Tackling Southern India

It has been a while since those of us who are following the spice trail to India, have even thought about what we want to do while there! After the flurry of getting airplane tickets, hotels, and our visas...we all just sat back and took a breather! But life is to short...and December is too close to wait too long....

So while on my "vacation" in Seattle, I found a book store that had the Lonely Planet's guide SOUTHERN INDIA. And we thought we were silly for having problems picking places to go, there is a whole other book just about this region.

So first thing I did was tell myself that all my panicking and worrying about the enormity of the task was totally justified, and then I got to work.

I found a list of the festivals in Southern India during December, which then led me to find a section about Hindu temples. TEMPLES! Brilliant! And they tend to be in smaller towns, with a totally different culture than the north, and seriously historically significant! The age and wisdom of some of these temples puts Europe (really the only comparison I have) to shame!

So here is a map I made of the top five temples recommended by Lonely Planet, Southern India.


View Larger Map


Now that you have seen where they are (or not, since Google maps seems to only like to focus on America), check out just how cool some of them look! These pictures really get me fired up to get out there and oogle ancient beauty, climb some steps and concider converting to Hinduism....


Brihadeshwara, Thanjavur (UNESCO protected)


Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai


Sri Jambukeshwara, Trichy

And that is just a smattering, and example of the fun we have to see! Wahoo! Getting pumped (I wonder how you say that in Hindi....)