Chettinad

The Nattukottai Chettiars traded and banked across Burma, Ceylon, Malaya and Vietnam from the nineteenth century, and they built their houses at home in a cluster of around seventy villages around Karaikudi: long mansions on narrow deep plots, entered through a carved teak door into successive courtyards, with Burma teak columns, Italian marble floors, Belgian mirrors, English tiles and Athangudi tiles made locally by hand. Many families left as the overseas businesses ended, and a large number of houses stand empty, some maintained, some sold for their materials, and a few converted to hotels.

What you actually see

• The courtyard mansions - long houses of successive courtyards and teak columns.
• The imported materials - marble, mirrors and tiles brought from Europe and Burma.
• Athangudi tiles - handmade patterned floor tiles still produced locally.
• The empty houses - mansions standing unused across the villages.

When to go

October to March; the region is severely hot from March to June. Mansions open on varying schedules and access often needs arranging through a local guide or hotel.

Honest expectations

Most mansions are private and locked; access depends on caretakers and payment. Many are decaying and some have been stripped for their teak and stone. Villages are spread out and a car is needed.

Nearby

Karaikudi is the centre; Madurai lies northwest.