We started around 7 AM in the morning and reached Trichy by 2 PM with an halt for breakfast for 30 mins. Bangalore – Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Thoppur – Omalur – Salem – Malur – Namakkal. Now the roads (NH) are laid out and it was very good upto Salem. Then till Namakkal, construction work is still on, so roads are bad. Then we took the route inside Namakkal town, reached Musri and drive of 5km stretch, then we reached the Grand Anicut. There are two dams… one charges toll and other is free. It is a single entry passage… so if there is a vehicle from the opposite direction, no other go than to go reverse all the way to the start of the Dam. Then it is another 10-20 kms we reached Trichy. Once we reach near Trichy, the picturesque is awesome. We drive on the bank of Kaveri and the other side is full greenery with cultivation.
Then Trichy – Kollidam – we reach Srirangam. It was a peaceful and a pretty good Darisanam for us. I insisted with the Gurukal there to let me see the God for a minute atleast for all the effort we have put in to reach there. Then Srirangam to Samayapuram, ask any localite and they will guide you through a short-cut. This route again is very bad. They are laying roads and it was hectic driving. At Samayapuram also, we had an awesome darisanam of Mariamman. Then way back to Trichy, we went to Tiruvannaikaval – Jambukeshwarar (Lord Shiva). By the time we went, Amman sannidhi was closed. But we managed to see Shivan. Then we halted in Trichy for the night. We stayed at Hotel Guru near the Trichy Bus Stand. It was a bad experience. First room we went, the split AC started to drip loads of water and we changed our room. In the second room, AC was not working, no geyser. All this at 11 PM in the night. It was a tough time. However we managed to get some sleep. And Morning, we went to Ucchi Pillayar. It was a good visit. It was an awesome view from top of the hill. It is nicer to see Kaveri in TamilNadu filled with so much water.
Then we went to Tanjavur from there. The road again was pathetic… few places there was contruction work. We visited Brihadeeshwarar temple. Awesome… The sculpture, the monolithic tomb, cleanliness, serenity and everything is beautiful there. We looked out for Tanjore painting to buy, but we were disappointed… I was surprised to find that, there are not any visible shops in Tanjore to buy paintings.
Then Tanjore – PalliAgraharam – Kumbakonam Road – (take a right to) Mellatur – Tirukarugavur. There is again a Shiva and Amman (Garbarakshambika) temple there. This is supposed to be an auspicious temple for pregnant ladies and those who are expecting to be pregnant. From Mellatur to Tirukarugavur, “Vettaru” river streamed along the road. This road was pretty good though a very narrow one. Tanjore is a blessed place I would say. It was so green. No wonder it is called the “Rice Bowl of India”. When I looked outside my window… 360 degrees I turn and find only green lands around and our road ran in between.
Kumbakonam was so near just 30 Kms from there but we couldn’t accommodate it in our plan in the last minute. If we had planned properly, we could have started with Tanjavur and made the trip a little ulta. However this was handful for us.
Then from there to Madurai, we didn’t want to go via Trichy again as the road was so bad. Asked our friends about the best route and found this. Tanjore to trichy road, take a left to Gandharvakottai – Agniyaru - Itchadi – Pudhukottai – Vellar Bridge – Namanasamudram – Arasampatti – Pambar bridge – Thirumayam – Malaiyakudipatti – Nedumaram – Rasingapuram – Kottairupu – Kizhiyur – Melur – Thirupattur - Madurai. Again while entering Madurai, roads were pathetic due to road laying project. Otherwise roads were good. Pretty decent. No comments about the picturesque as it turned dark by the time we crossed Pudhukottai.
We struggled a lot to get an accommodation at Trichy as it was Christmas holidays, so got our friend to book a hotel in advance at Madurai. Madurai Residency. Hotel, food, ambience everything was good but parking was a problem for us. After fighting for a while, we managed to park our car on the road. Went to Meenakshi temple the next day morning. One way system in Madurai is badly managed. We could see our hotel but couldn’t reach there. Every road we got into turned out to be a one way. It definitely needs a refinement. Then checked out and started to Bangalore. Madurai – Dindikal Bye Pass – Vadipatti - Kodai road, take left towards Karur road, then take the road towards Salem (left). You will reach Thadikombu – Aathumedu –Vedasandur – Karur – P Vellur (not vellore) – At Salem Namakaal junction/separation, take left to Salem – Kadapalli – Mellur – take the left to Salem – Omalur – Thoppur – Dharmapuri – Krishnagiri – Bangalore. Again this route was pretty decent. We started from Madurai at around 1 PM and reached Bangalore by 9.30 PM including an hours break.
Overall the trip was very good, tiresome but enjoyed. One BIG disadvantage we found is that there are absolutely NO signboards anywhere we went. Infact, all the temples that we went are supposed to be some of the most preserved and talked about temples. Still we couldm’t find signboards. We were fed-up asking for route to localites. They were not able to explain either. I think TN Govt. should do something about it. We have such beautiful destinations. No signage disappoints travelers.
Friday, January 2, 2009
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