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I don’t think there is 4 lane alternative road. Yeah, you can route via Chennai. An undivided single carriage road is to be expected in any road trip. Sometimes that is more interesting to drive on than a boring Multi laned highway. :)

+1. I did this route Dec 21st-24th in my Ignis. Although a 2-lane road for about 200 KMs, it is scenic compared to the other options.

One has to be attentive to the turns to & from Tindivanam. There weren't helpful on-road directions & Google was doing its own thing to optimize and routed us through the town.

Hi all
Travelled from Chennai to Pondicherry on ECR on 29th Dec, and thought of giving an update.
Road conditions until Mamallapuram are pretty good from Akkarai.

After Mamallapuram, the roads have deteriorated a lot.
Far too many broken stretches until almost Pondy.
Infact the Toll near Pondy has been removed, not sure if it's due to the road condition or something else.

It was very difficult to maintain constant speeds, and tested my Octavia's shock absorbers a lot.
Worried if it has done any damage, will have to check.

Of course on the return, night driving is even more difficult with the taxis in the opposite direction flashing lights, and we end up knowing the huge craters only when we are too close to them, making it even more difficult to negotiate.

Not sure if this stretch has been handed over to NHAI for widening, but before widening they must first fix the existing roads.

Had been to Pondicherry for the new year. This time we took the below route in both directions:

Bangalore - Hosur - Krishnagiri - Mathur - Uttangarai - Chengam - Thiruvannamalai - Gingee - Thindivanam - Pondicherry

The road condition has improved drastically on this route. Its a 2-lane single carriageway from Krishnagiri till Thindivanam. I guess there will be 2 toll booths once the road is ready as i could see some concrete roads at 2 places.

There were some 5 diversions throughout which can be easily negotiated without any issue. There is a by-pass for Thiruvannamalai so saved a lot of time. Google showed 1 hour delay via city yesterday, so bypass really helped.

Gingee doesn't have a bypass so you are bound to hit the town traffic. Yesterday on the way back Gingee had a bit of traffic it was crowded, as a lot of people were visiting the temples in the fort on either side of the road.

Couple of other towns also don't have bypass or bypass are still under construction, so one will hit the town traffic.

Overall, we took 6 hours to travel this route both ways including 1 break and will stick to this route going forward.

Travelled on 24th Dec weekend. Took the Tiruvannamalai on to Pondi and returned via Vellore route.

BLR to Pondi
BLR > Krishnagiri > Chengam > Tiruvannamalai > Gingee > Tindivanam > Pondicherry

Pondi to BLR
Pondicherry > Tindivanam > Gingee > Chepet > Arani Vellore(Pallikonda) > Krishnagiri > BLR

Tried the Tiruvannamalai route the first time after reviews. The first part of journey till krishnagiri was horrible due to the holiday rush. Ended up spending 45mins in Attibele toll alone. I reminded myself to not travel during holiday weekends again.

Tiruvannamalai route is fine, but the roads are not very wide. Speeds are limited, overtaking slower vehicles are difficult due to narrow stretches. If you plan to have a calm 70-80kmph drive, do take this route. Its however not for me, i returned via Vellore. The route till Vellore is similar to Tiruvannamalai route. But after that, the highway is a breeze, you can choose to go fast or slow.

Tiruvannamalai route has less tolls. Vellore has about 4-5 tolls in all.

I see that distance and time taken post Pallikonda toll (Golden Temple Exit) to Tindivanam bypass are same either ways. So probably it does not make a difference which route one prefers. Its purely is one's preferences. But one does get more of 6-lane while taking the Arcot option. Hence more chances of finding hotels/bunks.

Just uploaded the route preview. Please use it to preview the route.
This is the return journey from Pondicherry to Bangalore: https://youtu.be/cwFJn7p5lZg

Route taken: Pondicherry > Tindivanam > Gingee > Chepet > Arani Vellore(Pallikonda) > Krishnagiri > BLR

I found the return route slightly difficult to drive till Vellore. The route doesnt have many streetlights, the evening makes it difficult to see some vehicles without lights (pretty common).
The opposite side vehicles had high beams too and was annoying. I assume the route via Thiruvanamalai would have similar problems.

I had previously uploaded route preview from Bangalore to Pondicherry, please refer to it as well:
Bangalore to Pondicherry: https://youtu.be/PSnzJ-5BeaI

I did take the route via Thiruvanamalai this time during the journey onwards, unfortunately lost the video.

I am planning to take this route this week end, planning to leave latest by 4am t avoid Bangalore traffic and reach by 1130, do you guys have any suggested pitstops, specially with good restrooms since I am travelling with family.

Any un-divided state-highway is bound to have the above problem. Best is to commute when you have natural and good visibility. In fact many NH also have low visibility.

Very foggy mornings this week. You may want to re-assess the 4 AM start. Until Krishnagiri you will find good options(A2B, Murugan Idli, et. al). After that, I didn't find anything big along the way. Krishnagiri is just 90-100kms from Bengaluru and you would reach there in 90 mins. After Krishnagiri, there are petrol pumps on the way with decent toilet facilities.

Did BLR --> Pondicherry --> BLR this week end.
took Krishnagiri-Chengam-Tiruvannamalai-Tindivanam-Pondicherry route both ways. Good roads through out except very small patches near towns where bypass work is going on, again nothing worrisome.
Left BLR at 4AM, there was some fog between Mathur/Semalpatti, stopped at Ananda Ramana restaurant in Thiruvannmalai for breakfast at ~745-8am, its a good place to stop over with ample parking, good food and good washrooms, service can get little slow specially in evenings during dinner rush hour, it took almost 1hr for dinner on the way back.

On return we left at 4pm from Auro beach, took same route, with unhurried drive and 3 stops on the way ( 90 min total) we were at home at 12am.

Thanks for sharing these
How long does it take from Tindivanam to Vellore or Tindivanam to Krishnagiri by either of these routes ?

I already saw @Narayans80 suggesting this as alternative for Chennai - Bangalore, so wanted to check how long these stretches take.
I understand we can maintain only 80-90 in the SH.

Will be travelling to Pondicherry and back coming weekend and am hoping experts can help with my queries. Might take either the Arcot-Vandavasi route or Vellore-Arani-Gingee route. Here are the questions-
(1) Breakfast recommendations around 30kms radius of Krishnagiri (travelling towards Pondicherry so same side preferable). Veg preferred but if there is any fantastic restaurant serving both then can consider
(2) For taking Vellore-Arani-Gingee route, is there a bypass for Vellore after Pallikonda (before Vellore) or have to hit Vellore?
(3) Is the Vandavasi bypass as I have marked in red arrows or different?

Arcot exit to Tindivanam bypass is about 100km. Assume 2 hrs for this. Add another 25km to Vellore. (~15-20 min more)


Make it a 50km radius and you have Sai Sangeeth. It's basically 12km beyond Vanyambadi toll once you are beyond Krishnagiri on th 6-lane.

Yes there is a bypass. Take the exit after Pallikonda toll if you intend to take the Arani route. (Route Link)

Yes you are correct. Thats the Vandavasi bypass.

+ 1 to this.
I live in East Bangalore and did Bangalore-Pondicherry last week through this route. Found it to be a very balanced trip with a mix of proper 4 lane highway and scenic 2 lane roadways to break the monotony.

The road quality is fine as well. I was in a sedan and faced no issues.

Took one stop at Ranipet - Darling Classic restaurant for some delicious food and coffee. The total driving time was under 6 hours (excluding the stoppage).