India’s fading grandeur

The vast ancestral mansions of Chettinad in southern India have a mournful air these days – but they're no less "breathtaking" for it, says Jon Stock in the Sunday Telegraph. There are thousands of them, clustered in villages throughout this arid region, all built with fortunes sent home by local moneylenders and merchants who migrated to far-flung corners of the British Empire. After independence, their businesses suffered, and many great homes have since been abandoned. Recently, Unesco has stepped in to preserve this unique heritage: now it's possible to stay in some of the mansions and wander around others – flamboyant mixtures of local and international styles, their dark interiors glittering with "Belgian chandeliers, painted tiles from Holland and pillars of Burmese teak". Double rooms in the Visalam mansion hotel cost from £128. Contact: 0091 484 301 1711; www.cghearth.com. ·