On your arrival in Chennai you will be transferred to your hotel. The name Chennai was derived from Chennaipattanam, built by the English in 1639. The earlier name of Madras was a short form of Madraspattinam a fishing village. Chennai is the capital of Tamil Nadu and is the largest industrial and commercial center of South India and also an important centre for Carnatic music. The city is also famous for the Tamil movies and known as Kollywood. Chennai came into prominence because of the British who defended the town against several attacks from the French and converted it to a major naval port.

Today, you have a full day excursion to Mamallapuram and Kanchipuram. Kanchipuram was the ancient capital of the Pallavas and was the town of a 1000 temples. Kanchipuram sight-seeing takes you through some of the known temples such as Siva temple from the 7th century, Ekambareswara temple, Sri Kailasanathar Temple from the 8th century, the Sri Vardaraja Perumal Temple, the Sri Kamakshiamman Temple, etc. Kanchipuram is a paradise for the shoppers as it offers the world famous Kanchipuram silk saris. #Mamallapuram also known as Mahabalipuram or Mamallapattana. This is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and a historic town and seaport. It was also known by the ancient mariners as the city of "Seven Pagodas". Out of the Seven Pagodas, only the Shore Temple survives. Mamallapuram was a bustling seaport and the traders went to countries of South East Asia from here. It was an important port for the Pallavas and most of the monuments portray events from the Mahabharata and date back from the 7th to the 9th century. In an ancient text, this place was noted as Sea Mountain where ships rode at anchor bent to the point of breaking laden with goods. #the tour of Mahabalipuram takes you through the cave temples and mandapams cut in the rocks showing depiction of incidents from Hindu legends, epics and mythology. The temples were built during the rule of Narasimhavarman and Rajasimhavarman. The city was mostly developed by Narasimhavarman. The Bas-relief Arjuna's Penance with life size images carved on the rock wall is the largest Bas-relief in the world. The five chariots are carved out of a single rock. The twin structure of the Shore Temple is one of the oldest in South India and is worth visiting. The Shore Temple built from dressed stone has Bas-reliefs, one 100 ft long and 45 ft. high, carved out of granite.

On your arrival in Tiruchirapalli you will be transferred to your hotel. Tiruchirapalli shortly referred as Trichy is located at the banks of Cauvery River and is the fourth largest city of Tamil Nadu. This city was the citadel for the Cholas and was developed by the Nayaks of Madurai and is an eminent city as it is known for its scholars of Tamil. One can feel the holiness of this city in very occasion that get celebrated over here with great grandeur and pomp.

The afternoon tour will take you to the Danish Church, Rock Fort a temple complex and a fort built on a rock with 434 steps to reach the temple of Lord Ganaesha and more for the temple of Lord Shiva. This fort complex had witnessed the fierce battles in between the Bijapur and Madurai Nayaks, Marathas and Carnatic forces. It has been said that this fort plays huge role at the time of Carnatic wars that helped in the foundation layout of British Empire.

You will be transferred by road to Madurai. Madurai is one of the oldest living cities in the world and the recorded history dates back to 3rd century BC. Madurai comes from the word Madhura which means sweetness. The people of Madurai celebrate many festivals and one of the important festivals is the annual 10 days Chittirai festival. Rani Mangamma's palace has been converted into Gandhi Memorial Museum and houses the blood-stained garment worn by Mahatma Gandhi when he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse. Mahatma Gandhi had adopted the loin cloth as his mode of dress after seeing agricultural laborers in Madurai wearing it. Meenakshi Temple is in the list of nominees of the "New Seven Wonders of the World".

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

The morning tour of Madurai includes Meenakshi Temple, Tirumala Nayak Palace, Alagar Hills and Tirupara Kundran Rock temple. The Meenakshi Temple complex is one of the largest and oldest in India. The temple was built 2000 years ago and was expanded Thirumalai Nayak. This is a temple of Lord Siva and his wife Meenakshi. The temple has a Hall of Thousand Pillars with every pillar showing life like features. The outermost corridors have musical pillars of stones which when tapped, produce different musical notes. Thirumalai Nayak Palace was built in 1636 by the king Thirumalai Nayak and is famous for its domes and arches.

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

Today you will leave for Periyar Animal Sanctuary. Periyar national park is famous as an Elephant ,wild boar, sambar, wild dog, langur, monkeys, etc. It has an abundance of birds and plants. A boat ride in the Periyar Lake gives you the possibility of watching the different animals The Park is surrounded by various plantation regions for coffee, tea, etc. and a visit to these plantations is a worth.

This evening you will enjoy a boat ride on the Lake Periyar. Presently the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation tourist centre at Thekkady offers a common boat for a two hour boating trip on the lake. A herd of elephants or a family of deer are common sights near the lake as the animals come to the lake frequently for drinking water. You may be able to spot herds of Gaur, Sambar and wild boars in the grasslands adjacent to the shores. A variety of avian fauna such as darters, egrets and kingfishers can be seen resting on dead tree trunks that stick out over the lake. During your boat ride you may probably have observe the antics of the Indian Otter.

You will be transferred by road to Kochi. Kochi earlier known as Cochin is referred as the Queen of Arabian Sea. Kochi has remained the popular centre in across the world for the trade of spices for number of centuries. The name of the city comes from Malayalam term “Kochazhi” that actually means small lagoon. Kochi was put on the world map by Vasco-de-Gama. The Arabs, Portuguese, British, Dutch, all have left their impression on the history of Kochi. After Mumbai, Kochi is probably the second most important city on the west coast of India.

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

During the morning city tour of Kochi, you will be taken to some of the renowned spots of Kochi that will include the Portuguese churches, mosques and temples along with the Jewish synagogue. You will be taken to watch the Chinese style fishing nets which are mostly seen in Kerala. It holds around 10m of height and consists of cantilever along with an outstretched net that is suspended in the sea and one huge stone suspended on other end with ropes for the counterweights. Every installation of this fishing-net gets operated by group of six fishermen. Checkout from the hotel at 1200 hrs.

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

You will be transferred to airport in time for your flight to Bangalore.

You will be transferred by road to Mysore. Mysore also known as Mysooru served as the capital city of the Mysore Princely Kingdom for nearly from the 14th century to 1947. Mysore is known as the city of palaces and quite famous for its Dussehra festival, was the capital of the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom. Mysore was ruled by the Wadiyars excepting for some time in the 18th century when Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan ruled this place. The Wadiyars were great patrons of art and culture which benefitted the cultural growth of the city, due to which Mysore is called the Cultural capital of Karnataka.

The morning city tour of Mysore will take you to the Mysore palace that was originally built by the Maharaja of Mysore in the year 1911-1912. The palace is of harmonious synthesis of the Hindu and Saracenic styles of architecture having archways, domes, turrets, colonnades and sculptures. Visit the art gallery. Drive to the Chamundi hill to visit the Chamundeshwari Temple. From the hill itself you will get a panoramic view of the city of Mysore. On your way back to Mysore, visit the Nandi bull. Mysore is a good place for buying the famous "Mysore silk".

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

You will be transferred by road to Hassan. Hassan is a city in Karnataka. Karnataka derived from the Kannada words karu and nadu meaning "elevated land" has been home to the powerful empires of India. Karnataka has one of the highest numbers of nationally protected monuments in India and is one of the most visited states of India. Some of the important places in Karnataka are Bangalore, Mysore, Sravanbelgola, Hampi, Badami, Bijapur, etc. This state is famous for its food and Bisibele bhath, Uppittu, Benne Dosa, Masala Dosa, Vade, Mysore Pak, etc. are some of the famouse dishes you could enjoy. The important festivals celebrated here are Dussehra, Ugadi, Makara Sankranti, Nagapanchami, Deepavali and Ramzan.

Today you have a full day excursion to Belur & Halebid. Belur was the capital of Hoysala Empire and has one of the finest examples of Hoysala architecture - the Chennakesava Vishnu Temple which was built by king Vishnuvardhana in celebration of his victory over the Cholas in the 12th century. It took 103 years to complete the temple and sculptures include elephants, lions, horses, stories from the Indian legends and dancers. Halebid or Halibeedu meaning the Old City was also known as Dwarasamudra and was the capital of the Hoysala Empire in the 12th century. #In front of the Hoysaleshawara and Kedareshwara temples there is a big lake - Dwara Samudhra which means entrance of the ocean and the city derives its name from this lake. The walls of the temple are covered with depictions of Hindu mythology, animals, birds and dancing damsels. The sculptures of the temple are different from each other and there is a museum in the complex. Even after 86 years of work, the Nandi Bull was incomplete. The nearby Jain temples are also quite beautiful.

You will be transferred by road to Hospet. Hospet is 12 kms from Hampi the former capital of the Vijayanagar Empire which was built by Krishna Deva Raya in 1520 AD. Hampi an UNESCO World Heritage Site, located within the ruins of Vijayanagar was said to be greater than Rome was full of palaces, temples & sculptures. The city was razed to the ground by the Sultanates of South in 1565. The city is full of beautiful ruins which are testimony to a glorious past. The Tungabhadra Dam is another important site which you could visit from Hospet.

Today you have a tour of Hampi. The most interesting ruins are the Virupaksha temple, Vittala temple, Hazara Rama temple complex the elephant stables, the Queen's Bath, Ramachandra temple & Lotus Mahal. The Virupaksha Temple or the Pampapathi temple of Shiva, also houses erotica statues of Bhuvaneshwari and Pampa. The Hazara Rama Temple Complex has about a thousand carvings & inscriptions with the story of Ramayana. It has about 1000 carvings. The Vittala Temple Complex houses a stone chariot and the famous musical pillars.

You will be transferred by road to Badami visiting Aihole and Pattadakal enroute. Aihole, a temple complex was a prominent city of the Chalukya Dynasty. Aihole is the cradle of stone temple architecture of the Dravida School and has about 125 temples, divided into groups. The prominent groups are the Kontigudi and the Galaganatha group of temples. Lad Khan temple is the oldest and dates back to the fifth century. Durga temple is one the best temples of Aihole. Ravana Phadi cave a rock cut temple dates back to the 6th century. The Jyothirlinga Group has two temples which are flat roofed. There are various other groups which are equally interesting. #Pattadakal is a World Heritage site and was the place for Chalukyas Coronation. Pattadakal was the capital of the Chalukya dynasty who constructed the temples between the 7th and 9th centuries. The largest temple - Virupaksha from the 8th Century was built by Queen Lokamahadevi to celebrate her husband's victory over the Pallavas. Sangameshwara Temple was built by the Chalukyan King Vijayaditya Satyashraya. The other well-known temples are Chandrashekhara temple, Mallikarjuna & Kasivisvanatha temples, Galganatha temple, Kadasiddhesvara and Jambulingeswara temples, etc. #Badami earlier known as Vatapi was the capital of Chalukyas from 540 to 757 AD and is known for its red sandstone cave temples. The legend goes that the story is that two demons llvala and Vatapi killed people by magic. They used to invite travelers to their home. Vatapi was converted to a goat and was fed to the guests. After the meal llvala would say "Vatapi, come out" and Vatapi who was in the stomach of the guest would tear it open and come out. Once a great sage Agasthya was fed the same way, but he digested Vatapi and killed llvala.

Your afternoon is at leisure.

Your tour of Badami will take you to the Hindu and Jain temples. Cave temple 1 has a hall with many pillars and a square shaped sanctum with paintings of couples on the ceiling, Shiva and Parvati and Nataraja in 81 poses. In Cave temple 2 Vishnu is shown with one foot on Earth and the other on the sky, and also as Varaha and Krishna. The Cave temple 3 shows the culture and clothing of the 6th century and also carvings of Vishnu Narasimha, Varaha, Harihara and Trivikrama. The Cave temple 4 shows a carving of the Jain Tirthankara Parshavnatha. Continue with the tour visiting Badami Fort and the Malegitti-Shivalaya.

You will be transferred by road to Goa. Goa is a beautiful place to rejuvenate you by spending time in the surrounding of soothing waves of sea and clean sands at the beaches. Goa exhibits a huge influence of the Portuguese from their ruling period and is known for its beautiful beaches, clean blue water, verdant lush green mountains as well as the idyllic lifestyle of this place that completely embraces you. Vasco-da Gama is the largest city of Goa, and Panjim is the capital. Goa is a good place to explore the various beaches or temples and churches and bazaars. You could visit the Ancestral Goa Museum, Chapora Fort, Fort Aguada, The Secretariat, Anjuna Beach, Baga Beach, Candolim Beach and many other popular beaches of Goa along with various other religious places.

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

This morning you will be visiting Old Goa. Visit the Basilica of Bom Jesus built in the 16th century, wherein it is enshrined in an ornate silver casket the body of St.Francis Xavier, the most popular and famous of all churches in Goa. Also visit St Cathedral, the biggest in Goa, Church of St Francis of Assisi, St Cajetan Church, built in the style of St Peter's Basilica in Rome, Church of Lady of Rosary and Nunnery of St. Monica. Even though the place attracts tourists from across the world throughout the year, yet the best recommended time to visit Goa is during the winters when the climate is very pleasant and will boost up your pleasure and enjoyment.

Today you have the afternoon at leisure.

Your full day is at leisure.