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South India includes major states in peninsular India and the two island groups of Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar.

Regions [ edit ]

Cities [ edit ]

There are many cities in South India. Below is a list of the nine most notable. Other cities are listed on their specific regional page.

• Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) The south most city of India with greenery everywhere, it is the capital of Kerala state and famous for various large temples, palaces and beaches.
• Bangalore the Garden City, Pub City, Silicon Valley of India, Land of Silk, Gold, Incense etc.
• Chennai (Madras) Chennai is the City of Temples and the base of Dravidian art culture. It is a major auto hub of Asia producing 2 cars every minute.
• Hyderabad Pearl city of India, and part of Silicon Plateau with Bangalore
• Coimbatore Known as the Manchester of South India for its textile capabilities, it is one of the premium educational hub of South Asia.
• Kochi (Cochin) the Queen of the Arabian Sea, one of the largest port city with a strong air of colonial European cultures and unlimited shopping. It has a variety of cultures to see. The old and new face of Kerala can be easily seen in Kochi.
• Madurai City famous for its Meenakshi Amman Temple, it was among the nominees for the new list of 7 wonders of the world for its architecture. The capital of 3000 years old Pandyan Empire.
• Mysore twin city of Bangalore. Famous for the Royal Palace, Brindavan Gardens
• Pondicherry French Enclave in India. Commonly known as "Peaceful Pondicherry"

Other destinations [ edit ]

• Alappuzha the gateway of Kerala Backwaters with amazing maze of backwaters, lagoons, rivers, canals. Known as Venice of East.
• Kumarakom the celebrated backwater retreat of India famous for its vast lagoons, bird sanctuaries and holiday houses.
• Tirupati
• Kalahasti

Understand [ edit ]

South India differs quite radically from the North, in part because of a lack of inculturation of Islam. South India's languages while belonging to a separate linguistic group, nevertheless influenced a great deal of the sub-continents' culture before the era of Muslim rule. Indeed the well-known Hindu revivers, Shankara, Ramanuja Madhava, all hailed from the south of the Vindhyas.

The ancient history of South India was much attributed to large empires like the Hoysalas, Chalukyas, Gangas, Kadambas, Chola, Pandya and Chera, all hailing from similar roots. Whereas Cholas were more famous through its large empires, cultural monuments and navy which brought much of South East Asia under its domination, the popularity of other houses, Chera and Pandiyas were nevertheless. Cheras ruled much of the modern Kerala was extremely popular through its extensive trading relations with West, particularly Roman and Greek Empires as well as with Egyptians. Pandiyas were renowned for their cultural achievements, concenrated much of Southern Tamil Nadu. Towards early AD Centuries, several other Hindu Dynasties like Chalukyas, Vijayanagar Empire, Pallavas etc scrambled much of the Southern peninsula barring Kerala, which remained under Cheras.

Towards Medieval periods, Vijayanagar Empire became one of the largest empires covering two thirds of South India, particularly Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh with its capital at Hampi. The frequent attacks of Sultans of Delhi and other Northern Muslim states, slowly weakened the great Vijayanagara Empire, disintegrating it, giving raise to several Muslim states modelled on Northern Mughal styles in south. Vijayanagara itself was replaced by the Wadiyars of Mysore as the pre-eminent Hindu kingdom. None of these developments lasted very long, and succumbed rapidly to invading colonial powers.

The growth of Portuguese, Dutch and other European powers, made South India, one of the major bases for European powers to fight for its share, in which British emerged victorious. British started their expansion into India setting up its base in Madras (Chennai) and slowly grew into a major power all over India. Barring a few Kingdoms like Travancore, Kochi, Mysore, Hyderabad and Coorg, most of the south Indian area came under British dominance by end of 19th century.

After Independence, South India remained one of the major economic powerhouse for the nation. Most of the south Indian cities are reputed for various industrial bases. The growth of the IT industry in cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Trivandrum, textiles in Coimbatore, Auto-manufacturing in Chennai, and Tourism and economy in Kerala, have contributed to the success of the South, and has propelled it as the leading region of the country.

Talk [ edit ]

See also: Kannada phrasebook

See also: Malayalam phrasebook

See also: Tamil phrasebook

See also: Telugu phrasebook

One of the major differences between the South and the rest of India are the languages spoken. The four major languages, Kannada (in Karnataka), Malayalam (in Kerala), Tamil (in Tamil Nadu) and Telugu (in Andhra Pradesh) are all Dravidian languages entirely unrelated to the Indo-Aryan languages, such as Hindi, spoken in the rest of the country, though they contain many loan words from Sanskrit. Even the scripts of all four languages, while originally Indic, have diverged quite radically from Devanagari.

As a rule, throughout the South, English is better understood than Hindi. The Tamils, in particular, have resented Delhi's occasional attempts to impose Hindi on them, and many will find it offensive if you try to talk to them in Hindi. Learning a few words of the local lingo, on the other hand, will go down a treat. Outside Tamil Nadu, Hindi is still usable as all educated people will have learnt Hindi in school, though it is not widely spoken in rural areas.

Get in [ edit ]

By plane [ edit ]

South India has more international airports than rest of India with regular connections to almost every corner of the world. Hyderabad Chennai are the major air gateways into southern India, fielding flights from all over the world.Bangalore International Airport,Kochi international airport and Thiruvananthapuram International Airport are other airports after Chennai along with and has regular connections from Middle East and South East Asia as well as popular tourist oriented charters. Other popular options are. Kozhikode Airport, Trichy Airport, Mangalore Airport and Coimbatore Airport.