Ayurveda, Retreats and Temples in South India

15 Day's :
Bangalore - Mysore - Tiruvanamalai - Pondichery - Kumbakonam - Tanjore - Madurai - Periyar - Kumarakom - Alleppey - Cochin

18 Day's :
Chennai - Mahabalipuram - Kanchipuram - Pondichery - Tanjore - Trichy - Karaikudi - Tanjore - Tekkady - Kanyakumari - Varkala - Backwaters - Cochin

This tour will take us to Tamil Nadu as well as Kerala or we will take time for an Ayurvedic treatment at the southern tip of India and retreat near the ashram of Ramana Marharshi in Tiruvanamalai. Tamil literature is one of the oldest in the world. Sanskrit culture is also very old, and in addition, the great temples were much better preserved than in the North. There was much less Muslim invasion, much less destruction. Ashrams are very present in the landscape of Tamil Nadu, there was a strong presence Jain and Buddhist until around 1000, but now Hinduism dominates, with the main branches Shaivism, Vaishnavism and little Tantra. Ramana Maharshi's ashrams of Shri Aurobindo or the Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram are internationally recognized. Hinduism is characterized by pluralism in the unit, which also helps to explain the success of India as the largest democracy in the world. There is a strong traditional Brahmin tradition, but also with forms of more inclusive practices as we can see in the ashram of Swami Ramdas we visit.

Our journeys begin flowing in temples life of Tamil Nadu where brilliant architects thousands of columns that rise to the gods. Gods who impose their history the Tamil people, proud of its heritage of the original India. Between Pallava and Vijayanagar dynasties, this is the time Chola that will seal the heyday of the art of Tamil Nadu through its refined statues and ever more grandiose architecture.