Sri Lanka and South India: Architecture, Animals, Arts and Ambiance

DAY 01: ARRIVE COLOMBO AND DRIVE TO THE WALLAWWA Accommodation : THE WALLAWWA Meals : NONE Upon arrival at the Bandaranaike International Airport you will be met as a VIP and assisted by our Airport Representative who will hold a board with your name as you exit the aircraft. You need to lookout for a pretty girl in a red or green sari. You can’t miss her, as she will be standing just outside the aero bridge or entrance to the terminal. She will then accompany you through passport control, customs, baggage collection and money changers, all the way to the arrival lounge where our operator will meet you, address any last minute questions you have about the itinerary and introduce you to your chauffeur guide or guide who will be your travel companion and explorer around Sri Lanka. The drive to the Wallawwa takes about 30 minutes. You can check in, unpack your bags and relax. There is a great spa for those interested in relieving the tensions of the flight. DAY 02: DRIVE CULTURAL TRIANGLE AND TOUR SIGIRIYA Accommodation : LAKE LODGE KANDALAMA Meals : BREAKFAST Leaving the hotel, you travel northeast on back roads through small towns and large coconut and pineapple plantations. If you wish, you can stop to enjoy a thambili (king coconut), a popular roadside refreshment in Sri Lanka. Lunch, on your own, is at Saraketta. After lunch, you continue on to the hotel to check in, wash up and explore. About 4PM, when the air is cooler and pleasant, your guide will lead you through ancient pleasure gardens to visit the fortress of Sigiriya, also known as Lion Rock, built on top of a huge boulder in the 5th century. Hieroglyphs from Sigiriya suggest that the site was occupied from very early times, long before its fortress was built from 477- 485 AD. When the citadel ceased to be a palace, it was taken over by monks until 1155 and then abandoned. The palaces and famous frescos more than make up for the steep climb up 600 steps. Before starting the climb, you pass through 5th century water gardens with walks, pavilions, ponds and fountains that are gravity fed, as they were 1500 years ago. At the foot of the climb are the preaching rocks and the natural overhang is known as Cobra Hood. The rock has an inscription from the 2nd century BC and the ceiling is decorated with floral paintings. The first stop on the climb is the Fresco Gallery, painted under an overhanging rock. Of the original 300 or so paintings, artistically on a par with those in Ajanta in western India, only 21 remain. Immediately beyond is the mirror hall, a highly polished rock with verses written between the 7th and 11th century by visitors and pilgrims. Lion Terrace marks the half-way point of the climb and the final stairway takes you to the top of the rock and the ruins of the summer palace. You continue on to the Lake Lodge Kandalama for the night. DAY 03: VISIT POLONNARUWA AND MINNERIYA Accommodation : LAKE LODGE KANDALAMA Meals : BREAKFAST Heading out around 8AM, you will explore more of the Cultural Triangle. Polonnaruwa was the island’s medieval capital between the 11th and 13th centuries. Today the ruins stand as testimony to a lavish phase of building alongside an artificial lake created by the early kings. Within the enclosed walls are palaces, stupas, image houses, monasteries and bathing pools. The kings of Anuradhapura used Polonnaruwa as their residence in 369 BC, and made it their capital city in the 8th century. In 1982 this was designated a world heritage site. Special note is the moonstone over the entrance and the four Buddha statues. The Hatadage, or the house of eight relics, is supposed to have been built in “60 Singhalese hours” – a day in that era. With extraordinary moonstones at its entrance, the Hatdage is also referred to as the Temple of the Tooth. The Sri Lankans believe that Buddha’s tooth may have been housed here for a time. The main attraction of the Northern (Group, and one of the foremost attractions of Sri Lanka is the Gal Vihara or the Cave of the Spirits of Knowledge. It forms a part of Parakrambahu’s monastery, which has a gigantic Buddha seated on a pedestal under a canopy carved out of an 8 meter rock and a 14 meter statue of the recumbent Buddha. There are remarkable shrines here depicting scenes from the Jatakas, the accounts of the previous lives of the Buddha. In the afternoon, you will visit Minneriya National Park, just half an hour from Polonnaruwa. The park covers 8,890 hectares and consists of a mixed forest of evergreen shrubs, a favorite habitat for animals, which include leopards, deer and wild elephants. The parkms main feature is the former reservoir or tank built by King Mahasen in the third century AD. During the dry season from June to September, this is a fantastic place to watch herds of elephants come to graze and bathe. It has recently been discovered that the park witnesses the largest elephant gathering in the world during these months. You can also see huge flocks of birds, including cormorants and painted storks that come to fish in the shallow waters. DAY 04: DRIVE KANDY VIA DAMBULLA AND ENA DE SILVA’S ESTATE. MEET WITH ARTIST Accommodation : STONE HOUSE LODGE Meals : BREAKFAST, LUNCH Today you travel to Kandy known for its mild climate, colonial architecture and amazing Perahera festival that is held here in July/August for 10 Nights. The festival involves a vibrant, colourful procession of sacred Buddhist relics through the streets of Kandy accompanied by dancers, musicians, artists and 100+ elephants. Kandy is also home to the Temple of the Tooth, the most sacred in Sri Lanka. The trip to Kandy takes about 3 hours. En route, you first stop at the Dambulla rock temple, given World Heritage status by UNESCO in 1991. The caves served as the refuge for King Valagambahu when he was in exile for 14 years. When he regained his throne at Anuradhapura in the first century BC, he had a magnificent rock temple built at Dambulla. The paintings and sculptures in the cave are a mix of religious and secular themes. There are several reclining Buddha’s, including a sculpture of the dying Buddha. The frescoes, which decorated the ceilings and walls, date from the 15th to 18th century and show scenes from the life of Buddha as well as Sinhalese history. Cave 2 is the largest, with over 150 statues, illustrating the Mahayana influence on Buddhism through the introduction of Hindu deities such as Vishnu and Ganesh. From Dambulla, your path takes you to Ena de Silva’s private estate. In 1962 40-year-old Ena de Silva moved into the unique courtyard house that architect Geoffrey Bawa had built for her in Colombo, and started to experiment with batik making. Assisted by Laki Senanayake and her son, Anil, she established Ena de Silva Fabrics and went on to produce such masterpieces as the ceiling of Bawa’s Bentota Beach Hotel, and the banners that hang in front of Sri Lanka’s parliament. In 1982, she returned to her ancestral home in the hills above Matale, and founded a women’s cooperative to make batiks and needlework, along with a brass foundry and wood-carving workshop. The cooperative has now existed for more than a quarter century, and continues to make modern fabrics and carvings inspired by traditional Sri Lankan design. After lunch and time to wander the estate and see the crafts, you will continue your drive up to Kandy and check into the Kandy House. About 5PM, a tuk tuk will be at the hotel to take you a short distance away for a sunset or moonrise cup of tea at Rajhu’s house. Rajhu is one of the few wonderful artists living in Kandy, and you can join him for herbal tea or juice. Here you will have the opportunity to paint alongside Rajhu and his daughter Rudrani. Raju’s studio is set on a beautiful hilltop overlooking the surrounding mountains. When you are ready, you will head back down to Kandy and your hotel for the evening. DAY 05: TOUR KANDY Accommodation : STONE HOUSE LODGE Meals : BREAKFAST Kandy was the capital of Sri Lanka and the home of the venerated Kandyan kings who fiercely and successfully defended their kingdom against Portuguese and Dutch invaders for 300 years. It eventually fell to the British in 1815, but the salubrious hill station has maintained its position as an epicenter of Sinhalese culture and the site of an important spiritual pilgrimage for Buddhists. The region’s friendly people still lovingly keep many of the legends, traditions, and folklore alive. You leave the Kandy House at 9am and begin the day with a visit to the Royal Botanical Gardens; first conceived as a -ueen’s pleasure garden in the 14th century. Your guide for this tour will be Bandara Palipana, a professor of botany from Peradeniya University. The gardens were formally opened in their current guise in 1821. Walking around these tranquil, immaculately designed lawns, borders, pavilions and plant houses, you could easily think you are in England but the heat and extraordinary diversity of the tropical plants give the game away. The Botanical Gardens are as popular with Sri Lankans as travellers, are easy to visit on foot, and large enough to guarantee that there is shady seating available for each visitor. You might want to dine at the Empire Café for lunch. Your path next leads to the British Garrison Cemetery. Some might raise an eyebrow at the prospect of visiting a cemetery but this is no ordinary one, and well worth a visit. In the very heart of Kandy lies a 3⁄4 acre plot of land wherein rest many men, women and children, mainly colonial British, cut off from life, many in the flower of their youth, others blossoming into manhood, and with only a bare handful reaching the proverbial three score years and ten. The cemetery was opened in 1822 and closed by Governorms Proclamation in the mid-1870s, except for those with a relation already buried therein. After recent restoration, anyone interested is now more than welcome to visit this slightly bizarre but incredibly insightful reminder of the past. Here you will connect with Kandy in the 19th century. (A small donation for the caretaker is welcome). The adjacent building is the Kandy National Museum, established during Sri Wickrama Rajasingha era and then known as the Palle(Vahala. This pallevahala building was used to deposit the various items of historical value made by the Kandy Art Association, established in 1832, and technicians of Matale district. The building was opened for the public as a museum in 1942, and contains over 5000 objects depicting various historical and cultural events of the Kandyan period from the 17th to the 18th centuries AD. You also have time to enjoy the local market. The afternoon finishes with a cup of tea at -ueens Hotel. Depending on timing, you can return to the hotel for a bit and then, in time for the evening puja, visit Kandy’s Dalada Maligawa, a magnificent shrine, with decorative walls, a golden roof and fine woodwork. Entering the shrine over a moonstone step, you pass a stone depicting the Indian goddess Lakshmi and a wall with frescoes depicting the Buddhist conception of hell. The upper stories house the relic of the tooth, caged behind gilded iron bars. Behind the tooth relic sanctuary is a hall with a number of golden Buddha statues and modern paintings, showing Buddha’s life and the arrival of Buddhism on the island. Religious services (pooja) are held daily at dawn, midday, and in the evening and can be viewed by visitors. The services are accompanied with traditional music and drumming. DAY 06: TEA TRAIN Accommodation : MAS VILLA OR CEYLON TEA TRAILS Meals : BREAKFAST, LUNCH Leaving Kandy around 10am, you head to tea country, catching the train from Peradeniya to Nawalapitiya. The Express train leaves at around 12 Noon, and you want to arrive at Peradeniya Station a little earlier. Your guide will show you around the station and introduce you to the train engineers and the proud station manager. The train ride from Kandy to the heart of Sri Lanka’s Tea Country is one of the most scenic in Asia. As you meander out of Kandy, dense jungle opens into cloud forest with undulating vistas of immaculate tea bush carpets in between. Startling orange minivet birds perch on outrageously vivid spathodia blossoms, hairpin bends cling onto hillsides somewhere between soaring peaks and dramatic ravines, thundering waterfalls tumble and glassy lakes reflect the astonishing scenery. You disembark, and your driver will collect you from the station and take you to the hotel. Here you have two choices – the legendary Tea Trails Hotel or Mas Villa – also lovely. The countryside of the tea country is a dream for walkers. Visitors can wander through farmland and also escape into the forests to in search for botanical species, small mammals and birds. Cycling is another way to explore the region more extensively. DAY 07: TOUR THE AREA Accommodation : MAS VILLA OR CEYLON TEA TRAILS Meals : BREAKFAST, LUNCH (only at Tea Trails), DINNER The eponymous English cuppa might have been somewhat stronger if not for the 1865 coffee blight. Old Ceylon’s up-country coffee plantations were devastated – but not the spirits of the pioneering planters. They threw in a crop of tea and never looked back. Sri Lanka is still the world’s largest exporter of tea and major industry has never looked so good Directly and indirectly, over one million Sri Lankans are employed in the tea industry. A large proportion of the workforce consists of young women, and the minimum working age is twelve. As tea plantations grew in Sri Lanka and demanded extensive labor finding an abundant workforce was a problem for planters. Sinhalese people were reluctant to work in the plantations. Indian Tamils were brought to Sri Lanka at the beginning of the coffee plantations. Immigration of Indian Tamils steadily increased, and by 1855, there were 55,000 new immigrants. By the end of the coffee era, there were some 100,000 in Sri Lanka. Today, as a community, they are still instrumental to the tea industry. Today, depending on where you are staying, you have two options: Option A: Tea Trails Experience – This morning, you can either walk down to the Tea Factory and meet Andrew – a true walking encyclopedia not only of Tea but of the area. For the rest of the morning, he will regale you with stories and you can learn about the processing procedure and how different types of teas are created. The afternoon will be free to bike or walk through the area and talk with people on your own. Along the way, you have beautiful views of Adams Peak in the distance. Option B: Mas Villa Experience – After breakfast, you visit the Rothchild’s tea plantation, one of the oldest in Sri Lanka, where you gain interesting insights into the growth and manufacture of tea - Sri Lankams most famous crop. After visiting the plantation, you stop at a factory, to see how the teas are made and processed. You then head to the town of Nuwara Eliya, where you can have some lunch and then explore the town. You will return to Mas Villa in time for High Tea. DAY 08: DRIVE BACK TO KANDY. DRIVE OR TAKE SEA PLANE TO COLOMBO Accommodation : GALLE LAKE HOTEL Meals : BREAKFAST, DINNER After a hearty breakfast, you have two options. 1. You can either drive all the way back to Colombo (about 5-6 hours) 2. Drive back to Kandy and then take a scenic Sea Plane ride back to Colombo Late this afternoon, you have an exclusive city walk with resident Mark Forbes. Mark takes you right into the birthplace of what is modern day Colombo and its throbbing city pulse. Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri JayawardenapuraKotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo. Colombo is a busy and vibrant city with a mixture of modern life and colonial buildings and ruins and a population of 647,100. Due to its large harbour and its gifts, via the unmissably original Barefoot, to the black runs of the Pettah, Colombo’s teeming, tantalizing pavement bazaar – spices, sharbat, cell-phones, a big smack of South Asia, just under the shadow of its second-tallest building. And if all this character and color is too much, you never have to look far for a shady mango tree to recover under. Tonight, you can dine at The Ministry of Crab. Dharshan Minidasa, in partnership with two of Sri Lanka’s best known faces – cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene – claims to be the best place in the world to sample the renowned Sri Lankan crab. Occupying prime space in the landmark Dutch Hospital complex, the restaurant specializes in serving enourmouns crustaceans that would otherwise be whisked away to more prosperouus consumers in Singapore and Malaysia. DAY 09: DEPARTURE FOR CHENNAI ON SL 121 90720.0845) AND PM TOURING Accommodation : TAJ CONNEMARA Meals : BREAKFAST Very early in the morning, you will be collected and taken to Colombo International Airport at the time organised with your chauffeur guide to fly to Chennai on Sri Lankan #121 (0720/0845). On arrival, you will clear customs and immigration. Leaving the airport, you will be met by your guide holding a sign with your name on it. S/he will transfer you to your hotel to wash up and rest a bit. In the afternoon, you can take a drive to Mahaballipuram. The coastal town of Mamallapuram, as it is called today is famous for its ancient history and stunning collection of rock temples and carvings. Dating from 630 to 668 AD, the Pallava rulers who made the port was also responsible for encouraging artists, resulting in a outstanding collection of cave temples, monolithic shrines shaped as rathas (stone temples and relief sculptured rock panels. Among some of the sites you will stop at Bhagiratha’s Penance often referred to as Arjuna’s Penance, which depicts the descent of the River Ganges. This bas-relief is sculpted over two enormous rock and shows life size figures of animals, gods and saints watching the decent of the holy river from the Himalayas. The amphitheatre of chariot shaped temples, mid 7th century monolithic temples were influenced by Buddhist architecture and imitate granite temples originally made of wood and are among the oldest example of their type. Nearby, the shallow Mandapas (or pillared halls excavated out of the rocky hillside have superbly executed sculptures. These illustrate stories from Indian mythology and show the development of the Dravidian or South Indian temple style. Finally you stop at the piece de resistance of this collection – The Shore Temple. This World Heritage Site is surrounded by gardens laid out according to a design from ancient texts. The Temple is unusual for its shrines dedicated to both Vishnu and Siva. This sandstone temple is the only surviving one of a complex, the rest having been claimed by the sea. DAY 10: CHENNAI TOURING Accommodation : TAJ CONNEMARA Meals : BREAKFAST Chennai was formerly called Madras and is capital city of the Southern state of Tamil Nadu. In the 17th century, Chennai was the economic and political capital of the East India Company, the British trading company which eventually led to the colonization of India. The first British Governor, Elihu Yale, later founded Yale University in the USA. The history of this area goes back to the fourth millennium BC and the local language, Tamil, is the oldest language in India. Today economically Chennai is one of the fastest growing cities in the country attracting investments from both the automobile and the information technology sector. Start today with a walk in the wonderful Theosophical Gardens which the massive banyan tree and is a feast of flowering plants and trees. It also has one of two original saplings from the Buddhist Bodhi Tree (the other one is in Sri Lanka). Then, in the morning you will explore Chennai city. The Fort St. George, a 350-year-old fort with wide battlements is a reminder of the British Empire. Today, the old buildings in the fort house the Tamil Nadu State Government Secretariat and the Legislative Assembly. Within the fort complex, a number of other early buildings still stand, of which St. Maryms Church is the most interesting. The church has many paintings, records and registers, each with a story to tell. The Fort St. George Museum contains some of the most fascinating items belonging to the East India Company and the colonial period. It houses rare weapons, uniforms, coins, costumes, medals and some other artifacts dating back to the British period. The museum also has a valuable collection of documents, letters and declarations, which have been greatly used by the historians. In the afternoon you will be taken on a ‘Walking Tour’ of the George Town area of Chennai. Originally the enclave for weavers who manufactured cloth for the British, this area is today a bustling wholesale market. You will pass through the area showcasing its most important sights, bazaars, and residents. The highlights of the walk include: • The magnificent Indo-Saracenic buildings of the High Court and the General Post Office • Armenian and Coral Merchant Street • Wholesale paper, grain, and textile markets The renowned Kapaleeswarar Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple complex has the traditional market, the tank and Brahmin residential houses. Another ancient and important temple here is the Krishna Parathasarthy Temple, which dates back to the 8th century during the reign of the Pallavas. It is dedicated to Lord Krishna. You will watch the unique “feeding of the Gods”, a unique tradition of preparing food to offer the deities. The food is prepared in private kitchens and served symbolically to the deities each day before being sold as “Prasad” or food blessed by the gods. It is considered very auspicious to eat these offerings. You will spend some time watching the preparation and being given an explanation of this ancient tradition DAY 11: FLY MADURAI AND TOUR Accommodation : TAJ GATEWAY Meals : BREAKFAST This morning, you will be picked up from the hotel and transferred to the airport for a flight to the temple town of Madurai, a city whose history dates back over 2,000 years. Believing that the site of Madurai had been visited by celestial beings, a Pandayan king built a temple, around which grew the town. When it came time to name the town, Lord Shiva came and blessed the people. As he bestowed his blessings, drops of nectar fell from his hair onto the city. Thus was born Madurai - sCity of Nectar.s The temples of Madurai are concrete representations of the mythology of the city and each has its story. Despite a period of Muslim rule and the presence of the British, the city remained untouched by outside influences and today is a center for pilgrims from all over the world. In the afternoon you will be taken on a tour of Madurai – visiting its colourful markets. Madurai is one of south Indiams oldest cities, and has been a centre of learning and pilgrimage for centuries. The town is very colourful which is fun exploring on foot – particularly the market places near the temple. All activity in Madurai is centered around the Sri Meenakshi Temple, a riotously baroque example of Dravidian architecture. Gopurams (are covered from top to bottom with a breathless profusion of multi-colored images of gods and goddesses, animals and mythic figures. Designed in 1560 by Vishwanath Nayak, the present temple was substantially built during the reign of Tirumalai Nayak (1623-55 AD), but its history goes back 2000 years to the time when Madurai was the capital of the Pandya kings. There are four entrances to the temple, which occupies six hectares. It has 12 towers, ranging in height from 45 to 50 metres, and four outer-rim nine-storey towers, the tallest of which is the 50-metre-high southern tower. In the evening, you will visit the Shree Minakshi Temple, named after the daughter of a Pandayan King. Born with three breasts, she was told the third breast would vanish when she met her future husband. The lucky man was Lord Shiva, whom she met on pilgrimage to Mount Kailas. Ever y evening, at 9:30pm, just before temple closing, the image of Shiva is carried to his consortms bedroom for the night, and then returned the next morning. The temple is entered through profusely decorated, massive gopurams, whose sculptures are an encyclopedia of Indian dance. The temple is a busy place with a temple elephant, musicians, a spice and flower market, and pilgrims of all sorts bathing in tanks. In fact, the tanks also have historical significance. About 2,000 years ago, if a scholar wanted to be admitted to the Tamil Academy, his work was floated on a golden plank into the center of the temple tank. If the work floated, he was accepted; if it sank, he was rejected. DAY 12: DAY TRIP TO CHETTINADU Accommodation : TAJ GATEWAY Meals : BREAKFAST, LUNCH Early this morning you may revisit the temple one more time. After breakfast you will be taken on a fulliday excursion to Chettinadu where you visit the lovely traders’ bungalows of Chettinadu (1 1⁄2 hour each way). The Chettinad region at one time represented the wealth of Tamil Nadu. The many villages were once the homes of fabulously wealthy merchant families known as the Chettiars. Today it is an area of mostly deserted magnificent mansions. It was estimated that just one of the Chettiar houses used 300 tones of satinwood and Burma teak in its construction. One of the specialties of these houses is the woodcarving especially on the doors. Traditionally in the jewelry and trading business, Chettiars now own a variety of companies and continue to funnel funds into this remote area. You will visit some of these mansions with your guide, and meet some of the families who have remained in this area. For lunch, you can sample the cuisine of Chettinadu at Visalam. Late in the afternoon, you will return to Madurai. DAY 13: DRIVE THEKADDY. BOAT RIDE IN PERIYAR Accommodation : SHALIMAR SPICE GARDEN Meals : BREAKFAST This morning you will be driven to Thekaddy (4 hours), arriving around noon. Thekaddy is basically a base for visiting Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve, set high in the ranges of the Western Ghats. The park has a picturesque lake at the heart of the sanctuary. Formed with the building of a dam in 1895, this reservoir meanders around the contours of the wooded hills, providing a perennial source of water for the local wildlife. This afternoon, enjoy a boat ride on Lake Periyar, viewing the animals in their natural habitat. Though Periyar is a tiger reserve, tourists come here to view the Indian elephants bathing and playing in the waters by the lake. Apart from elephants, other animals seen in the sanctuary are Gaur, Wild Pigs, Sambar, Barking Deer, Mouse Deer, Dole or Indian Wild Dog and very rarely, a Tiger. DAY 14: THEKADDY. JUNGLE WALK AND SPICE PLANTATION Accommodation : SHALIMAR SPICE GARDEN Meals : BREAKFAST This morning you will head out on a ‘jungle walk’ in the buffer area of Periyar National Park. estates, while listening to bird songs and the murmuring of mountain streams. Make stops along the way to take pictures of the verdant surroundings, and breathe in the fresh mountain air, before continuing to some of the most picturesque vantage points in Kerala. DAY 15: DRIVE TO BACKWATERS AND BOARD HOUSEBOAT Accommodation : HOUSE BOAT Meals : BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER Leaving Thekaddy, you drive to the backwaters and board a houseboat for a tour of the backwaters of Kerala on a kettuvallam,(or rice boat. These boats were used as transport for product along the 2,400 miles of backwaters. With the advent of motorized transport, the kettavallams (fell into disuse. Recently, however, the boats have found a new use as houseboats. You will travel on these kettuvallam (through a shimmering, jade, palm-fringed land, threaded by a silver network of canals, lakes, and estuaries. Life in Kerala is governed by the canals. Children swim before they can walk, newsboys deliver the paper in skiffs, and ferries act as school buses. Along the canals are cottages decorated with hibiscus, women doing their wash, and men discussing politics. Your travel will take you through villages and markets and the craft shops where these marvelous boats are built. At one point on the ride, you can switch into smaller boats to explore some of the narrower canals and waterways. Tonight you can sleep on your very special boat. DAY 16: DOCK AND DRIVE COCHIN Accommodation : THE BRUNTON BOATYARD Meals : BREAKFAST Disembarking in Alleppy, you will pay a visit to the Snake Temple at Manarsala. The original goddess temple in Kerala was a tree in the southwest corner of onems property, selected and treated as sacred. Stones or bricks were placed at the foot of the tree and offerings were made of such things as milk, turmeric, rubbed on the trunk, red powder and garlands. Snakes, which may take shelter in the tree, are believed to represent Her energy, the energy of everything, and are revered. Nagas and Sarpa's both of which mean snake, refer to the snake gods and goddesses that embody the feminine sshaktis or energy. The female Sarpa is called a Yakshi and is believed to be able to appear as a beautiful, sensuous human female. Gifts like food and songs are left at the tree for the Nagas. Eventually the single trees developed into groves to nurture the Nagas, who are believed to protect the family. Little statues of the Nagas, sprinkled with turmeric and sometimes dressed, are seen everywhere. Manarsala is one of the largest Naga Temple compounds. It is presided over by a priestess whose position is inherited. The eldest woman in the family that owns the land becomes a celibate priestess and oracle, dedicated to the worship of the Nagas and guidance of the people. The prior high priestess held office for nearly 60 years. She was well known and loved for helping the poor. In the evening, you will arrive in Cochin. Tonight you will go to the theater. South India has a rich tradition of classical music and art. Kathakali is one of the many dance forms of Kerala. Highly stylized, the presentations use themes derived from the Mahabarata (and the Ramayana, and are a mixture of dance and mime. The performances incorporate elements of both ayurvedic medicine and yoga. The most striking aspect of the dance is the Aharya Abhinaya - the use of costumes, ornaments and facial makeup. All the materials, props and powders are fashioned from natural materials. You will arrive at the theater early to watch the artists apply their makeup and then view a performance of the dances. DAY 17: EXPLORE COCHIN Accommodation : THE BRUNTON BOATYARD Meals : BREAKFAST Today you will tour Cochin. An ancient harbor town, the city reflects the influence of the many foreign traders who visited. You can begin by poking around the spice market, the true gold of Cochin and the south. Next you head to The Jewish Synagogue, one of the oldest in India, is set in the art of the area known as “Jew Town”. The town is famous for its aromatic spice market and shops selling antiques. The story of the Kochi Jews is fascinating. For several centuries there existed two Jewish communities - the “black” Jews who settled in t he area in 587 BC and the “white” Jews who came much later and in larger numbers. Under the patronage of the Dutch and subsequently the British, they became trading agents, learning the local language and serving as an important go between for foreigners trying to establish contacts in the area. The Synagogue belongs to the White Jews. The interior of the Synagogue is decorated with 18th century blue ceramic Cantonese tiles, hand painted and each one different. From here you can walk to the Mattancherry Palace, which was commissioned by the Portuguese for the Raja of Kochi in exchange for trading rights. The palace is two storey’s high and is built in the traditional Kerala style known as “nalukattu” (four buildings around a central courtyard). Made of wood and richly carved, the palace exhibits memorabilia from the Raja of Kochi’s collection, but it is best known for its outstanding murals painted on the walls. Fast fading, one can still see some of these excellent 16th century paintings illustrating episodes from the great Indian epic – The Ramayana. You will have time to explore the Heritage Zone, which with its varied architectural styles highlights Cochin’s history of being occupied by various foreign rulers. In this area, which is protected, is St Francis’ Church, first established by the Portuguese in the 1500s. This is one of the earliest European churches in the country. The simple façade served as the prototype for future churches here. Vasco Da Gama was buried here in 1524 before his body was taken to Portugal 14 years later. You will also visit the Santa Cruz Cathedral which was built in the late 19th century and has impressive murals on its ceiling. The walking tour ends at the Chinese Fishing Nets, which were first erected between 1350 and 1450 indicating trading ties with China. You will time your arrival with the local fishing boats pulling in with their catch for the day. There is a lively auction on the beach and all around are cafes offering to cook your purchase in the local style. DAY 18: FLY MUMBAI AND TRANSFER TO AIRPORT FOR HOMEWARD FLIGHT Accommodation : NONE Meals : BREAKFAST This morning you will be collected from your hotel and transferred to the airport to board your flight to Mumbai. On arrival in Mumbai you will be met. Depending on timing, you can head to a nearby restaurant for some dinner on your own, or transfer directly to the International airport in time to board your flight home.