[Fauji]

Thanks Biju.

You are absolutely right. Many of these mansions are being pulled down as the families are either not able to maintain or there is a dispute. Since most of these mansions are built three generations ago, it is very difficult to bring all the members of family - at differenet economic status - who have share in the property together and agree for a plan. The value of these mansions are not measured for the "real estate" value but for the "anitiques" that can be got from them.

I understand that there is a plan to get UNESCO heritage tag to Kanadukathan. If that happens and if Government takes interest, then it will be preserved. Otherwise not.

BTW, take a look at another amazing Chettinad mansion restored into a magnificent hotel - though expensive. Looks awesome!!!

Chidambara Vilas

[ukderebail]

Very nice travelogue on your visit to Rameshwaram and Chettinad palaces, some of the pictures tell their own story. I have stayed at Tripura Castle in Shillong and Fern Hill palace at Ooty which was fabulous and reminds of the heritage of the era.

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by Fauji

After temple , our next stop was Dhanushkodi which is a 20 Minutes of nice drive. It was mid day and very hot. The beach is excellent. In fact one can go the land’s end and take a look at the Adam’s bridge or Rama Setu – the bridge built by Rama to cross over to Lanka. To do this, one has to go by vans which have capability to drive in sand. The local operators charge Rs 80 per person but have to wait till they get full quota of 20 passengers. Since there werent many we c did not want to wait. We checked how much does it cost to take two of us and pat come reply - Rs 1600! We dropped the idea of going and decided to go back after checking out Gandha Madhava parvatam. This is a small hillock and one can have some nice views of surrounding landscape from here. In fact sun rise from this place should be good.

Boy, that drive is amazing. One of the best tourist spots. We did not go to the land's end, but got dropped in the middle and walked.
Most pilgrims go to the land's end and comes back but there is a stretch where you have sea on 2 sides within 100 m -- one of the most divine places I have been to. Simlilar to the Dhanushkodi beach pic you have put up, but only 2X.

Land's end is also nice, provided you stay there for some time. When a vehicle is there it is total commotion.

[Naturalist]

Originally Posted by Fauji

Thanks Biju.

You are absolutely right. Many of these mansions are being pulled down as the families are either not able to maintain or there is a dispute. Since most of these mansions are built three generations ago, it is very difficult to bring all the members of family - at differenet economic status - who have share in the property together and agree for a plan.[/url]

Spot on Fauji. We(Our ancestors) own a mansion in Attangudi. This mansion was built around 150 years ago. It has approximately 40 rooms. The mansion belongs to 18 families (6 generations). I have never seen all the families together at the same time. To renovate a common section of the mansion it usually takes 2 to 3 months to get a nod from all of them. Most of the furniture and construction is of antique material and can never be replaced with same quality.

[Fauji]

Happened to go to Rameshwaram last week. The corridors are being painted and have just completed one portion of it. I got to know that the painting took six months to complete. The corridor just look brilliant. Take a look. It is just half portion of the long corridor in the temple and when the other side is also completed, this should be mind-blowing! This picture was taken from iPhone. Imagine the result if it is a DSLR in the hands of a trained pro!!!

[Chillout]

Your trip to Avalanche inspired all of us and 5 families had a wonderful time at Destiny farms. Now this travelogue is wanting me to make a trip to Charming Chettinad. With regard to the below photo it does look good, but I would have liked the pillars to be untouched. The original stone color to the pillars would have highlighted the ceiling better. Knowing our folks, these pillars would be smudged with kunkam and other offerings in a matter of months.

Originally Posted by Fauji

Happened to go to Rameshwaram last week. The corridors are being painted and have just completed one portion of it. I got to know that the painting took six months to complete. The corridor just look brilliant. Take a look. It is just half portion of the long corridor in the temple and when the other side is also completed, this should be mind-blowing! This picture was taken from iPhone. Imagine the result if it is a DSLR in the hands of a trained pro!!!

[Fauji]

We happened to check out a lonely, forlorn and palm fringed beautiful beach just before Rameshwaram during our trip in October. I am not sure who gave the beach its name. It is called "Kushi beach" and is a beautiful stretch of sand. The water was still and we could walk easily into the water.

If you club Ramehwaram with Karaikkudi, dont forget to vsist this place. It is a known fact that Coromandel coast in South Indian state of Tamil Nadu has some of the gorgeous beaches which are not popularised due to apathy of our Governments. Whether it is Tranquebar or Poom Puhar or Dhansuhkodi, it has some lovely beaches.

Look for the signage before Pamban rail bridge when you are driving to Rameshwaram. The beach is two KMs off the highway and the road is good.

Please take look at these pictures.





There was an article on this beach in "The Hindu" today. Here is the link.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/met...cle4414676.ece

[itwasntme]

Could be dropping by Karaikudi this month. Plan is to combine it as part of a larger tour so will be spending around 4 hours there between 10 a.m. & 3 p.m.

Can anyone suggest a wallet-friendly but clean and authentic Chettinad restaurant in or near Karaikudi?

The big names (Chidambara, Visalam, Bangala etc.) are all fully sold out and not very open to external guests for lunch; plus the rates are astronomical at more than 800/adults and 500/kids! Unsure if our group wil do that kind of justice to the food!

Any other clean but nice places we can go to? Am keen for genuine stuff; a safe car park will be an added boon :-)

[venkatt1800]

Fauji Sir, Superb post on a rarely visited region of TN-Karaikudi. Wonderful pictures of the gorgeous mansions and palaces. Added to my bucket list of Must Visit places. By the way, are visitors allowed inside the Chettinad Palace in Kanadukathan ? The place looks fabulous from the exterior.