Madurai
Twenty kilometres from Madurai, the Alagar Koil (Kallazhagar Temple) is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and perched dramatically at the base of the Alagar Hills. The temple complex is ancient and ornate, and a trail leads up through the rocky hillside behind it past a series of smaller shrines and through forested terrain with resident peacocks and langurs to a viewpoint overlooking the plains.
The main festival when the Alagar deity is carried to the Vaigai river to symbolically meet Meenakshi draws enormous crowds — spectacular to witness but requires advance planning.