Places to Visit in Nilakottai

A cool green pocket 2,133 metres up in the Palani Hills, born as an escape from the fevered plains — and grown into Tamil Nadu’s most beloved retreat.

On a rocky hill above Palani stands Murugan as a renunciate — staff in hand, robes cast off — in one of the six sacred abodes of the Tamil war god.

A guide to Dindigul — the rock-fort ‘Lock City’ known for its seeraga-samba biryani, and the district gateway to Kodaikanal, Palani and the Sirumalai hills.

Two well-paced days in the Princess of Hill Stations — lake and town first, then the viewpoint loop out to Pillar Rocks and Guna Caves.

From Gingee, the “Troy of the East”, to the Danish walls of Dansborg — how Tamil Nadu’s hill citadels and coastal castles trace the making of a colonial empire.

Cooler, greener and far less crowded than Ooty or Kodaikanal — a guide to Tamil Nadu’s quieter ranges, from the Kolli Hills’ 70 hairpin bends to sleepy Sirumalai, Yelagiri’s lakes and the wild Jawadhu and Kalrayan plateaux.