South Indian tiffin has so many specials but kanna!!! the SUPERSTAR OF SOUTH INDIAN TIFFIN IS DOSA.
• Plain Dosa
• Masala Dosa
•Mysore masala dosa
• Kal Dosai
• Ghee Roast
• Paper Dosa
• Adai Dosa
• Rava Dosa
• Ragi Dosa
• Madurai Kari Dosai
• Podi Dosai
• Egg Dosai
• Onion Dosa
• Set Dosa
• Wheat Dosa
• Coconut Dosa
• Paneer Dosa
South India - divided by states but united by dosa.
Dear readers,
If I had forgotten any dosa please feel free to comment
Here’s a quick (and slightly nostalgic) tour of what we usually have at home 👇
The king of Kerala breakfasts.
We usually have this with kadala curry (black chickpeas) or sometimes green lentil curry.
If we run out of curry, no problem — we Mallus are resourceful. Just grab a banana, or a pappadam, and you’re sorted.
If you like a non-veg twist, it pairs beautifully with fish curry, chicken curry, or beef curry.
👉 My favourite combo: puttu with molakitta meen curry (spicy fish curry) — or just with pappadam when nothing else is available!
Made from fermented rice dough. When kallu (toddy) is used for fermentation, it becomes kallappam.
We eat it with all the gravies mentioned above, plus chicken stew or vegetable stew (usually made with potatoes and coconut milk).
👉 My go-to combo: vellappam with kadala curry or molakitta meen curry. I will soak the appam by pouring the curry over it and leave it for a minute.
Ah, childhood memories!
A simple rice porridge (kanji) served with payaru upperi/thoran (green gram stir fry) and chutta pappadam (roasted pappadam).
Sometimes, we add coconut chutney or mango chammanthi on the side
Back in the day, we didn’t even bother with spoons. We used jackfruit leaves folded into a makeshift spoon. 😄
Not going deep into these, since most people already know them. But yes, they’re part of our regular breakfasts too.
Another rice-based dish. Usually eaten with vegetable stew, but honestly, it tastes amazing with fish curry, chicken curry, egg curry, or kadala curry.
Our go-to breakfast when groceries are low or we just want something quick.
I used to hate it as a kid, but now I actually enjoy it!
It’s great with banana, pappadam, or pickle.
After marriage, I discovered some gems from the Malabar region — and they’re now part of my favorites too!
Made from rice, these are very thin and soft — I can easily eat 10 in one go 😅
Usually served with fish curry or chicken curry, but my top pick is fish curry all the way!
This one’s thick and full of flavour. The dough is made from rice flour, grated coconut, shallots, curry leaves, and green chilies — coconut is a must!
It goes well with any curry, but honestly, I love eating it just as it is, for that rich coconut taste.
Also, a special mention for the Tamil Nadu-style kichadi — with vegetables and a bit of ghee magic. I actually make that for my family now. Adulting, huh? 😅
Kerala breakfasts are not just about filling your stomach — they’re about starting the day right.
Each dish has its own story, its own memory, and that unique “amma’s touch” that no restaurant can ever replicate. ❤️
PC: All photos taken from the internet.
Many of them are aware of the SUN konark temple in ODISSA that is a famous Chariot temple as well as a temple for calculating the time.
But in South there is temple called AIRAVATESHWARA temple in DARASURAM near Kumbakonam, built by the great Cholas .This temple is known for its stunning architecture and is one of the UNESCO world heritage sites in INDIA.This famous temple stands as a architectural marvel among the great CHOLA living temples in TAMIL NADU.
Yes,this temple which was built by the chola dynasty is a Chariot temple and a temple for time.Built by Raja Raja Chola in 12th century.
A wheel which can be used for calculating time.
Legend of the temple:
Here ,Lord shiva is worshipped by Airavata , the white elephant of the King of the Devars, Deva Indra.The King of Death, Yama also worshipped Lord Shiva here.
The Airavatesvara Shiva temple has a water tank. This tank has a connected channel that brings in Cauveri River water where devotees gather annually to take a dip. The mythology narrates how Airavata, or Indra's white elephant wich was cursed by Sage Durvasa(a sage whose power increases as he bestows curses)was restored with clean, white skin after he took a dip in this tank. This legend is carved in stone in the inner shrine, and this Indra's elephant gives this temple its name.
This temple is built in the shape of a chariot having wheels(these wheels act as a clock) and there are 24 spokes on these wheels denoting 24 hours in a day and using the science behind this wheels one can find the time of the day.
Yaali -A mystic animal that is portrayed in many South Indian temples
Not only that this temples has many sculptures telling about the stories of ancient times .This temple is known for the 3D sculptures which gives a different perspective for viewers.
See in this above scuplture, you can see both bull and a elephant having same head but the prespective to all.
A women having one head but three differnt body postures.
Though this temple is small than the other Chola temples,this temple has more scuptures of intricate designs.The Vijayanagara empire and the Pandyas are known for the building up of musical pillars but the cholas have designed musical steps.
I think everyone who tours Tamil Nadu should surely visit this temple .
Vaishnava philosopher and guru Ramanujacharya original body preserved inside Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam, Tiruchinarpalli since 1137 CE.
Sri Ramajunacharya was an exponent of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.
Ramanuja’s thiruvarasu (sacred burial shrine) is the Ramanuja shrine (sannidhi) located inside the Sri Ranganathaswamy temple.
Sandalwood paste and saffron are used to maintain the body and no other chemicals are added.
Twice a year, a coat of camphor mixed with saffron, which produces ochre/orange tint on the preserved body and this tradition has been practiced for more than 878 years.
His body is placed behind his idol and is open for darshan to all devotees.
One can notice nails on fingers, and original eyes which indicate that it is actually a human body.
His physical body is placed in the southwest corner on the fifth round within the Srirangam temple as ordered by Lord Ranganatha himself.
Even many Srivaishnavas are not aware that in Srirangam, their holiest place hailed as ‘ Bhuloka Vaikuntam‘ ( Heaven on Earth) lies preserved the body of Sri Ramanuja in all its pristine state unostentatiously, without any fanfare or publicity and without using any of the chemical preservatives used for the Egyptian and Goan mummies.
The egyptian mummies are kept in sleeping position and wrapped in cloth after applying several layers of chemicals.
But Ramanujacharya original body is kept in normal sitting position and open to all for viewing.
This is the only instance where an actual human body is kept inside a hindu temple for so many years.
Ramanujacharya original body preserved in Srirangam Temple -
In the year 1017 A.D., Ramanuja was born in the village of Perumbudur, about twenty-five miles west of Madras. His father was Kesava Somayaji and his mother was Kantimathi, a very pious and virtuous lady. Ramanuja’s Tamil name was Ilaya Perumal. Quite early in life, Ramanuja lost his father.
Then he came to Kancheepuram to persue his study of the Vedas under one Yadavaprakasha, a teacher of Advaita philosophy.
Ramanuja had re-installed Govindaraja idol in Tirupati, which was initially thrown into sea by Kulotthunga Chola, a Saivaite.
He attained his Acharyan Thiruvadi (the lotus foot of his Acharya) in Lord Ranganatha temple at Srirangam and ever since, Ramanujacharya original body was mummified and preserved there.
Source- Google.
You can follow my newly made space Legend of Lords to read more content like this about various Hindu deities.
Kerala. And it’s not even close. In some respect it’s strange how different it is from rest of us.
It differs from all three major ethnicities in almost every sphere- religion, dance, cuisine, Gods, cousin-marriage, festivals…I will explain a few here
Cousin-Marriage: Except Kerala all other states have very high rate of cousin marriage and in fact it the most preferred among Kannadigas, Telugus and Tamils.
Cuisine: The fact that beef eating is acceptable in Kerala is unique among all the Hindus.
Religion: Kerala is religiously diverse while all other states in South are much more homogeneous. No other state in India is as diverse as Kerala in religion.
Dance: Their classical dance forms Kathakali and Mohiniyattam are easily distinguishable.
Festivals: Kerala doesn’t celebrate Deepavali. It doesn’t celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. It’s major festivals are different with a totally different mythology.
Language: Urdu usage is near zero among Kerala Muslims- this is unique- not even Tamil Nadu has this much uniformity.
It's better to mention it as Hindi Cinema instead of North Indian movie.
The first South Indian actress to act in Hindi Cinema was T. R. Rajakumari. She was a beautiful and talented actress and she had received a title as the first dream girl of Tamil Cinema. She was an expert Carnatic singer and also a skilled dancer.
In 1935 she acted in the Hindi film Karwan -E- Hayat in which T. R. Rajakumari acted alongside K. L. Saigal, Rattan Bai, Pahari Sanyal and others. Rajakumari had appeared as the princess of Vijaypore. It was an action, adventurous film directed by Premankur Atorthy.
T. R. Rajakumari, in 1936, acted in a Hindi film Devdas in which she portrayed the role of Chandramukhi alongside K. L. Saigal who appeared as Devdas and Jamuna Barua as Parvati. Pramathesh Barua directed the film.
The other Hindi films in which she acted are Chandralekha in 1948, in which she appeared in the titular role, trilingual film Manohara in 1954, released in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu in which she did the role of Vasanthasena and in the film Rajakumari in 1955.
T. R. Rajakumari was born on May, 5, 1922 in Thanjavur, Madras. Her birth name was Thanjavur Radhakrishnan Rajayee. In the initial stage her name appeared as T. R. Rajayee, but in the later films she was credited as T. R. Rajakumari.
In 1944 Rajakumari starred in the record breaking Tamil film Haridas alongside M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and gained wide recognition for her glamorous role. In her Tamil filmy career, as a leading actress she acted with major stars of that time such as M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, T. R. Mahalingam, K. R. Ramaswamy, P. U. Chinnappa, M. G. R and Sivaji Ganesan.
She also launched a film production company R. R. Pictures with her brother T. R. Ramanna and produced several films like Vaazahapirandhavan in 1953, Koindukkil in 1954, Paasam in 1962, Periya Idhatu Penn in 1963, Panam Padaithavam in 1965 and Parakkum Paavai in 1966.
As an actress she had last appeared in 1963s film Vanambadi.
T. R. Rajakumari had passed away in 1999 at the age of 77 years due to prolonged illness.
Following T. R. Rajakumari, numerous notable South Indian actresses of Golden Era had acted in Hindi Cinema.
In the early time the most popular actresses like Kumari Kamala, Pandari Bhai, Anjali Devi, Pushpavalli, Padmini, Bhanumati, Vyjayantimala, B. Saroja Devi, Savitri, and others had acted in Hindi cinema.
Kumari Kamala was a great dancer and she was known for her expert dancing skills. In 1938 for the first time she had acted in a Hindi film Jailor. She also acted in Kismet and Ram Rajya in 1943.
Pandari Bhai made her Hindi debut in 1949 with the film Bahar. Pandari Bhai's other Hindi films are Manohara in 1954, Shiv Bhakta in 1955, Bhabi in 1957, Panchayat in 1958, Chand and Paigham in 1959.
Anjali Devi had made her Hindi debut with 1953s film Ladki. Later she acted in Devta in 1956, and Naag Devta in 1962.
Pushpavalli, mother of Bollywood popular actress Rekha had acted in Hindi films such as Bahut Din Huwe in 1954 and Grahasthi in 1963.
Padmini had acted in 37 Hindi films in her overall 226 films.
In 1948 as a dancer, for the first time she acted in Hindi film Kalpana. After that she acted in Mr. Sampat in 1952, Shiv Bhakta in 1955, Pardesi in 1957, Amar Deep in 1958, Jis Desh Main Ganga Behti Hai in 1960, Mahabharat in 1965, Aurat in 1967, Bhai Bahen in 1969 and Mera Naam Joker in 1970. Film Dard Ka Rishta in 1982 was her last Hindi film in which she did mother's role.
Padmini's elder sister Lalitha had acted in Hindi film Kalpana in 1948 and also in Kalpana of 1960.
Padmini's younger sister Ragini also acted in several Hindi films like, Naya Admi in 1956, Amar Deep in 1958, Kalpana in 1960 and she did a lead role in Shikari in 1963.
P. Bhanumati, the first female superstar of Telugu Cinema had acted in 6 Hindi films like, Nishaan in 1949, Mangala in 1951, Rani in 1952, Chandirani in 1953, Samsheer in 1953, Nai Roshani in 1967.
Savitri:
The most prominent face of South cinema had acted in 5 Hindi films among her total 252 films in her 30 years of filmy career. Her debut Hindi film was Bahut Din Huye in 1954.
Actress Jamuna had acted in 11 Hindi films including her debut film Miss Mary in 1957. She received Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for the film Milan in 1967.
B. Saroja Devi is one of the most successful actresses in the history of the Indian cinema and she is the first superstar of Kannada Cinema. She made her Hindi debut in 1957 with the film Paigham and acted in total 11 Hindi films of her total 200 films, some of them are Pyar Kiya To Darna Kya in 1963, Preet Na Jane Reet in 1966 and Hari Darshan in 1972.
Actress Devika had acted in 5 Hindi films including Ghar Sansar in 1958, Grahasti in 1963 and Naya Din Nai Raat in 1974.
Vyjayantimala:
Among all South actresses of Golden Era Vyjayantimala achieved tremendous success, made a big name in Hindi cinema. She made her Hindi debut in 1951 with the film Bahar. Her first breakthrough film in Hindi was Nagin in 1954. She gained high appreciation for her portrayal of Chandramukhi in Devdas alongside Dilip Kumar and Suchitra Sen in 1955. Some of her other popular films are Madhumati in 1958, Gunga Jumma in 1961, Sangam in 1964, Amrapali in 1966, Suraj in 1966 and Jewel Thief in 1967.
Vyjayantimala is regarded as the first female superstar of the Indian cinema. She was one of the most prominent actresses of South India cinema and Golden Era of Hindi cinema. She acted in more than 45 films in Hindi in her total approx 65 films.
Following these actresses, several actresses such as Hema Malini, Lakshmi, Rekha, Sridevi, Jaya Prada, Madhavi, Asin, Shruti Hassan, Rashmika Mandanna and many other South actresses achieved remarkable success in Hindi cinema.