Chettinad - Land of Palatial Mansions

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 the heart of Karaikudi town. One can take a stroll and admire all these antiques and even buy them if interested.






By the time we came out of this antique market it was 1 pm already. So it was time to head to our lunch spot. We headed straight to Karaikudi Annalakshmi restaurant. We ordered veg meals here and food was great.




Athangudi Palace


Athangudi is famous for its floor tiles called “Athangudi Tiles”. The tiles are handmade with artistic designs. If you want to admire the beauty of Athangudi tiles, then you must visit this palace. This palace has a traditional courtyard and the chequered Athangudi tiles on the floor add visual treat to your eyes.

Entry fee – Rs 50 per person





 


 

Kanadukathan – Sri Mahalakshmi Handloom Weaving Centre (Chettinad Saree)


Chettinad is also famous for its hand woven sarees known as Kandaangi. So in the itinerary visit to Sri Mahalakshmi Weaving center also was added. From Athangudi it took us 30 minutes time to reach this place. Here you will get to see the saree weaving process. But by the time we reached it was late and we couldn’t see the saree weaving process since on Saturday’s they work only till 2 PM. So we entered the shop to buy some sarees and I must say they had good collection of sarees with various designs and colors.





Chettinad is also famous for its 19th century palatial mansions with beautiful courtyards, spacious rooms embellished with teak and the entire flooring is done with Athangudi tiles. So it was time now to feel like Chettiars by staying in one of their palaces. F5escapes team had booked our stay at the most famous Chidamabara Vilas, Kadiapatti. From Mahalakshmi Weaving center we reached here in 20 minutes time. Its all so well planned by f5escapes team to cover all the aspects of Chettinad enroute on this journey and finally staying at one of their palaces to experience the royalness.

 

Chidambara Vilas (Kadiapatti)


When we reached Chidambara Vilas, it took sometime for us to absorb where we would be staying today - literally in a huge palace. It is so huge that you cannot even cover it in your camera. 




We were given a grand traditional welcome here by the team of Chidambara Vilas. We were greeted by Senthil Sir whose team helped us with a smooth check-in process and briefed us about the activities that are planned during our stay here. So to begin with, we were asked to assemble at 5 PM sharp at the reception for the Villa tour.



This heritage home showcases the luxurious Chettinad lifestyle of the 20th century. This was built by the famous Krishnappa Chettiar. It is now restored and managed by the Sangam group thereby retaining its charm of the bygone era without missing any modern luxury. And courtyards are the soul of Chettinad palaces.









View from the terrace



 

Time to relish some authentic Chettinad cuisine now. But before that we were taken to the kitchen for an interactive session where the chef showed us all the core ingredients that goes into the making of a Chettinad recipe.





Its time now to savor authentic Chettinad food. 



Day 5 – Village Walk

 

We woke up in the morning at 7 am and were asked to meet at the reception at 7:30 am for guided village walk. While we were expecting other guests to arrive, I took this opportunity for some clicks of this mansion.





Here we met our guide from the villa and he took us around this village. We could see so many abandoned mansions here, one century old hospital and one radio station too. Every mansion here spans across an entire street.




Radio station












 

This 1 hour village walk was very refreshing and it’s a paradise for photographers.

 

We then headed back to our villa and we were welcomed with a new Kolam (Rangoli) in the courtyard. 


We then freshened up, had breakfast and checked out. This was the last milestone of the trip. We bid adieu to the team of Chidamabara Vilas and headed straight to Madurai airport to board our return flights back home.

 

Tamil Nadu with f5escapes

Part 1 : Madurai - Cultural Capital of Tamil Nadu

Part 2 : Tanjore - Erstwhile capital of Chola dynasty

Part 3 : Rameswaram - An Island Soaked In Spirituality And Beauty In Tamil Nadu


Comments

  1. Anonymous18 July 2024 at 16:00

    Enjoyed seeing chettinaad thru your eyes.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sandesha - Museum of Communication

Image
Gone are the days when we would send inland letters or post cards to our near and dear ones. This is that era when there were no phones to talk to our loved ones. Post was the only means of communication back then. I am sure people from Gen X, Boomers and some percentage from Gen Y will relate to me on this. But Gen Z also need to know how communication has evolved since ages. So in this blog, I take all my readers to Sandesha – Museum of Communication in Bangalore, Karnataka, India.   We took a metro and got down at M.G.Road Metro station. From here the museum is located on Museum road and its walkable. We followed google map directions, walked along the nice pavements of Church street and finally reached museum at around 10:30 AM. Please note there is no entry fee here.  Sandesha in Kannada means message and hence this is the apt name for this museum.  This museum is completely dedicated to the journey of communication in India. While the security guard went inside to call the gu
Read more

Bellikkal Hills - Your Stint with Nature

Image
Bellikkal – Your Stint with Nature Bellikkal is a less crowded and secluded hill station in the Nilgiri mountains of Tamil Nadu. This is located on the south east of the Mudumalai forests, 16 km from Ooty and 249 km South of Bengalaru. Located at a high altitude, it is totally isolated from the outside world and is a great place to get rejuvenated and recharged.   There are several vantage points at Bellikkal that provide many beautiful panoramic views of the surrounding mountain peaks. One of the main attraction is the Neelakurinji Flowers. The flower has purplish blue color when aged. It looks light blue in the earlier stage of blooming. When in full bloom, they lend a bluish haze to the area. But these bushes blossom in a clustered manner once in twelve years. And we turned out to be lucky this year. We had planned this trip well ahead and had booked a homestay “Wild Walkers” for a weekend stay in Bellikkal. Day 1: We started from Bangalore at around 6 in the
Read more

Monsoon Series - Dudhsagar Trek with Tambdi Surla

Image
Its monsoon season of the year and time for yet another monsoon trek. And one should not miss visiting the enchanting Dudhsagar falls during this time. So Dudhsagar was in my bucket list right from my college days. But somehow plan did not work out and could not make it. This time of the year, thanks to my travel buddy who instigated me to join her for this trip and we decided to tick this place off from our bucket list. Basically, there are 2 ways you can plan to see Dudhsagar falls – Firstly, the majesty of the Dudhsagar falls can be best viewed from a train as it passes the small Railway station of Dudhsagar but that fun would be for just some fraction of seconds. Secondly, trek through the lush green dense forest to the base of the waterfalls so that you can absorb the view at your heart's content. We chose to do the latter. After a lot of research, my friend had shortlisted Muddie trails since their itinerary had mode of travel as train from Bangalore to Goa and back which we
Read more