PHOTO TOURS - Kanadukathan - The Opulence Of Chettinad Mansions

Being a native of Chennai aka erstwhile Madras, it was quite often that I came across Chettinad food, sarees and also chettiar neighbours and last but not the least Chettinad Cements. If you have ever lived in Chennai or been there, you cannot miss the presence of this name and community.

Everything about it was about grandeur, wealth and an innate warmth and hospitality of the people from that region. And this always piqued my curiosity about the mystery land.  Add to it the narration  of some of my friends who visited the place who went on and on about the sheer magnificence of  the place and the well known antique market and of course the lip smacking spicy food.

Now, this was not something to be missed isnt it? So a few of us like minded friends decided to visit and experience it ourselves. It was January and a peak season. Other than conveyance and advanced reservation of rooms, we didn't plan much as we all wanted to go with the flow. There were only a few things in our agenda - See and experience the life of this beautiful region and its magnificient mansions + shop for authentic Chettinad Kandangi sarees and antiques as much as we could fit into our car + gorge upon the delicious chettinad cuisine.

That being the prelude, here goes a photo tour of Kanadukathan - very wrongly called the ghost town of Chettinad. Why? You will know at the end of this series.

The day began slightly cloudy and a namesake drizzle which lasted for a few minutes, just as if the heavens opened up to clean our paths before we walked. The soothing gentle morning breeze was definitely a blessing.

 After a good night's rest and hot yummy breakfast lovingly cooked at our guest house kitchen, we set out for the walk in this quaint little village - of palaces and mansions.

 One of the first houses we came across. It was almost a moment of deja vu..especially for Tamil movie buffs like me.

 The periya veedu or big house. This is probably one the most well maintained mansions in the whole of Kanadukathan. Does it rake some memories in you my dear readers? Kandukondein Kandukondein anyone?

 A big temple pond and these stone benches alongside the banks. It was such a beautiful feeling to be sitting on them enjoying the morning breeze.

Streets and crossroads. Each one had a row of small and big houses and stories of their own.

Those eyes have seen a lot of history and has a lot of stories to narrate.

In love with these stained glass window panes. All imported from Belgium says our guide.

The arches and those lampshades.

Vintage lithographs adorning the walls

A warm welcome to the visitors of this mansion. It says - The house is protected by Lord Annamalai/Shiva

In love with those colours

And numerous corridors - inside and outside

The Aachi cleaning dal in preparation for making laddoos for the temple festival.

And every time we were back in the streets, there were these colourful houses. Just like someone had opened a packet of Gems

With this, we were almost done for the first half our day and were eager to proceed to Karaikudi town for a sumptuous lunch at the Bangala and the main attraction - Shopping !!

But that story s for another day. So stay tuned for Part 2.

How to reach
Karaikudi has Madurai as the nearest airport. There are also trains and TNSRTC buses.