TRAVEL SPECIAL ..........50 things to do in Tamil Nadu
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. Yahoo! India reader Thennarasu wrote to us with an
invitation to his home state, Tamil Nadu, with this list of 50 things to do
while you're there.
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
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
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, local answer to Coca Cola!
18. Shop for beautiful silk sarees
at Kancheepuram
19. Celebrate Pongal by cooking
sweet rice outdoors in clay pots or join the annual celebration
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
26. The imposing Matri Mandir at Auroville26. 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.
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
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
Thennarasu is a BPO employee who
works in Chennai. Originally from Kumbakonam, his interests include travel,
photography, meeting new people, bird-watching and cooking.
http://in.lifestyle.yahoo.com/blogs/traveler/50-things-tamil-nadu-051402940.html
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