuousness of the Titanic.
Kanyakumari is India’s Land’s End, where the peninsula narrows to a point and two seas and an ocean meet – a site sacred for thousands of years.
This sacred island in the Gulf of Mannar is where Hindus believe Rama paused to worship Shiva after killing the evil demon Ravana in neighbouring Sri Lanka – an event commemorated by a vast temple.
Trichy’s two great sights are its formidable Rock Fort and, on the opposite banks of the Kaveri River, the vast Chola temple at Srirangam, one of the mightiest and most revered of all Tamil shrines.
Nestled in this coffee-growing region amid the rolling uplands of southwest Karnataka are a scattering of exclusive hill lodges that make perfect bases for long, lazy weekends gazing across the tree tops – or more strenuous hill treks.
Nagarhole National Park is the place in southern India you’re most likely to sight tiger, along with herds of wild elephant and Indian bison.
Ootacamund, or ‘Udhagamandalam’ to give it its official Tamil name, is the most visited hill station in the Nilgiris – a bustling resort best reached via the famous Blue Mountain Railway.
Festooned with tens of thousands of brightly painted figures, the gateway towers of Madurai’s Meenakshi-Sundeshwar temple has been a major religious centre for more than two millennia.
Thanjavur (formerly Tanjore) was the ancient capital of the Chola dynasty, whose principal temple, Brihadeswara, still dominates the city.
Sample the Gallic charms of the Coromandel coast’s former French colony, many of whose elegant merchants’ mansions have been converted into stylish heritage hotels and courtyard bistros.
Its familiar contours smoothed by more than 1300 years of salt breezes, the diminutive Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram is just one among dozens of extraordinary ancient monuments dotted around the popular little seaside resort of Mamallapuram.
Former capital of the Wadiyar Rajas, Mysore has long been a favourite destination for travellers to south. Its lavish 19th-century palace is the principal landmark, but the market area provides some great photo opportunities.
The sight of Sravanabelgola’s smooth-faced monolith, Gomatesvara, rising serenely from the crest of Indragiri Hill ranks among the most sublime in southern India.
The malleable qualities of chlorite schist, allied with the great skill of local sculptors, are the secrets behind the intricacy and suppleness of the stone work adorning the Hoysala temples of central Karnataka – masterpieces of medieval Indian art.
Bidar’s rambling fort is famous for its panoramic views, but no less wondrous are the fragments of Persian-style mosaic and calligraphy adorning the Rangeen Mahal inside – a forgotten treasure of Deccani art.
Bjiapur was the capital of the dynasty responsible for defeating the mighty Vijayangar empire – an achievement reflected in the town’s triumphant Indo-Muslim architecture, built on a truly awesome scale.
Sited in a gorge between two red sandstone cliffs, the capital of the Chalukyan dynasty at Badami in northern Karnataka holds literally thousands of ancients shrines and rock cut caves in a wonderfully evocative setting.
If you’ve come to India to see incomparably exotic scenery, pilgrims bathing in glassy rivers, and giant temple towers writhing with sensuous statues and scampering monkeys, look no further than Hampi, the ruined capital of India’s last great Hindu empire.
On the outskirts of the city stand the imposing remains of the Qtub Shahi dynasty’s magnificent fort, whose vaults once held the famous ‘Kohinoor’ diamond.
Many vestiges of Hyderabad’s unique brand of Indo-Islamic architecture have disappeared over the past century or so, subsumed by the rising tide of ferro-concrete. One, however, still stands proud: the magnificent Char Minar.
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