Marieke's Art of Living

Day 1 Bangalore

Arrive in Banaglore.
Bangalore is now what we call India's Silicon Valley and the country's pub capital, along with aerospace research, biotechnology and dozens of premier education institutions and is perhaps the most westernized city in India, though very few know much about the history of this pleasant city.|
Stay at Villa Pottipati –a small hotel-home in Malleswaram, once the vegetarian-Brahmin stronghold of Bangalore, and now a small heritage hotel with charming old world rooms and a lovely garden.

Days 2 + 3 Bangalore/Mysore

After breakfast drive to Mysore-
the Sandalwood City where thanks to royal patronage, artists, writers and craftsmen have flourished, making it the cultural epicentre of Karnataka.
It is a major centre for the manufacture of incense, and its flowers-spice-vegetable market amongst the finest in India. Also Mysore silk is well known for its quality and everlasting luster. Here you visit Chamundeshwari Temple on Chamundi hill with its panoramic view of the city then explore the famous silk markets.
This Evening we have arranged a private dinner for you at a Kurgi family home.

Built as a royal residence in the 1920’s to accommodate the British guests of the Maharaja of Mysore, Royal Orchid Metropole is today a beautifully restored mansion-hotel, decorated with period antiques, charmingly restored heritage rooms, set in a lovely garden, as well as offering all modern amenities.
Another full days’ sightseeing highlights include: The Markets, The palace of the Maharaja built in 1911-12 that is an harmonious synthesis of the Hindu and Saracenic styles of architecture, the Sri Chamarajendra Art Gallery and the St. Philomena’s Church the largest neo- Gothic churches in India.
This afternoon we host a Grand late afternoon Tea party with Mysore Maharaja.

Day 4 Mysore/Bangalore/Madurai

This Morning drive back to Bangalore visiting the marvellous site of Srirangapatnam en route – a complex of Tipu Sultans’ Fort and Palaces and Mausoleum, richly decorated with carving and frescoes before flying to Madurai - one of the oldest cities in South India, the seat of power for the ancient Pandya dynasty.
An archetypal Hindu city, a swirl of life revolves around its mighty Meenakshi-Sundareshwarar temple. The nine soaring gopurams of Madurai are the first thing most visitors see.
Overnight at Taj Garden offers spacious light rooms and garden views.

Days 5 + 6 Madurai/Chettinad

After breakfast drive to Karaikudi, situated in the Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu, the biggest city in Chettinad and famous for its Ganesha temple, antiques, woven textiles, crafts, majestic mansions and a most distinctive cuisine.
Your residence for two nights is The Bangala, ancestral rural “Bungalow” home of Mrs Meyappan’s family who come from a lineage of plantation owners.
Simple, spotless, comfortable and restful the Bangala has 12 air-conditioned rooms and verandah sit-outs. The stand-out here is the truly marvellous cuisine, a rich legacy of family recipes that are headily fragrant, exquisitely seasoned, lightly executed, and very memorable. On a recent visit I enjoyed possibly one of the finest meals in all of India, created by four chefs, who have a retinue of helpers for which the masalas and spice mixes are still ground by hand on a traditional stone.

Karaikudi and 74 other villages comprise Chettinad, the homeland of the Nattukottai Chettiars. The Chettiars were a prosperous banking community who ventured overseas to do business in South and Southeast Asia in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Their legacies are the fascinating houses of Chettinad they built with simple materials, as well as precious rosewood and teak.
Nearby at Kanadakhatan is the wonderful village of wealthy merchant homes, almost like a deserted ghost town, but ambient in detail and character.
There will be excursions to some of the nearby villages with their wonderful mansions, the opportunity to visit weaving homes where exquisite cotton sarees are loomed, and a visit to an exceptional tile factory.

Days 7 + 8 Chettinad/Periyar

Today is a very scenic 6 hour drive with a picnic lunch en-route. You traverse the beautiful scenery and tropical farmlands of the Western Ghats, rich with coffee, tea and spice plantations, to reach Thekaddy by late afternoon. For the next two nights you are based near Periyar National Park, a 780 sq km sanctuary created in 1934 as a conservation zone for elephants, bison, sambar, wild boar, spotted deer, a huge assortment of butterflies and waterfowl and the occasional tiger or leopard.

Your accommodation for two nights is the charming and very comfortable eco-friendly Spice Village which has its own extensive organic market garden, spice gardens all around and a marvellous Ayurvedic Centre for health treatments. Enjoy a
morning Jungle walk with a naturalist, visit a spice plantation and a bullock cart safari in the country side to a local village.

Day 9 Periyar/Kumarakom

From Thekaddy you travel by road through very lush, verdant tropical scenery and lunch en-route will be enjoyed at a private coffee and rubber Estate to reach the Kerala backwaters.

Coconut Lagoon - Hidden among the palm trees on the eastern shore of Lake Vembanad, at the mouth of the Kavanar River, Coconut Lagoon Heritage Resort is set on an abandoned coconut plantation in the very heart of these fascinating backwaters, and has been designed to give visitors an authentic insight into Kuttanad life. The resort can only be reached by boat. Its accommodations consist of individual cottages called tharawads, the traditional wooden house of Kerala. Though some of these cottages are of more recent vintage, many are well over a century old and a few actually date back to the early 1700s.

Day 10 Kumarakom/Houseboat

Morning optional excursion by row boat to Kumarokom bird sanctuary with local naturalist.
At noon board your individual Kettuvalam houseboats. They are Kerala’s magical answer to the caravans of the West.
Each Kettuvallom house boat is a floating hotel space with its own staff and a poleman so no modern motors will detract from the spellbinding experience of drifting in the canals and lagoons and absorbing the ancient way of life along the smaller canals and waterways. A traditional dinner will be served on individual boats and with a flute recital.

Onam is a traditional festival of Kerala that reminds every Keralite of those days of plenty, equality, and honesty when King Mahabali ruled the Kingdom of Kerala.
Kerala is at its greenest and prettiest during Onam. Folks celebrate the beauty of the land and the harvest with rounds of hectic rejoicing. For ten days, excited children collect a variety of flowers and arrange floral carpet designs called a pookalam, with a clay mound in the centre, in family courtyards, to welcome ' King Mahabali'.

Days 11 + 12 Kumarakom Houseboat/Cochin

Drive to Cochin and this evening visit a local theater to see a special performance of Kathakali Dance, followed by dinner with Nimmy Paul at her home where Nimmy is custodian over a repertoire of superb Syrian Christian food traditions.
Two days are spent at Fort Cochin residing at the Brunton Boatyard.
Cochin, the oldest European settlement in India is a lagoon of islands and peninsulas separated by backwaters of the Arabian Sea, which are connected by bridges and ferries with a rich maritime history that still ships Kerala’s coir, rubber, seafood and pepper products to foreign ports. Influenced at various times by the Arabs, the Chinese, the Dutch, the British and the Portuguese, and the white Jews who first emigrated from Roman persecuted Jerusalem in 6th century BC to Cochin. It is now a charmingly curious potpourri of Jewish synagogues, Chinese fishing-nets, Portuguese churches, Dutch palaces and British cricket greens. The atmosphere is perceptibly Mediterranean but the climate is characteristically sub-tropical.

The Brunton Boatyard is a modern accolade to the early Dutch and Portuguese architecture of Fort Cochin, situated at the harbor mouth overlooking the busy ship channel. All its rooms overlook the harbor and nearby delta and are tastefully designed and furnished four-poster beds, spacious bathrooms and all the amenities of a first-class hotel. It has its own private jetty, which doubles as a "cafe", overlooking the pool and private garden.

There is the option of an early morning visit to the fresh seafood and vegetable markets of Mandicherry, followed by sightseeing of Cochin visiting Dutch Palace, Jewish Synagogue built in 1567 A.D. St. Francis Church, Bolgatty Palace and Chinese Fishing Nets. Lunch at Malabar house.
For guests with no time to continue, there is the option of leaving Cochin late this evening with Singapore Airlines to return home.

Days 13 + 14 Cochin/Chennai/Pondicherry

Morning transfer to the airport for the flight to Chennai. Contine south on the Coromandel Coast/Bay of Bengal to explore UNESCO protected Mamallapuram's cave temples and ancient bas reliefs. After a delightful seafood lunch at Fisherman's Cove continue to Pondicherry, where highlights include Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the nearby temple of Sri Manakula Vinayakar Temple and the old French quarter. The next two nights are spent at Le Dupleix.
Le Dupleix, once the 18thC home of Nawab and General Marquis Joseph Francis Dupleix, the former French Governor of Pondicherry, is today both one of the most gorgeous villas in town as well as being a boutique 14-room luxury small hotel of immense character and charm, based around a central courtyard.

Visit Auroville to understand how the various communities operate (a cheesemaker, organic gardens, arts and crafts) and where the shops are excellent. Meet Pierre Elouard a restaurateur and Aurovillian of 36 years with his own organic vegetable gardens. A farewell Creole Dinner is arranged in a private home.

Day 15 Pondicherry/Chennai/
International departure

After a leisurely morning, visit the holy city of Kanchipuram renowned for its temples and fine silk weaving.
Later transfer to the airport for the International Departure.

This Tour is Copyright of Art of Living. We reserve the right to vary the itinerary at any time in the best interests of our clients.

Your Tour Escort, Durga Singh ji is an exceptional guide and host. A proud, aristocratic Rajput, Durga brings his culture and country vibrantly alive.
A rare Renaissance man with interests as diverse as philosophy, religion, contemporary politics to farming, tribal culture, music, poetry, Durga sports not only a grand moustache but also a wonderful sense of humour.
A marvellous and engaging raconteur, his insights will leave a lasting impression.

Your Tour Leader
For thirteen years, Marieke has been leading tours to the Subcontinent that enthral guests. The exotic vibrancy of India, its explosion of colour, thronging bazaars, amazing stillness in even the largest crowds, elegant and hospitable people, whether from regal lineage or simple, dignified rural-dwellers, and their arts and crafts, their rich spiritual traditions, the commonplaceness of the unexpected and the surprising, and a vast and complex cultural and culinary history of immense variety and diversity of landscape captivate and beckon year after year.

To Request a Tour Brochure and Tour Cost Contact Us>