South India essentially refers to the states of Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry (now Puducherry) also form an innate part of the southern part of the nation.
The regional languages namely Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam are the most wide-spread in this region, with English and Hindi spoken by a rare few, especially in the rural and sub-urban regions. Even Urdu is used in some parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telagana.
Geography
South India predominantly comprises of a large plateau region popularly known as the Deccan Plateau. This part of the nation is surrounded by water on three sides, thus gaining the state of a peninsular are. The three sides bounded by water have the Arabian Sea on the west, Bay of Bengal on the south, and the Indian Ocean on the south of it. Both the east coasts and west coasts are lined with beautiful mountain ranges, also known as the Ghats. The region beams with some of the most important rivers of the nation, namely, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri, which are non-perennial yet act as the significant source of water for the region.
Ethnicity
The southern part of India is inhabited majorly by the Dravidians and Brahmins. Though, it is the Catholics that are found in large majority in the state of Kerala. The states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh also have a fairly large Muslim population.
Cuisine
Rice forms the staple diet across the 5 major states of southern India, other elements that dominate the typical south Indian cuisine include spices, curry leaves, dried red and fresh green chillies, coconut and tamarind along with lentils. Delicacies such as Idly-Sāmbhar, Medu Wada, Dosa and rice meals form the major chunk of the regular diet, however the range of spiciness usually differs from state to state. However, Hyderabad is fairly distinct in terms of the food preferences, and dum-biryani and other chicken and sea-food based dishes usually dominate over the vegetarian cuisine.
Culture
South Indian Culture is fairly more orthodox than the other parts of the nation, and the difference is quite evident in almost everything right from the dressing sense, the food to architecture and reflects in almost every aspect of the natives’ lifestyle. The culture essentially celebrates the beauty of the surrounding world through various forms of art, along with quite a few customs that hold symbolic significance.
The women in South India traditionally wear sarees while men don a sarong like dhoti, or lungi. Both of these ensembles are unstitched, and are such because of the belief that the naval should be left uncovered at all times, though this is rarely strictly followed.
Climate
The summer in South India prevail from the month of March to that of June, and is dominated by soaring temperatures of up to 32 °C, with humidity also seeing a high. Some regions of the southern peninsula also witness moderate rainfalls during this time of the year. The monsoon usually kick-start by Mid-June, and stays around till September. While one can expect some respite from the heat, the humidity levels are still high, and some regions are hit by torrential downpours, which makes it extremely difficult to initiate any plans of travel in this season. The winters, however, offer great relief, with little rainfall and moderate temperature of around 20-25°C. Beginning from the month of October, this season usually lasts till February.
Places worth visiting
The metro-cities of Bangalore and Chennai are worth visiting, however hill stations like, Coorg, Coimbatore, Ooty and Munnar form the major preferences of all travellers. Kovalam, Allepy and Kochi in Kerala is also frequented by travellers from all across the globe. Those religiously inclined may like to visit Tirupati, where the prominent temple of Lord Balaji is situated.
