[333]

Hi,

I am planning to travel to a temple in Thirukollikadu (near Mannargudi) by Car on Feb 1st. We are travelling in 2 cars with whole family. Since i am new to this route, i need some advice on which route to take, road condition and best stay at kumbakonam.

I have planned to Start early morning 5 on Feb 1st from Chennai and reach Kumbakonam. Then from there travel to Thirukollikadu temple and return back to Kumbakonam. Stay there for the night and return back to chennai the next day.

Can someone please advice me on the Following:

1. Which route to take ?
2. How is the road condition?
3. Can we make the trip in one day ?
4. Best place to stay in Kumbakonam.

Waititing for response

[ampere]

Originally Posted by 333

1. Which route to take ?

Chennai-Trichy-Tanjore-Mannargudi (Full 4-lane) (100km over head)
or
Chennai-Uludurpet-Vridhachalam-Jayamkodam-Kumbakonam-Mannargudi.

2. How is the road condition?

Its 4-lane till Tanjore. And there on narrow 2-lanes.

For the other one, good roads till Vridhachalam and there normal 2-lane roads.

3. Can we make the trip in one day ?
4. Best place to stay in Kumbakonam.

Cant do it a day. Quite hectic. If not in Kumbakonam, you can also chose to stay in Tanjore.

[DWind]

Unless you need to reach Kumbakonam first before reaching the tirukollikadu temple would advise the Trichy, Tanjore route as suggested by ampere. Not sure Tanjore - Mannargudi on NH 63 has been made fourlaned, but Chennai - Tanjore drive should be peaceful.

Also, I would agree that Tanjore would be better option to stay as you can come back in same route.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by 333

Hi,

I am planning to travel to a temple in Thirukollikadu (near Mannargudi) by Car on Feb 1st. We are travelling in 2 cars with whole family. Since i am new to this route, i need some advice on which route to take, road condition and best stay at kumbakonam.

I have planned to Start early morning 5 on Feb 1st from Chennai and reach Kumbakonam. Then from there travel to Thirukollikadu temple and return back to Kumbakonam. Stay there for the night and return back to chennai the next day.

Can someone please advice me on the Following:

1. Which route to take ?
2. How is the road condition?
3. Can we make the trip in one day ?
4. Best place to stay in Kumbakonam.
Waititing for response

1. Best route is the one suggested by ampere via ulundurpet - trichy - thuvakudi - vallam. At vallam junction after SASTRA college, take NH 67 instead of the straight route, as that may lead to Tanjore town which might be slightly time consuming.
2. Tarmac is in good condition all through the route.
3. Though it is possible to do this 700 + plus km with a break for temple darshan, is possible in a single day, it all depends on the other occupants of the vehicles too. You may break your journey on return at Tanjore and you will find lot of stay options there. In fact, if your time and other resources permit, you may include Big Temple and Saraswathi Mahal in your itinerary.
4. No point in going to Kumbakonam, if you chose to take the same route for return. However, if you choose sethiathope-panruti-vikravandi or vridachalam-ulundurpet route for return, then you may consider staying at Kumbakonam. Good stay options available at Kumbakonam too.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by 333

Hi, I am planning to travel to a temple in Thirukollikadu (near Mannargudi) by Car on Feb 1st. We are travelling in 2 cars with whole family. Since i am new to this route, i need some advice on which route to take, road condition and best stay at kumbakonam. I have planned to Start early morning 5 on Feb 1st from Chennai and reach Kumbakonam. Then from there travel to Thirukollikadu temple and return back to Kumbakonam. Stay there for the night and return back to chennai the next day. Can someone please advice me on the Following: 1. Which route to take ? 2. How is the road condition? 3. Can we make the trip in one day ? 4. Best place to stay in Kumbakonam. Waititing for response

I had gone to this temple last month when I visited my native village which is very close. I would little differ from other routes and suggest chennai - ECR - thiruthooraipoondi - take right to tiruvarur. You will see the board for thirukollikaadu on to your left after 10 kms. From this point the temple is about 8 kms. Road is good with proper directions. Temple is open till 12 pm and again a from 4.30 pm. If you was a stay nearby I would recommend Hotel Selvies at Tiruvarur. You can book this hotel through online or by phone. Very neat and reasonable. Return can be through either ECR or triryvarur - mayavaram - chidambaram - pondy- chennai. Mayavaram - sirkazhi bypass road is not that great and heavy traffic, but once you cross this stretch it is very good. I started from thiruvarur at 2.30 pm and reached chennai at 8.30 with a 30 mins break in between at Pondy. Onwards also you can go through this route if you want to avoid the extra distance through ECR.

[Gokrish]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

I would little differ from other routes and suggest chennai - ECR - thiruthooraipoondi - take right to tiruvarur.

My only concern about this route is that it is two laned and the reckless drivers I generally find on the stretch. The issue gets compounded during week ends. Better to be vigilant while driving on this stretch. And Pondy-Chidambaram stretch will be a bit busier with truck traffic during week days. On the whole, a scenic route though.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by Gokrish

My only concern about this route is that it is two laned and the reckless drivers I generally find on the stretch. The issue gets compounded during week ends. Better to be vigilant while driving on this stretch. And Pondy-Chidambaram stretch will be a bit busier with truck traffic during week days. On the whole, a scenic route though.

If this your concern then I would suggest you to go to trichy - tanjore - tiruvarur and then take thriruthooraipoondi road you will find the board for thirukollikaadu. Tanjore - tiruvarur road is a beauty even though it is 2 laned. Sparse traffic on tiruvarur - thiruthooraipoondi road. If you are going through mannargudi, you will have to take again the thiruthooraipoondi road till adichapuram which comes after Left and take a Left and go through interior roads to go to kollikaadu. The route from the tiruvarur thiruthooraipoondi road till kollikaadu is good and with proper directions but a small village road. Let me know if u need any more details.

[raju2512]

Try Chennai - Pondy - Chidambaram - Mayavaram - Tiruvarur route. The advantage is that you have decent hotels in Chidambaram , Vaitheeswaran koil, Mayavaram and Tiruvarur. Depending on your start time you plan your halt. Plan around 7 hrs for Tiruvarur since you are travelling with your family. As per Venki.bala the temple is closed between 12 noon and 4.30 pm. The best option will be drive to Tiruvarur, check in to the hotel ,relax, proceed to temple and come back to hotel.

If you can, visit the Tiruvarur temple, which is one of the most magnificent and sacred Siva temple and generally not a part of the tourist circuit.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Take the Chennai - Tindivinam - Vikravandi - Cuddalore - Chidambaram route to touch ECR without the mad crowd between Pondy & Chennai. From there on you can continue onwards to Mayiladuthurai & Thiruvarur. Except for the stretch between Sirkazhi & Vaithieeswaran Kovil which is little rough the rest are fine.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

Take the Chennai - Tindivinam - Vikravandi - Cuddalore - Chidambaram route to touch ECR without the mad crowd between Pondy & Chennai. From there on you can continue onwards to Mayiladuthurai & Thiruvarur. Except for the stretch between Sirkazhi & Vaithieeswaran Kovil which is little rough the rest are fine.

Have the routes improved via Vikravandi? I always thought 45C via Panruti was perennially bad. Please do let know if that condition has changed.

That was the reason, I used to always suggest Ulundurpet-Vridhachalam option. In this case if one takes the same route then :

Vridhachalam-Jayankondam-Kumbakonam-Mannargudi.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ampere

Have the routes improved via Vikravandi? I always thought 45C via Panruti was perennially bad. Please do let know if that condition has changed.

That was the reason, I used to always suggest Ulundurpet-Vridhachalam option. In this case if one takes the same route then :

Vridhachalam-Jayankondam-Kumbakonam-Mannargudi.

No Ampere. Vikravandi - Sethiathope stretch is horrible. I went in december 1st week. I am not sure if this has improved in the past 1 month. It is going to get worse as this stretch is going to be upgraded to a 4 lane.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by ampere

Have the routes improved via Vikravandi? I always thought 45C via Panruti was perennially bad. Please do let know if that condition has changed.

That was the reason, I used to always suggest Ulundurpet-Vridhachalam option. In this case if one takes the same route then :

Vridhachalam-Jayankondam-Kumbakonam-Mannargudi.

The road conditions have not changed on the NH, but it is in better shape from Vikravandi to Panruti.

When I mentioned Vikravandi - Cuddalore this is the route I had indicated.

http://goo.gl/maps/jWE3Y

The road conditions beyond Panruti is bad.

[333]

Hi All,

Thank you all for your valuable suggestions. I did the trip last weekend. The route i travelled was as follows.

Saturday:

Route: Chennai - Vikravandi Toll (NH45) - Panruti - Vadalur - Sethiathoppu - Kumbakonam

7:30 AM : Started from Home (Chennai)
9:30 AM : Reached Chengalpet Toll ( Horrible traffic and filled up the car)
11:30 AM : Reached Vikravandi Toll (Upto this road was NH45. Butter Smooth 4-Way Lane)
(From here onwards the road was in horrible condition)
1:30 PM : Crossed Panruti. Had a small break for lunch.
3:30 PM : Reached Kumbakonam. Without much difficulty located the hotel.
Visited 2 temples nearby and stayed in the hotel.


Sunday:

Route: Chennai - Kumbakonam - Thiruvarur - Thirukollikadu - Thiruvarur - mayiladudhurai - Cuddalore - Pondy - Chennai

6:30 AM: Started from Kumbakonam to Thiruvarur. Road was well laid. Being early morning there was no traffic and
it was a pleasant ride with good scenary on either sides of the road.
8:00 AM:Reached Thiruvarur and had breakfast.Started to Thirukollikadu on Thiruthuraipoondi route. Road was horrible
with lot of potholes and patches.
9:30 AM: Reached temple in middle of no where.Nice dharshan.
11:00 AM: Started back to Thiruvarur and headed towards Mayiladuthurai. Road was again horrible.
1:30 PM: Reached Mayiladuthurai.had lunch in an average hotel.Started towards Chennai via Chidambaram, Cuddalore, Pondy.
6:30 PM: Reached Pondy. Road was very narrow and lot of potholes untill Chidambaram. After that it was ok but traffic
kept us slow.
7:00 PM: Reached Tindivanam. Had a small break and started back to chennai in NH45. Finally saw good 4Lane road.
8:30 PM: Reached Chengalpet Toll.
10:00 PM:Reached Home.Horrible Traffic.

Overall it was a pleasant trip after a long time. Totally 720 Kms covered. 36 Litres of Petrol. 19 Kms/Litre Mileage
with 90% Ac in my i10 Kappa2.