Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation Limited will soon launch 10 special tour packages in an attempt to give tourists visiting Tamil Nadu a chance to experience religious architecture and soak them in divine fervour in Hindu religious sites in the state.

Carrying forward the idea of launching a one-day tour to all important temples in the state as announced by Tamil Nadu Tourism Minister Gokula Indira in the state Assembly last year, TTDCL has come up with 10 special packages that includes visits to notable religious sites in the state. The packages include a tour to nine Nagarathar temples in Sivaganga district -Illaiyathangudi, Illupaikudi,Iranikoil, Mathur, Nemam, Pillaiyarpatti, Soorakudi, Vairavankovil, and Velangudi temples near Karaikudi. Another tour includes visit to Divya Desam temples in Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts and a tour to Thirukkadaiyur temple in Nagapattinam district.

TTDCL also has tours to Yelagiri Hills and Kolli Hills for those interested in hiking and trekking. Another interesting package in the bouquet of tours is exclusively organised around places that held importance during the nation's freedom struggle. Named 'Freedom Fighters' Circuit Tour,' it takes tourists around places associated with the freedom struggle and memorials and birthplaces of freedom fighters from the state. These packages will be launched this month, going by the government order passed on February 29 in this regard, TTDC sources said.

The state remains an all-season destination for tourists – backpackers heading for the beaches, the city-bred searching for that rural experience, the devout seeking spiritual solace in myriad temples, the ones bound for hill stations to escape the blazing sun, or those arriving for treatment.

More than 14 crore tourists visited Tamil Nadu during 2011, marking a 42.34 per cent increase over the previous year in which the State played host to 10.58 crore visitors.

According to the State Tourism Department's data, the flow of foreign tourists into the State was 33.08 lakh last year as against 28.04 lakh in 2010. Domestic tourists accounted for 13.67 crore in 2011 against 10.30 crore the previous year. Since 2008, the domestic tourists' arrivals have doubled while that of foreign visitors has gone up by 50 per cent.

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