South India Tourism: Exploring the Dravidian Culture

Surrounded by three great water bodies, namely, Indian Ocean, Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal South India has stunning grandeur and beauty with lush green tropical vegetation in the coastal areas. The tropical climate is less harsh than in the North India. The place is rich in flora and fauna, biodiversity, habitats and ecosystems. South Indian states are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. These states are very fertile and rich in natural resources. Due to sheer natural beauty of its beaches, hill stations and landscapes South India has become a great destination for tourists. With the hordes of tourists’ inflow, South India Tourism has seen a spectacular growth over last two decades.

Dravidian is the name attributed to a linguistically distinct group of people in South India. Believed to be the first original settlers of ancient India, the group has maintained traditional customs and rites, while with the influence of modernity, some have developed the lifestyles of a modern society.

On South India Tours one can easily detect the uniqueness of culture, language and lifestyles of people. The Dravidian family of languages, namely, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu are distinctly different from the North Indian languages such as Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali and Gujarati. Thanks to their affinity with the old culture, not only South Indians have a distinct language system, their history, literature, architecture, music, spiritual inclination, dress, cuisine and a world view all are way different than those of North Indians.

The history of the South India is believed to have begun with the Sangam age (200 BC-300 AD). The Sangam Age had a number of empires namely Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Cheras, Chalukyans and Vijayanagar. The Cholas who ruled between 300 BC and 1250 AD were the earliest and most famous and perhaps influential among the South Indian dynasties. They were on the eastern Coramandal coast presently in Tamil Nadu. They climaxed between the ninth and thirteenth centuries when they ruled the entire South India, including east and some part of the western coast. They also conquered Ceylon (presently Srilanka), Srivijaya, Malaya and the Maldives islands. With a powerful navy and marine trade and commerce they extended their business to the Far East. Not surprisingly, their art and architecture have left a deep impact in Sumatra and Java islands of Indonesia and in some parts of Malaysia. With any package tour to South India one can visit many Chola style temples scattered throughout the Southern India whose stone inscriptions have helped to reconstruct and decipher the mysteries Indian history.

The Cheras was another ancient powerful dynasty mainly in Tamil Nadu which ruled the South India for most of its early history. They ruled the Malabar coast in Kerala State. The Pandyas were in the south central part. Although these dynasties being obstreperous and hostile to each other remained in a constant conflict with each other, the language, arts and literature prospered in the period. The Vijyanagar Empure (1336-1565 AD) started with resistance to the Muslim invasion of the Hoysala region by Malik Kafur. And only within half a century, the Vijayanagar Kingdom became one of the most powerful empire that ruled for nearly 200 years. Prosperous with strong army and maritime base, they also flourished art and literature. Their Hampi ruins are scattered over an area of 14 square miles regarded as world’s biggest open-air museum. For witnessing the history frozen in stone, do visit Hampi on your South India Tours. They are not only an ancient treasure trove, but also offer much to learn to the scholars of modern art and architecture.

The South India culture had a fascinating aspect in its concept of matriarchal society. One can see even today the celebration of the femininity and motherhood at its best. In literature and philosophy of South India women are considered very powerful. A married woman is considered as well powerful as auspicious. She is regarded as the source of shakti or mother-feminine power which protects and empowers her husband and children.

South India boasts of its own music called Carnatic music. Until 12th century AD, the history of Indian music was the same for entire India. When by influence of Muslims and cultural confluence, the Indian music divided into two systems – the North Indian “Hindustani music” and the South Indian “Carnatic music” Continued to develop without external influences, the Carnatic Music is nearly totally unified with different schools based on the same ragas, same solo instruments, mainly the veena, flute, violin, the mridangam and the ghatam.

The South India has also its own cuisine. The staple food is rice and fish, while coconut forms an important ingredient in virtually all the dishes. The curries tend to be hotter and spicy. Rice is combined in diferent ways and proportions with lentils to make dosas, idlis, vadas and uttapams. Sambhar, rasam, dry and curried vegetable and pachadi are the main preparations. Coffee is popular in Tamil Nadu. The typical traditional meal in is served on a “vazhaillai,” a freshly cut banana leaf. If your are planning a tour to South India, savor the local delicacies which are famous through out the world due to their uniqueness and spices.

Culturally, North India and South India have complimented to each other. While in the South India, the ancient cultural mores are preserved and upheld with utmost endearing care while being at the forefront of knowledge and technology, the North India has contributed immensely by enriching the Indian society by assimilating, accepting and absorbing the outside influences.

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