The Great Living Chola Temple at
Thanjavur.
How many of
us have a bucket list of places to go and things to do there but never get
around to actually going there or doing them.
1. Eat a meal on a banana leaf
— there's a belief that it might cure Parkinson 's disease
2. Visit the Great Living
Chola Temples, the UNESCO World Heritage Site dating back to the 10th century
3. Go to Ooty on the Nilgiri
Mountain Railway — it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a legacy of
remarkable British engineering
RIDING THE NILGIRI MOUNTAIN RAILWAY
On a cold morning,
a crowd of people rush to board the 662SR Mettupalayam-Udhagamandalam
(Nilagiri) Passenger.
4. Get blessed by an elephant — how often can you get one?
5. Visit the
Cholamandalam Artists' Village, the pride of modern Tamil Art
6. Take an auto
ride in Chennai. Chennai auto-drivers even have their own websites. Plus, it is
the luxury of the middle-class.
7. Taste idli and
dosa and wonder how many types of chutneys exist in Tamil Nadu. We are really a
bunch of choosy pickers when it comes to idli and dosa!
8. Watch a
Rajanikanth film in a movie theatre, if possible on the first day to understand
the definition of hero worship!
9. Participate in Jallikattu -- bull taming -- in Madurai. Or, if you're
chicken, just watch!
10. Find and listen to your favourite
Ilayaraja or A R Rahman song — everybody's got to have one!
11. Men, sport a moustache. And women,
plait your hair and decorate it with a garland of fragrant jasmine flowers!
12. Decorate the front of your house
with kolam — a more decorative and artistic rendition of rangoli -- and hang
bunches of harvested paddy outside your home for the birds to feed on. (We have
our own homegrown Kolam Picassos, and the patterns they come out with are
astonishing!)
13. Drink strong filter coffee In a
Tamil-style cup and saucer known as davarah and tumbler
14. Visit the shore temples of Mahabalipuram (another UNESCO World Heritage
Site of the 7th century) and admire the art of sculpting in this little town
15. Wander around to wonder at the
Indo-Saracenic and Gothic style buildings of Chennai, some of which are over a
hundred years old
16. Visit Pondicherry to marvel at the
French Architecture (and our own French Connection)
17. Beat the heat by eating all your
summer fruit glazed with a layer of salt-and-chilli-powder mixture! Cucumber,
unripe mango, gooseberry, guava and pineapple taste best like this. And drink
tender coconut or buttermilk or sugarcane juice to quench your thirst. And if
you like it aerated, there's Bovonto, our very own answer to Coca Cola!
18. Shop for beautiful silk sarees at
Kancheepuram (the Chinese may have invented silk, but Tamils perfected it)
19. Celebrate Pongal by cooking sweet
rice outdoors in clay pots or join the annual celebration of Elephant Pongal at
Top Slip
20. Buy Horlicks for someone sick
21. Feed crows on special occasions
22. Whistle for Chennai Super Kings at
M A Chidambaram stadium!
23. Attend Thiruvaiyaru Music Festival
24. Visit Pichavaram, the world's
second largest mangrove forests, for the Dawn Fest or Vidiyal Vizha
25. Sanctify your new dresses with
turmeric
The imposing Matri
Mandir at Auroville
26. Visit Auroville, the international commune near Pondicherry
27. Visit the Toda tribal village in
the Nilgiris (also learn about the other tribes -- Badaga, Irula, Kota and
Kurumba)
28. Go to Natyanjali Dance Festival
celebrated at the 1,000-year-old Chidambaram temple near Cuddalore. The dance
hall is adorned with pillars exhibiting the classic 108 poses of Lord Nataraja.
29. Go on a parisal (coracle) ride in
Hogenakkal
30. Watch the magical kurinji flower
bloom in Kodaikanal. It blooms every 12 years and the next bloom is in 2018
31. Widen your understanding of Tamil
culture and architecture at Dakshina Chitra, Muttukadu
32. Go to Sittanavasal in Pudukkottai
district to see some of the oldest Jain paintings
33. Visit the iconic Madurai Meenakshi
temple
34. Ride into the Mudumalai Tiger
Reserve on an elephant
35. Explore corals and other marine
life in a glass-bottomed boat in the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park
36. Visit Karaikudi to experience the
vibrant Chettinad culture, architecture and food
37. Watch Theerthavari in Mahamaham
Tank, Kumbakonam, held once in 12 years. A dip in the tank is believed to offer
the combined benefits of a bath in all the sacred rivers. The next Mahamaham is
in 2016.
Dindigul near Madurai has earned the name of Biryani
City.
38. Taste some regional speciality dishes and snacks -- Dindigul biryani,
Manaparai muruku, Thirunelveli halwa, Madurai jigar thanda and Kumbakonam
coffee
39. Visit the Birla Science Planetarium
in Chennai
A lake surrounded by tea gardens in
Meghamalai.
40. Spot endangered wildlife in Meghamalai in
Theni district. Meghamalai is also known for its spice tourism with a variety
of plantations including tea, coffee, pepper, cardamom and cinnamon.
41. Throw rice on
the bride and groom at a Tamil wedding. Rice signifies prosperity and fertility
42. Buy a pair of
Kuthu Vilakku — brass lamps -- from Nachiyar Kovil in Kumbakonam. Every public
event and home celebration begins only after these brass lamps are lit.
43. Witness the
making of bronze statues using the traditional Lost-Wax process at Swamimalai
near Kumbakonam
44. Join the Students' Sea Turtle
Conservation Network (SSTCN) volunteers on a night walk along the beaches of
Chennai to conserve and create awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley Sea
Turtle.
45. Enjoy the panoramic view of Tiruchi
and Srirangam from Tiruchi Malai Kotai Rock Fort
46. Get your picture on a street poster
or a billboard for some reason (marriage, birthday, welcoming a political
leader, coming-of-age ritual, ear-piercing ritual, or just to wish your
favourite actor or sports star!)
47. Go birdwatching in any of the birding hotspots -- Vedanthangal ,
Pulicat Lake, Kunthakulam or Point Calimere
48. Taste the
Mukkani -- three supreme and heavenly fruits -- mango, jackfruit and banana
49. Try to know
your future from Nadi Jothidam - these are palm manuscript horoscopes written
hundreds of years ago for every individual on earth. Or try parrot astrology or
palmistry.
50. Walk amidst
lush green paddy fields.
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