Six temples that bend time in South India

Meenakshi (Madurai)

Madurai is South India's oldest continuously-inhabited city and the spiritual epicentre of Tamil Nadu. The Meenakshi Amman Temple — fourteen gopurams covered in 33,000 painted figures — is one of the visually densest religious complexes…

Brihadeeswarar (Thanjavur)

Thanjavur is a crucible of Chola grandiosity and rice‑bowl monotony, best tackled with two full days and a willingness to tolerate the constant backdrop of irrigated paddies. The non‑negotiable is the Brihadisvara Temple on the east bank…

Ranganathaswamy (Srirangam)

A Funky India editor's pick for “Six temples that bend time in South India”.

Shore Temple (Mahabalipuram)

A Funky India editor's pick for “Six temples that bend time in South India”.

Virupaksha (Hampi)

Hampi is the most surreal landscape in India — a UNESCO-listed boulder desert scattered with the ruins of Vijayanagara, the 14th-century capital that was once the second-richest city in the world after Beijing. Cycle or hire a scooter to…

Padmanabhaswamy (Trivandrum)

Trivandrum is the polite, over‑engineered capital that pretends to be a beach town while its soul is buried in bureaucracy and a surprisingly lively tech corridor. Land at the international airport, hop a short auto‑rickshaw to the…