5 days before Chennai wedding

Hello, I will be flying into Chennai for a wedding, but have 5 days before to travel. We will be going to Mahabalipuram with the wedding party, so do not want to include that in the 5 days. I thought about going from Chennai to Pondy to Tanjore to Trichy to Madurai and then fly back to Chennai. This seems like too much driving for such a short time. What is the best way to spend the days? I want to see and feel as much of the culture as possible. Besides temples and street life, I would love to hear music and see dancing. I will be there in early December. I also have 2 days after the wedding. Thank you to everyone who can help.

There will plenty of that in Chennai itself.

It's actually doable in five days but given your circumstances (2 days possible later) and the condition of the Pondicherry - Myladathurai section that leads to Tanjore, I would not recommend it. Also only five days for all these places would mean you do no justice to even a single one of them. I'm recommending the following order:

Day 1 - leave early morning from Chennai via the GST road and reach Trichy by afternoon. Spend the afternoon relaxing and then at night, visit the Rockfort temple. It's quite relaxing and there's plenty to see inside (a rock cut temple dating back partly to the pandya era and later built by Cholas, naikars, the nawab of Arcot and the british.

Day 2 - early morning get to Srirangam and spend a half day there. While this may seem a lot, in reality you need atleast 3 hours or more just to see all parts of the temple. If possible, fit Jambukareswar the same morning (it closes by 1 pm and then reopens at after 4 pm). It's well worth the time (sculpturally) and requires an hour and a half. Then leave for Tanjore directly. You will be in Tanjore by 4 pm. If you're not too tired from the drive, visit Brihadeeswarar post sunset. It will be a lot of temple hopping for the day but since these are the highlights, I cant think of any other way.

Day 3 - Repeat brihadeeswarar in the morning for the details overlooked the previous evening. IF you break it up in two visits, an hour + each time should suffice. The challenge with visiting large temples in the Cauvery delta is the stones heat up by 10:00 or anytime later making good photography difficult. The evenings are out of question as it would be under artificial light and capturing the same details using flash is very tough - atleast I havent found a work-around yet. Then, same morning get to the Tanjore palace. You would be done by around 1 pm (the innermost part of the palace that houses the superb chola bronzes closes between 1-3:00 pm). Drive to Kumbakonam. If you have energy left, visit Adhi kumbheswarar / Ramar.

Day 4- Kumbakonam temples especially Dharasuram. Evening can be at Gangaikondacholapuram.

Day 5- Visit Swamimalai in the morning to visit the bronze works, then return from Kumbakonam.

Option two:
Subsitute the time in Day 3 late afternoon by leaving for Madurai and spending Day 4 and day5 there before getting back to Chennai. I would have recommended flipping over your itinerary by going to Tanjore first but the condition of the Panruti - kumbakonam stretch doesnt make for a good trade off there. So your route then becomes Chennai - Trichy - Tanjore - Trichy - Madurai-Chennai.

Srirangam temple complex in Trichy is quite remarkable for viewing street life, how the brahmin children are tutored in the vedas, several residents first take a ritual bath in the kollidam river and only then visit the temple. It's a fascinating place. Regarding music and dancing, it's better to visit places where it's well organized - Nick can clue you in further, he's a regular at the Carnatic music scene in Chennai.

Use this time to drive to Pondicherry (if possible from Mahabalipuram) and unwind. The road is good and its a short drive. You may visit Auroville as well.

Hope this helps!

Whilst the "December Season" formally starts at mid-December (following the Tamil month) it spreads more and more each year. Add to that the fact that not too many days in Chennai pass without any classical music at all. The entire time could be spent in Chennai at concerts! There will be more music than dance: the Season accent on Dance starts after Christmas.

Vaibhav_Arora - Thank you so much. This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping for.
Nick -H - How can I find out what music is where?

As another option, what about if we went to Kerala? It seems like that would be a completely different kind of trip and not sure if I would feel like I was missing things by being on a houseboat.

I really appreciate your opinions. Thanks, Georgia

There are various sites that carry listings: I think I have posted details on other threads. As search for music chenai, or carnatic music chennai, etc should find it.

On a day-to-day basis, however, you buy The Hindu newspaper every morning. You will find the music listings on or about p.4. You can spend breakfast planning your concert going

Going to Kerala? That's something I'm always in favour of . You will see a different side of India in more than just the east-west sense! Green, lush and beautiful. However, the travelling is going to take a chunk out of your time.

+1 for this - and at the same time, you'd do no justice to Kerala if you have only 5 days ex-Chennai even if you fly both ways. On the other hand, the places you've listed above you may not want to come back to if your base in India on a subsequent trip is going to be anywhere other than Chennai.

Kerala is wonderful but would be better on another, longer trip with at least a week to spare ex-trivandrum / Cochin.