A small piece of heaven on earth

There are so many beautiful nuggets to visit in India; not just the usual touristy places but so many off the road ones, which only the locals know about.

One such place we recently came across was in Tamil Nadu, a small village with a big name – Sundarapandiapuram.

The place is a hotspot with locals as it figures some of the famous Tamil films. The place shot to fame when Roja was shot there – the agraharam scene. Agraharam is a fast disappearing piece of architecture where a cluster of houses, in two parallel rows with typical olden days courtyard and et al, with a temple right at the end of the two rows.

So you can see an agraharam here in this village and more famous are the long patches of sunflower fields. Sundarapandiapuram is an agricultural village and most of its residents own land. While the farmers are into cultivating rice, onions, corn, coriander and the like, sunflower was added to that list 15 years ago when a sunflower seed company encouraged them to plant a few patches as a trial run. The sunflower seeds are now harvested for making edible sunflower oil.

The small houses, a place where you can eat a traditional but simple south Indian meal and buy savouries, this small village is a blast from the past.

India is indeed like a beautiful and colourful tapestry, with each state adding its own colour and making it unique. Well, ironically, we hope such nugggets remain hidden and do not become tourist hubs because the moment that happens, all the magic is lost.