DESTINATIONS ASIA | INDIA
GETTING THERE
British Airways has direct flights from Heathrow to Chennai, which is the closest large city to Chettinad. From Chennai, IndiGo flies to Tiruchirappalli, and Kanadukathan is a further 1.5 hours by road. Alternatively, travel by train from Chennai to Chettinad station, which takes six to nine hours. From Chettinad station, it’s a 10-minute drive to Kanadukathan.
top tipop tip
Thirumayam Fort is a dramatic 17th-century hilltop fort offering panoramic views, especially at sunset
BOOK IT
The Lotus Palace Chettinad has rooms ranging from The Den, starting at £167 plus taxes per night, to The Lotus Suite, from £325 per night.
theparkhotels.com
Travelpack offers a Flavours of South India: A Culinary Odyssey private guided tour from £3,259 per person for 14 nights, based on two sharing, travelling on May 4. It includes two nights at The Lotus Palace Chettinad, plus stays in Chennai, Puducherry, Madurai, Periyar, Alleppey and Cochin, with flights from Heathrow, guided tours, Tamil cooking class, cooking demonstrations and street-food sampling, plus a visit to Chettinad’s historic mansions, temples and tile workshop.
travelpack.com
44 19 FEBRUARY 2026
trove of artefacts and household items salvaged from the Chettiar mansions. I resist the larger decorative pieces and instead pick up a couple of charming vintage photographs and some Czechoslovakian enamelware, once imported by wealthy families. Next is a visit to Athangudi’s workshops, where the region’s famous hand-pressed tiles are still made using traditional methods. We watch as craftspeople place moulds onto glass plates before pouring liquid cement coloured with oxide pigment into the intricate designs. These are compressed, cured in water for several days then air- dried. The result is the smooth, cool tiles that have long been used to clad the floors of Chettinad’s homes. More traditional techniques
are on show at Venkatramani Thari, a textile manufacturer in Kanadukathan, where we see cotton sarees and fabrics being woven on hand-operated looms. These are sold from the adjoining shop, which helps support local artisans and preserve age-old weaving techniques.
SPICE OF LIFE Chettinad cuisine is known as one of the spiciest and most aromatic in India and this is on full display at the hotel’s restaurant, christened 86 Pillars in homage to the number of hefty supports throughout the building. We sit down to a feast known as Raja Virundhu, which translates as ‘meal fit for a king’. No fewer than 21 dishes, ranging from aubergine chutney brinjal thokku to chicken and fish curries, fish fry and mutton sukka, a goat meat dish roasted with spices, are served on a glossy banana leaf. We eat with our fingers, scooping up the sauce- based dishes with rice and crispy appalam, similar to poppadoms. More tasty treats await beyond the hotel as we swing out to roadside tea shop Chittal Chettinad Mess to sip sweet ginger chai and sample vegetarian bhaji, fried alfresco in searing-hot pans of oil. Also on the menu is paper-thin dosai, a savoury crepe made from a fermented batter of rice and ground black gram flour, served with coconut chutney and spicy sambar. The culinary journey continues at
Soundaram’s Chettinad Sweets and Snacks, a local business famous for its handmade treats. Skilled artisans deftly roll, press and shape a soft dough made from rice flour, lentils, sesame seeds, jaggery (an unrefined sugar made from sugarcane juice or palm sap) and local spices, into a range of delicate shapes, which are then fried in large, heavy-bottomed woks. We head back to the hotel for high tea in The Red Room, a glamorous private lounge exclusively for hotel guests, where we learn to mix a strong, sweet, milky coffee poured back and forth from a height between a steel tumbler and a saucer known as a dabarah, which creates a rich froth while cooling it to a perfect temperature. The mix of age-old traditions and modern-day comforts, local crafts and global influences, all in the heritage-filled surroundings of a restored mansion, unfold to make Chettinad one of the country’s most extraordinary regions, worth recommending for repeat visitors in search of a unique India experience.
TW
travelweekly.co.uk
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Hindu temple in Karaikudi; a Chettinad mansion in Athangudi; The Lotus Palace Chettinad;
traditional Tamil Nadu cuisine PICTURES: Shutterstock/Mannivannan T, Steve Allen; Claudia Baillie
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