Taste history, culture and myriad flavours on a food trip to Thanjavur

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Thanjavur, famous as the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu, is a melting pot of history, architecture and myriad flavors. It is renowned as the birthplace of intricate Thanjavur art and draws visitors for its many ancient temples built during the prosperous Chola regime from the ninth to the thirteenth century.

There is a plethora of choices for culinary explorers too, including typical Tamil fare like adai (legume pancakes) and vada-curry (curry with vadas), coexisting with Maratha-inspired dishes like poli (puran poli) and kothamalli mutton sukka (coriander mutton fry). Marathas shaped the cuisine when they ruled Thanjavur from the late seventeenth to mid-nineteenth century. It is believed that the beloved sambar is a Maratha inheritance.

Sambhaji, son of Shivaji Maharaj, visited Thanjavur in the seventeenth century and it was prepared in his royal kitchen by substituting and changing a few ingredients. Samba, as he was called, was fond of amti, a light and flavorful lentil dish with kokum. Since kokum wasn’t available in Thanjavur, the chef used tamarind as a souring agent, and added readily available vegetables like drumstick, to create this dish, which has now become synonymous with South Indian cuisine.

If one were to visit Thanjavur as a tourist, it would be remiss to not plan a trip to the neighboring Kumbakonam too. It is another temple town in Thanjavur district and is about 40 km away from the main city. A visit to Kumbakonam would not be complete without seeing the Airavatesvara Temple, a stunning example of Chola architecture and a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Great Living Chola Temples.