The Dance Of Shiva

Free time permitting, visit of the city: the national gallery, the museum, the Sam Thome cathedral, the Mylapore temple, the church of St. Mary.

Visit of the spectacular cult monuments of Kanchipuram, the golden city of a thousand temples, and of Mahabalipuram, with monoliths of extraordinary, intact beauty: declared "heritage of humanity", they stand partly on the seashore, an element of philosopher Sri Aurobindo.

Move to Pondicherry and visit the ashram of Aurobindo and Auroville, the "city of the future", an experiment in a new concentration of harmonious and international urbanization, named after the philosopher Sri Aurobindo.

Visit to Chidambaram, a city-temple dedicated to Nataraja (Shiva in his version of cosmic dancer), and of Srirangam, one of the largest temple complexes in the country. Continue to Tanjore.

Visit to Tanjore, from the sanctuaries built in the period of maximum splendor of the Chola dynasty. Excelled is the Brihadeshwara, the most majestic of the Dravidian temples, and the Saraswati Mahal library is interesting, with the collection of 30,000 manuscripts. Moving to Trichy, the 'village of the sacred mountain'.

Visit of the "Rock Fort Temple", a spectacular monument which is accessed by a steep staircase of over 400 steps: from the top, a grandiose visit that compensates for the effort of the climb. Continue to Meenakshi diMadurai in time to attend the 'pooja', the evocative evening ceremony during which, in the light of sacred music, the procession of the gods takes place.

Diurnal visit of the Meenakshi temple dedicated to the goddess Shiva's bride: frequented at every hour by fauna, a multicolored crowd of devotees, there is a very special atmosphere between sacred and profane. Visit the beautiful palace of Tirumal Nayak, free afternoon.

Moving to Periyar, home to the 775 sq km nature reserve of the same name. This extends around the artificial carto. In the afternoon, excursion into the park, the undisputed kingdom of monkeys, elephants, bison, turtles, deer and myriads of birds.

New approach to the park, observed from the waters of the lake: later visit a spice plantation and move to Kumarakom. In the afternoon, a boat trip on the backwaters, waterways of placid beauty.

Cruise on a typical "house boat", with which to reach Alleppey, observing the landscape and daily life slowly pass. Meals and overnight on board.

Return by boat to Alleppey, transfer by land to Cochin: visit the symbolic places of the city, the synagogue (closed on Saturdays), the Dutch palace (closed on Friday), and the church of San Francesco (closed on Sundays). Kathakali dance show in the evening.

Transfer to the Marari Beach Resort: long golden beach, palm trees and the loss of the eye, the warmth of Kerala hospitality, plus the possibility of some yoga sessions or to experience Ayurvedic massages and treatments.

Days at leisure available.

Transfer to Cochin airport to board the flight for onward destination.