Religion, beliefs and spirituality have been a part of our society since times immemorial. When it comes to the diversified land of India, a Hindu temple can be spotted at almost every nook and corner. But south India temple tour – comprising states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Pondicherry – showcases a unique aspect of religion and spirituality. Ancient Hindu temples in south India are favourite of all the religious minded people, art lovers and history buffs.
Background
Most of these temples were built during the reign of Cholas, Chalukyas, Nayakas, Pallavas, Kakatiyas and Vijayanagar rulers. The true culture and rich heritage of south India is depicted beautifully in these ancient architectural wonders. There are countless temples dotted all over south India that are a must visit after enjoying the natural diversity of peninsular India.
Being designed by different dynasties, each temple showcases a distinct architectural style. Dynasties like Pallavas and Cholas were known for their extraordinary sense for creative arts and they designed these superb temples to promote Dravidian architecture.
Andhra Pradesh has temples like Tirupati Venkateswara and Kalahasteeswara that date back to the pre-Christian times. Moreover, Alampur Bhrama temples are the excellent examples of the Chalukya art that were built in the 6th century.
Temples in Karnataka seem to be inspired from Hoysala architectural style. Elaborate sculptures, rock cut cave temples and many such attractions in Karnataka have become synonymous with peace and serenity.
Tamil Nadu – the land of temples – is popular for its religious traditions. All the native people also follow these traditions strictly. Tamil rulers like Pallavas, Cholas and Pandyas are considered as the greatest of temple builders.
Kerala temples are totally distinct in terms of structure, rituals, tradition, offerings, festivals and customs. Most of the temples here are connected with great epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata. The day starts with prayer and offering in the temple.
Pondicherry is popular for its temples as well as churches. Almost all the ancient churches in Pondicherry are oriental examples of Gothic splendor.
This way, most of the south Indian temples are built in Dravidian architectural style. One can notice beautiful and elaborate carvings and paintings on the walls and ceilings.
is specially designed for religious minded tourists who visit India for true peace and relaxation. showcase the marvelous examples of Dravidian architecture. Book a south India temple tour today and treat your senses with the pleasant & heavenly ambiance.
As people in general become more stressed in a society that focuses so much on being financially successful, the option of opting out of it all becomes highly desirable. Just using the imagination of putting oneself on to an island with sunshine, sea breezes, tropical palms swinging in the gentle zephyrs aloft – all conjours up a scene so inviting and desirable that people are prepared to knuckle down to the demands of the system we live in and work hard to achieve things that otherwise would not be possible. So when one is getting married, a tropical honeymoon destination in the South Pacific is grabbed with both hands.
There are not many people who would not agree that this would represent a dream honeymoon, but due to the constraints of finance, it is not always possible to live the dream or to make it a reality. However there are many locations where it does not cost a fortune to have an amazing holiday – little chalets inland which are surrounded by lush tropical planting may not be the absolute beachfront location, but are often very close to the beach, and still provide a getaway which is what a honeymoon is all about. These often have very interesting aspects which make holidays in them very appealing as a tropical honeymoon destination in the South Pacific.
While there are many islands in the Pacific, most people tend to stick to the more well known ones such as Fiji, The Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga – especially the outer islands in the northern group of Vava’u which have amazing beauty and are very unpopulated and unspoiled with clear waters of deep turquoise and where a vacation on either on a skippered or bareboat yacht is offered, not a sound to be heard when cruising under a sail into a sheltered anchorage. Truly a tropical honeymoon destination in the South Pacific that becomes amazingly appealing to those who are boat lovers and enjoy cruising.
Of course the islands do also provide a standard which is now becoming increasingly popular in latter years and that is 5 star accommodation. This is a market that is steadily growing and which people are more than happy to save up for so they can enjoy a special location for a special occasion. There are 5 star resorts in all of the main centres in the Pacific region. Increasingly popular are the self contained small boutique villa properties where a hotel standard of service is offered, but guests have the option of using not only the lagoon as their swimming spot, but also a private swimming pool in their own villa courtyard. This provides a real getaway situation for couples wanting to escape the masses when on holiday. What could provide a better option for a tropical honeymoon destination in the South Pacific paradises?
Carolyn has been the Marketing Manager for initially Reflections On Rarotonga and then more recently for Rumours . Carolyn has 10 years experience in the marketing sector for 5 star accommodation and as the position has been a full time one over the 10 years, has worked through significant changes in the methods of marketing that have become more effective in an ever changing world.
Carolyn was born in New Zealand but has lived for the last 9 years in the Cook Islands and the blend of travelling between New Zealand and the Cook Islands has given valuable assistance to marketing trends and being able to implement these in the 5 star markets. She has travelled extensively through the USA, Europe and more recently Indonesia, which has also been of significant assistance in gaining marketing experience when staying in similar 5 star properties to the one she is marketing.
Perhaps it’s because there’s a close cultural connection between great music and smoky bars. Anyone who knows anything about jazz knows that its truly legendary improvisers – Coltrane, Bird, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie – cut their teeth playing in bars so smoky that it’s a good thing everybody was too busy improvising to need sheet music.
Or maybe it’s because both cigars and music are contemplative pleasures. A casual smoker can get a quick tobacco-fix from a cheap cigarette, just as a casual music listener can enjoy the background hum of pop songs on the car radio. But to really enjoy a great performance, or a good tobacco, sitting still and paying attention are necessary.
In any case, music and cigar smoking seem to belong together, and some of the most famous musicians are (or were) cigar devotees – just as, it turns out, one of the most famous of cigar devotees is also a musician. Avo Uvezian, the maker of Avo cigars, is also a respected classical and jazz pianist, a Julliard graduate, and even the one-time official pianist of the Shah of Iran. After a successful musical career based first in his native Middle East, and then in the contiguous United States, Uvezian moved in the 1980s to Puerto Rico, where he opened a restaurant and bar and dabbled in cigarmaking. After customers at his Puerto Rico restaurant told him how much they enjoyed some cigars he’d had rolled himself, from a blend of tobaccos he hand-picked, he opened his own Dominican Republic-based cigar factory, working with noted cigar maker Hendrik Kelner. Now his company makes three million cigars a year, and Uvezian himself still makes music – his first CD, Legacy, was released in 2004.
For another example, consider the great trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who smokes, by his own estimation, four or five cigars a day. Music allowed the Cuban-born Sandoval to rise to fame in his native Cuba – and to defect from that country in 1990, during a long stint playing concerts in Europe (he now lives in Florida). Sandoval has played the horn for Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, Gloria Estefan and Johnny Mathis, Michel Legrand and Frank Sinatra. His technically flawless playing has resulted in his being the kind of musician whose work is often known by people who couldn’t name him – he is brought in as a session musician by some of the world’s finest and best-known (see above), and he often scores movie soundtracks. As his work with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Leningrad Philharmonic prove, he’s even proved able to handle the rigors of classical music as well as jazz – sometimes doing both in the same concert.
The cigar-music connection is especially strong in Cuba, known as one of the world’s cigar capitals. Both cigars and music are staples of island life (the cigar remains one of the island’s most prominent exports), and the strength of both in Cuban culture depends partly on the nimble and intelligent blending of elements from everywhere – wrappers and fillers from different parts of Latin America, rhythms and melodies from the African coast, South America, US pop, Western European classical, etc. In other words, Cuban cigarmaking and Cuban music have both survived, and flourished, by mixing and melding.
For generations, cigar rollers were entertained by the sound of paid musicians or by music from the radio. (This tradition continues even now in the Dominican Republic, where workers at the Arturo Fuente factory, among other places, are treated to the work of performing musicians.) With this tradition in place, it’s no wonder that some of Cuba’s music legends got their start as cigar-factory entertainers; and since tobacco smoking has been a part of Latin American life far longer than it has in some other places – Columbus’s sailors noted it being smoked in what is now modern Cuba in the year 1493, so there’s many more centuries of lore to draw on its psychological and emotional associations are deeper and richer, providing better material for songwriters to mine. Thus famous Cuban songwriter Beny More, himself a former entertainer for the cigar-factory workers, touches on the song in a number of his classic compositions.
provides you the opportunity to build your own sampler of the finest cigars that include cigar brands like Montecristo, Romeo & Julieta, H Upmann, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Gurkha and many more. Choose from more than 1200 different cigars! Other cigar products include cigar humidors, cigar boxes, and cigar accessories like Zippo Lighters.
Dubai has a fantastic assortment of international-standard restaurants catering to all budgets and tastes. With a large expatriate community from the Sub Continent, it’s little wonder there are some truly world-class Indian restaurants among the top-billings.
As Dubai is a Muslim city, many restaurants, especially at the cheaper end of the market, are not licensed to serve alcohol. In contrast, restaurants in tourist and business hotels almost always serve alcohol.
The restaurants below have been classified into three pricing categories: Expensive (over Dh500) Moderate (Dh150 to Dh500) Cheap (under Dh150) These prices are for a three-course meal for one with a bottle of house wine or equivalent, including tax.
Sales tax at 10% is added to all bills. Service charges at 10 to 15% are also frequently added but, if they are not, a 10% tip is expected. Expensive Al Mahara Making a fair stab at being the most expensive restaurant in Dubai, the Al Mahara often divides local opinion. Some say it is overpriced for what you get, but others swear by it, especially if someone else is paying. The experience begins with a three-minute mock submarine ride to the restaurant, located alongside a giant aquarium. This puts diners in the mood for savouring the high-quality seafood that has won the restaurant numerous awards, including the What’s On category for Best Seafood Restaurant in 2008.
Burj Al Arab Hotel, Jumeirah Beach Tel: (04) 301 7600. Website: www.burj-al-arab.com Al Muntaha Al Muntaha, meaning ‘The Ultimate’ or ‘The Top’, in Arabic, has the best location in Dubai, suspended 200m (656ft) above the Arabian Gulf, at the top of the Burj Al Arab hotel. Service is immaculate and the slanted glass windows give the restaurant the feel of a great ocean liner heading out to sea. Al Muntaha also delivers on the plate: try the roasted prime beef rib with mustard crust. Reaching the restaurant in one of the world’s fastest panoramic elevators is almost – but not quite – enough to put you off your dinner.
Burj Al Arab Hotel, Jumeirah Beach Tel: (04) 301 7600. Website: www.burj-al-arab.com La Baie This fine dining restaurant would not be out of place in a major European capital, with its mellow piano music, unfaltering service and elegant table settings. One of the most exotic starters is the marinated sturgeon carpaccio with caviar and yoghurt sauce, while a highlight among the mains (and rumoured to be the chef’s favourite) is the grilled hammour fish on a bed of green lentils.
Ritz Carlton Dubai, Jumeirah Beach Tel: (04) 399 4000. Website: www.ritzcarlton.com Verre Gordon Ramsay’s Dubai venture has proved a resounding success and is firmly established as the best place to eat in Dubai. The minimalist décor might not suit all tastes but the simple surrounds and the well thought-out lighting help focus deserved attention on the food. A nice touch is the chef’s specialities – tasty morsels of food that come between the impressive courses. Mains include ravioli of lobster, salmon with a fricassee of peas and horseradish or poached chicken on a bed of tagliatelle. The desserts are divine. The three-course lunch specials offer excellent value.
Hilton Dubai Creek, Beniyas Road Tel: (04) 212 7551. Website: www.gordonramsay.com/dubai Moderate Café Chic Top quality ingredients, smooth service and a menu that cuts deftly between the classics and some daring variations make this is a top dining choice. Relax afterwards in the cigar bar for supreme decadence.
Le Méridien Hotel, Garhoud Tel: (04) 217 0000. Website: www.dubai.lemeridien.com India Palace The emphasis at this popular restaurant is on Rajasthani cooking backed up by themed décor and artefacts shipped in from the region. The open kitchen is a nice touch, as are the family booths upstairs, with privacy available at no extra charge. The excellent-value menu features starters such as lentil soup and prawn bisque with fresh vegetables, while mains include chicken and vegetarian kebabs and a range of delicately spiced curries. Alcohol is not available but the lassis (yogurt-based drink) are excellent, especially the unusual lassi seasoned with salt.
Opposite Dubai Marine Hotel, Bur Dubai Tel: (04) 286 9600. Pierchic Seafood-loving trendies are flocking to Pierchic, in the glamorous Madinat Jumeirah development, the place to be in Dubai at the moment. Located on a wooden pier, with views of the expansive Arabian Gulf, the venue is perfect for trying some local and international seafood dishes. Mains include the likes of poached Atlantic lobster with snow peas, enoki mushrooms and passion fruit dressing, or Arabian chilled seafood platter laced with Iranian caviar.
Al Qasr Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah Tel: (04) 366 6730. Website: www.madinatjumeirah.com Cheap Cactus Jacks It may never win any culinary awards but Cactus Jacks seldom disappoints a hungry stomach. A Mexican theme for the décor includes Aztec fabrics and bright designs, as well as multicolour tiled pillars. The restaurant has a live DJ at weekends and things can turn quite wild after 2300, when the spicy Tex Mex food and the tequila kick in. Parties of eight diners or more receive a 30% discount on their bill.
Millennium Airport Hotel, Al Garhoud Tel: (04) 282 3464. Website: www.millenniumhotels.com Deira City Centre Food Court Of the many food courts that are dotted all around Dubai, this is one of the most popular. On is the full smorgasbord of international foods, with the only unifying feature being that all the stands are cheap. The most popular stands serve up simple Chinese and Indian specialities accompanied by boiled rice. They also have a play area for kids.
Deira City Centre Mall, Deira Tel: (04) 295 1010. Thattukada The excellent South Indian restaurant at the Palm Beach Rotana Inn serves great-value food. Diners sit on long, wooden benches and are surrounded by film posters on the walls. The Kerala-influenced dishes include kappa erachi (tapioca and chicken curry) and karimeem porichathu (fish fry) and are guaranteed to fill diners up without breaking the bank.
