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SOUTH
INDIA
South India, surrounded by three
oceans, is a region of overwhelming grandeur and pristine beauty. Separated from
north India by the Vindhya mountain range, the south Indian peninsula is doubly
insulated by the Arabian Sea and Eastern Ghats on the east and the Bay of Bengal
and Western Ghats on the west.
As a result, this triangular
volcanic land that was once part of the geologically primeval Gondwanaland,
remained culturally undisturbed for millennia, evolving an aura of poised
tranquillity. The dominant features of
south India are the tropical climate less harsh than the northern States, lush
green tropical vegetation in the coastal areas and the architecture, culture,
languages and lifestyle which had remained essentially Dravidian at the core in
spite of repeated exposures to alien influences.
Since the southern
culture evolved millennia before the modern State borders did, there is a
racial, cultural and linguistic homogeneity here that makes visitors perceive
the four major southern States together simply as 'south India', albeit
mistakenly.
In spite of the seeming similarity, each State has different
scenery, festivals, architecture and subtle cultural variations to offer, each
State in its own right a fascinating tourist destination. Pondicherry
and Lakshadweep are again utterly different from the four traditional States of
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The leitmotif of southern
culture is its tapestry of magnificent temple architecture going back to the 6th
century, the unaltered traditions of food, religion and lifestyle, handicrafts,
heritage of sandalwood, silk, rosewood and brass, and of course the grandeur of
classical dance and music.
This is a land of temples, a land of the
devout, the profusion of jasmine and 'kanakambaram' flowers and the soft beat of
distant drums as yet another festival starts...
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