Last weekend, I did my maiden Bangalore-Kumbakonam trip by car. The details in this thread was very useful. Particularly the post by ravib (Post #206).
The basic premise was to take bath in River Kaveri (Kaveri Pushkaram) at or near Mayiladuthurai. Also to visit the Kalyanasundareswarar Temple at Thiruvelvikudi (near Kuttalam) to complete a prayer made by my parents.
The vaahan for the trip was my Zest XMS Revotron. My parents, wife and daughter accompanied me in this trip. I have been to Kumbakonam/Mayavaram few times but this was my first trip by car.
Let me add my 2 cents to the wealth of information here since I'm too lazy to write a travelogue of my own
Day-1 (Saturday) we started from C V Raman Nagar, Bangalore around 6.45am. Had our breakfast break at Hotel Adhith bhavan near Perandapalli. Crossed Salem by-pass by 11.15am. Took our lunch break at Ramas Cafe Veg around 12.30pm. First plan was to try taking a dip at Kaveri at Thiruvaiyaru. So, I took a right turn and exited NH79 at Thalaivasal. Thalaivasal to Veeraganur (SH701?) then joined SH157 continued southwards through Krishnapuram till Perambalur bypass. Took left turn here until I hit NH38 (Chennai-Trichy highway). Took a right turn again moving southwards, then took left turn into NH136 towards Ariyalur. Took Ariyalur bypass, then reached Thiruvaiyaru via Paluvur-Thirumanur. Distance of about 410 kms.
All roads and bypasses were smooth and wide. Only the odd speed-hump or pothole. Excellent roads, on the whole. We reached Thiruvaiyaru around 3.30pm only to find that there is no water in river Kaveri (yet). Enquiries with locals informed us that authorities have opened water at Kallanai dam earlier that day and water was expected to reach Thiruvaiyaru in a day or two. So we visited Aiyarrapar Temple which opens at 4pm. Beautiful temple and one of the Paadal Petra Sthalam.
There is special location in this temple praharam from where if one calls the name "Aiyarappa" loudly, it echoes seven times. Wonderful engineering and thoughtfulness of our ancestors. Circumambulating the temple prakara is a usual tradition in most temples but this is prohibited in this temple. Thiruvaiyaru is also known for the home and Samadhi of Saint Thyagaraja, one of the greats of Carnatic music.
After darsan, we decided to go to Kumbakonam where we planned to stay overnight at the well-known Ayyangar Guest House. We reached there at 6.30pm. It rained very heavily immediately afterwards for about an hour. Next morning, we first went to Mayiladuthurai where town authorities had made elaborate arrangements for pilgirms to take dip at Kaveri. This was near Kashi Vishwanathar temple on Mahadanam Street. We parked car near Mayuranathar temple and walked to the pushkaram. Since it was a Sunday, there was quite a bit of pilgrim crowd in the town. But, credit to town authorities and local police who had made reasonably good arrangements and crowd-control for this event.
Road between Kumbakonam and Kuttalam was good. But below average between Kuttalam and Mayiladuthurai, quite a few potholes have formed.
After our bath at Kaveri, we proceeded to the Kalyanasundareswarar Temple at Thiruvelvikudi (near Kuttalam). This is a quaint little temple with nice scenery all around it and has a temple pond nearby. 4-5 cars can be parked near to the temple. After pooja, we started from the temple around 12.30pm. Return route was Thiruvelvikudi - Alangudi - Pandanallur - Karuputticheri - Anaikarai - Gangaikondacholapuram - Jayamkondan - Andimadam - Virudhachalam bypass - Veppur - V Koot Road junction - Attur bypass - Salem bypass - Krishnagiri - Bangalore.
Roads were excellent throughout, even the roads through villages and small towns. The NH532 between Virudhachalam bypass to V Koot Road needs special mention for its excellent condition and exquisite beauty. We reached C V Raman Nagar by 9.00pm.
Overall travel distance for the round-trip was 950kms. The vehicle, Zest Petrol did well to absorb all small undulations on the road. Rear sear comfort was good for my family. Not much fatigue for anybody even after travelling 950kms in 2 days. Fuel efficiency according to MID was 18.7kmpl which is usually higher than actual FE by 2 kmpl.
I will try to post some snaps later since all snaps were taken by my wife in her mobile camera
.