theladywanderer

Day 4 – Chettinad Today we set off from Rameswaram at around 9 am and started our journey towards Chettinad which was around 2.5 hours from here. Our first stop was Karaikudi – antique market.   Our driver stopped at the parking area and from here we could see a temple nestled in the busy Karaikudi market area. Karaikudi Antique Market To explain what is special about Karaikudi Antique market, you need to first know the history of Chettinad region. Chettinad traders made fortunes in Burma, came back and built fancy homes with Burmese team. These houses are scattered across a collection of villages, collectively known as Chettinad region. The inhabitants of this region are from a mercantile community called Nattukottai Chettiars, hence the name Chettinad. These mansions/palaces are at least 70-90 years old now, children have settled down in abroad and many houses lay abandoned here. These embellishments are being taken out and sold in this antique market. Its hidden in a single lane in

Day 3 – Journey to Rameswaram As mentioned in my earlier blog, we checked out from our hotel in Tanjore at 8 am in the morning and started our journey to Rameswaram. It was a long journey of 4.5 hours from Tanjore to Rameswaram.   Enroute we stopped by at Devipatnam.   Devipatnam Devipatnam |(locally known as Devipattinam) is a unique destination in a way that it has all the Navagrahas submerged in ocean water. It is located around 80 Km from Rameswaram. You will find people doing parikrama of the Navagrahas in water. According to the legend, Lord Rama when going to war to kill Ravana had worshipped Navagrahas by installing nine different stones in each, each symbolizing the Navagrahas to calm the sea. These can be seen in morning when the level of sea water is low.  However in the evenings when the tides are high and the level of sea water is also high, most of the Navagraha stones lie submerged in the water. After this we crossed the most famous Pamban bridge which connects Rameswara