Sleeping in a 100-year-old Chettinad mansion for ₹2,000

Karaikudi's mansions are mostly locked, but ask around Kanadukathan and someone's cousin has keys. We slept under Burmese teak ceilings and ate a Chettinad lunch on a banana leaf that took two hours.

The athangudi tile factories will let you make one yourself. Mine is lopsided and I love it.