[mankuthimma]

Planning to visit Kumbakonam during first week of November taking advantage of Nov 1st long weekend and Deepavali school holidays - essentially, we will get 5 days if all goes well.
I went through briefly last few posts from ampere, ravib, gopikb, narayans80, revvytorques. Great set of details. Thank you!
Route from Bangalore - Kumbakonam - Bangalore is clear. But the list of temples I came across so far from these posts are mindboggling

The initial plan looks like this -

31st Oct - Arrival, visit a local temples in the evening

Nov 1st, 2nd - Navagraha circuit and any other good temples on the way- planning to hire local cab/auto, assuming that locals know the best way to get around these temples. Suggestions?

Nov 3rd - Visit Tanjavur and Srirangam, self driving - route, parking, places to see, food etc?

Nov 4th - Deepavali day, checkin at Indeco Swamimalai, (heard its a great place to stay),

Nov 5th - Stay at Indeco, suggestions for going out? may be a beach or some other non-temple spot ?

Nov 6th - checkout and return to BLR

This is the first time visiting this region, so need some help on what is the best way to visit some of the must-see places, must-try local food etc, "in a relaxed manner" considering the festival time, crowds, weather..

[ravib]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

But the list of temples I came across so far from these posts are mindboggling

Haha. This life is not enough to see all the temples in and around Kumbakonam. I really mean it.

In your plans,
Oct 31st is fine, assuming you start in the morning. Evening you can see Darasuram Airavateswarar temple, Sarangapani temple and lastly Kumbeshawarar temple and do local shopping, if you prefer. The bazaar street is nice to walk around to buy local items, but being Deepavali season, its going to be super crowded. So watch out.

Nov 1st and 2nd are good for Navagraha circuit. Yes, you can take local cab help to plan the routes optimally. Or go through this thread to check the options used by people.

Nov 3rd => actually half a day is enough to cover both Tanjore big temple and SriRangam. To reach Tanjore, you have to drive to "tiring" Kumbakonam to Tanjore via Papanasam. From Tanjore to Trichy, its easy 4L road once you exit Tanjore and join NH. Just follow google maps. Parking is available closer to temple in both the places.

Nov 4th => Usually its a noon check-in, so not sure what you plan for first half of the day.

Nov 5th => Beaches are not nearby unless you drive atleast 70 kms. If you want beach, you can include it on Nov 1st and 2nd , when you go closer to Thirunallar.

To your last question - if you look for must see places, in this regions its mostly temples, which are in thousands. So really its difficult to say which place you want to go. I already included Darasuram Airawateeswarar temple which is a UNESCO one. May be, if you want on return journey you can goto Gangai Konda Cholapuram, but it is a mini version of Tanjore Big temple which you are already covering it.

Food => Its mostly veg in all places. Don't miss the Filter coffee in Kumbakonam. You can buy fresh vegetables on the day you return.

I see you have plenty of time on 4th to 6th. You can really make changes and adjust the plans on the fly.

-Ravi

[ampere]

Lets talk of temple later. My suggestion is dont even head out towards Trichy/Tanjore. You have enough temples to cover around KMU itself if you want to. Please keep some time to enjoy Indeco also!

The only reason you need to head out towards Tanjore is to cover 2/7 Navgrahas (Thingaloor and Alangudi).

The others ones closer to KMU which you can visit by evening: Suryanaar, Kanjanur and Thirungeshwaram. While visiting these there many temples in the vicinity which you go to. (Thirukodikaval, Thirividaimaradur, Kadiramangalam, Upiliappan etc)

The next day you finish : Thirunallar-Keezaperampallam-Thirvengadu-Vaitheshwaran Kovil. Again you have plethora of temples to chose on the way.
You can even think of Sirgazhi and Chidambaram.

Close to Indeco again there are many which go round KMU that you can visit.

[smnrock]

If anyone is planning to take the trichy-kallanai-thiruvaiyaru route, make sure you take the north bank kallanai road from trichy, avoid SH 22(south of kaveri river) even if google suggests. Also the road through the kallanai dam is closed for traffic and had to take the newly constructed bridge before the dam which is very good. This is not an issue when going from trichy towards thiruvaiyaru, as we can easily take a diversion. But on return, this road closure will force you to travel through the dam(very narrow one's) and SH 22 which is almost non-existent one :(. Had a scary experience at night(around 9pm) through this SH 22 as it's very narrow and there will be no road for the initial few Kms, also no one will be there except you .

[mankuthimma]

Originally Posted by ravib

Haha. This life is not enough to see all the temples in and around Kumbakonam. I really mean it.

Originally Posted by ampere

Lets talk of temple later. My suggestion is dont even head out towards Trichy/Tanjore. You have enough temples to cover around KMU itself if you want to. Please keep some time to enjoy Indeco also!

Wise men speaking !
Will stick to KMU itself. You have given me a good list of things to make best use of the time there. Thank you so much for the inputs.

[raikva]

Originally Posted by ravib

Haha. This life is not enough to see all the temples in and around Kumbakonam. I really mean it.

Absolutely true. Just finished a circuit of Bangalore => Trichy/Srirangam => Kumbakonam => Thirunallar => Vaitheeswaran Kovil.

I have been to some of these temples multiple times but here is a list of temples that we saw during this trip.

On the first day we finished
- Brahmapureeswarar - Ancient temple that also houses jeeva samadhi of Patanjali Maharshi
- Vyagrapadhar (Pulikal Siddhar) - Do not miss this ancient temple just 1.5 kms from brammapureeswarar. it has the Jeeva samadhi of Pulikal Siddhar.
- Srirangam Ranganathan

We drove via Tanjore onwards to KMB.
In KMB we visited

- Swamimalai (arupadai veedu of Muruga)
- Tribhuvanam Sarabeswarar (called Kampahareshwarar). A spectacular temple with an amazing history.
- Oppiliappan (a beautiful temple where you can pray without being rushed)
- Mahapratyangara (again an amazing temple)
- Thirunageswaram (just had Kumbabhisekam done last week so try and visit). It is the rahusthalam as well. Tip - You can park the car at the thirunageswaram parking lot (huge one) and take an auto to finish oppiliappan & mahapratyangara. I did it in the reverse order.
- Darasuram (Airavateshwara temple). This is a must visit. Spend some time and do not miss visiting the Deivanayagi shrine next to the temple. That is an amazing work of architecture in itself.
- Nachiar Kovil

If you can drive Slightly longer from KMB - we did

- Garbarakshambigai in Thirukarukavoor (a temple with a beautiful history and sung about in Thevaram)
- My ancestral village temple near Jayankondam (you can visit Gangai Konda Cholapuram if you have time instead)


Then we drove to Karaikal stayed there - We visited

- Thirunallar Saneeswaran
- Karaikal ammayar temple

The next day we drove to Vaitheeswaran kovil and stayed there. We visited

- Thirukadayur
- Sivaloganathar temple in Thiruppungur - I highly recommend this ancient temple where Nandi gave way to Nandanar one of the Nayanmars. They close at 11:00 and it is a temple that is very less visited so you can call ahead.
- Vaitheeswaran Kovil

Finally on the return we visited
- Kolanjiappar temple in Vridhachalam.


This is just a list of temples we visited this trip. I would recommend Adhi Kumbeswarar temple as well.

None of these temples were crowded (it was just a handful of people) so it is a good time to go. Also, take the KMB bye-pass whenever possible instead of cutting into the town. Will have traffic due to Diwali purchases etc.

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

Nov 5th - Stay at Indeco, suggestions for going out? may be a beach or some other non-temple spot ?

On Indeco - It is a fantastic place to stay but also depends on the room category. The heritage rooms which we took are a bit small and some are not well lit (my opinion). The resort itself is beautiful. But we spent two days and moved on. Also when we stayed at Karaikal we visited the Karaikal beach which was strictly OK.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by raikva

Absolutely true. Just finished a circuit of Bangalore => Trichy/Srirangam => Kumbakonam => Thirunallar => Vaitheeswaran Kovil.

Haha. I told you know.

- Oppiliappan (a beautiful temple where you can pray without being rushed)
- Nachiar Kovil

Oppiliappan is our family god and ancestral temple.
In Nachiar Koil, I am sure you would have seen special "Kal Garudar" statue and the unique festival happens twice a year.
Also, You could have gone 5 kms ahead from Nachiar Koil to see Thirucherai as well. Beautiful perumal to have great darshan.

- My ancestral village temple near Jayankondam (you can visit Gangai Konda Cholapuram if you have time instead)

I guess you mean, Udaiyarpalayam Peria Koil ?

[raikva]

Oppiliappan is indeed a beautiful temple. I did see the Kal Garudar. Will be going to the area again in Jan so will visit Thirucherai and a few other temples.

Originally Posted by ravib

I guess you mean, Udaiyarpalayam Peria Koil ?

Sorry if that sentence was not clear. I said that I took the day to go to my ancestral village near Jayankondam. But, I suggested that others, if they can make the drive to Jayankondam, can visit Gangai Konda Cholapuram. The temple is the Peruvudayar temple. Built by Rajendra Chola it is like the Brihadeeswara in its style and grandeur. In fact, the place was named Jayankondam by Rajendra Chola and Gangai Konda Cholapuram became the Chola capital for the next two centuries.

Udaiyarpalayam Peria Kovil comes towards the west of Jayankondam. Gangai Konda Cholapuram Peruvudaiyar temple will be to the east. Here is a picture I took during a visit two years ago.



There is also a beautiful ancient Vishnu temple near there which you can visit the next time. The temple a decade or more ago was under a state of disrepair and an individual stepped up and the temple is now beautifully maintained. I will send a pic if I can find it.

[adisan]

Below is a list of temples around Tanjavur and Kumbakonam. Some of these might be on the list of Navagraha temples as well.

Kodi Amman temple, Tanjavur
Kalyanasundareswarar, Nallor
Viswanadhar with Ambal Vedantanayaki, Theperumanalloor
Neelakandeswarar, Thiruneelakudi
Runa Vimochana Lingeswarar, Thirucherai
Valmikanathar, Kamalambal, Thiruvarur
Kambahareswarar, Tirubuvanam
Mahalingeswarar, Tiruvidaimaruthur
Gajasamharamoorthy, Vazhuvur
Thirukoteeswarar, Thirukodaikaval
ThiruVelliangudi Perumal temple, Senganoor
Thirupungur Sivalokanathar temple
Brahmapureeswarar, Sirkazhi

[mankuthimma]

Originally Posted by ravib

Haha. This life is not enough to see all the temples in and around Kumbakonam. I really mean it.

Originally Posted by ampere

Lets talk of temple later. My suggestion is dont even head out towards Trichy/Tanjore. You have enough temples to cover around KMU itself if you want to. Please keep some time to enjoy Indeco also!

Thank you ravib sir and ampere sir for your guidance! we had a very satisfying and I must say blissful darshan of some of the great temples in that region.
One thing to led other, finally we had 4 cars and 20 people travelling in a group. We stayed with a known acquaintance in a Agraharam kind of setup in Kumbakonam. Being a large group with varied interest levels, my own plan went for a toss and I decided to just go with the flow. It was an accepted fact that we couldnt cover everything, but all of us enjoyed whatever we saw. Even after a week, I am still reeling under that blissful effect

Call it a good timing or a blessing, it was a combination of perfect time and comfortable weather to go around the temples. Since the local population and tourist crowd were busy with Deepavali celebrations, all the temples were almost empty giving us ample time for darshan and admire the grandeur, beauty of the architecture of the temples. Looking at the crowd control measures implemented at many temples, we considered we were lucky to have got this opportunity. Sometimes, we had back to back darshan 2-3 times even in places like Sri Rangam without any wait times. Apart from navagraha circuit, we visited a long list of temples based on recommendation from temple experts within the group as well as few just in time recommendation from locals.

While each temple was special on its own, personally, I liked the serenity of Thiruvengadu and ThiruValanchuzhi, the divine idols of Perumal at Sri Rangam, Oppiliappan, Sarangapani temples, and the architecture of Patteswaran, Airavatesvara and Tanjore Big Temples, just to name a few.

Weather was the best - coolest weather with clouds, drizzles, sometimes continuous rains. It rained almost everyday. Most of the time, it didnt affect us, we were mostly indoors within the temples which again was like a blessing. Whenever rain prevented us from going out, we were at home and enjoyed quality time with family members.

The entire region was painted green with lush paddy fields and the rivers, canals and streams, sometimes made us wonder whether are we in Kerala or TN !

We could also witness Deepavali buzz within local population. Very humble people and their bike is all that they need to carry the entire family and all the things they shopped for the festival.

Our stay in Indeco was also special. Really liked the entire setup.

Last but not the least, being a foodie, the food was lipsmacking!!. There is something special about the sambar Some memorable eateries we tried are Seetharama Vilas in Aduthurai, Sundaram pillai mess in Virudhachalam, Mangalambigai Coffee and Tiffin Center and Rice N Spice in Kumbakonam town. Even the homely food we had at Agraharam was heavenly !! Somehow the famed Kumbakonam Degree coffee was not to our liking, it was more milky for our taste buds. Shree Sangeethas at the outskirts of Trichy was the most disappointing. Very ordinary fare in a region known for great food.

All in all it was a memorable trip in multiple ways.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

Thank you ravib sir and ampere sir for your guidance! we had a very satisfying and I must say blissful darshan of some of the great temples in that region.

Great to know you had a nice visit! What I have realised is if you need to visit the "other' temples you need to decouple the big ones. That basically means you visit the Navagraha circuit separately. The same goes for the famous ones like the ones in Trichy and Tanjore and KMU and Mayavaram/Sirkazhi/Chidambaram.

Then you can actually spend time on all the "other" ones! One needs to do multiple visits to this region to see all (I guess all will never be possible!)

Last time when we visited this place we also stayed in Indeco. We spent the first evening visiting Kumbeshwar and Sarangapani temples. Sarangapani temple is really grand.

The next day morning we went around the outer circle of KMU. Thiruvalanchuzhi, Thiru Nallur, Ramalingeshwarar, Thirukargavur, Patteshwaram and Nachiyar Kovil. We came for lunch and some rest. And in the evening went on the Poompuhar road to visit : Avayal Mutt, Thirvisainallur (Sivayoginathar), Karkadeshwarar and Thiruvidaimaradur.

Amazingly huge and complex temples. You cannot just imagine how these are not the main temples around KMU!

The next day we again went further south and visited Thiruvanjiyam, Thiruvarur, Thirupollikadu and Ettukudi. Not to mention Swamimalai on the last day.

Separately we also visited some others.

Poompuhar road has its own set of temples: Thiruloki, Thirukodikaval, Kadiram Mangalam etc (apart from the elements of Navagraha Suryanaar Kanjanur). There is also Govindapuram.

Another circuit I liked is South of Mayavaram towards Thiruvarur. We got to see: Peralam, Koothanur and Thilatharpanapuri.


The only stretch that I really am looking forward to visit is south of Tanjore-Nidamangalm. Primarily Mannargudi and Vedaranyam.

Here are some:

Indeco at night!


Thiruvalanchuzhi



Thiru Nallur


Thiruvidaimaradur




Thiruvarur

[mankuthimma]

wow! this is really good planning to cover many temples that are not on the tourist circuit. Beautiful photos too!
I wish we get more opportunities to visit some more of these temples in future.

Originally Posted by ampere

What I have realised is if you need to visit the "other' temples you need to decouple the big ones. That basically means you visit the Navagraha circuit visited separately. The same goes for the famous ones like the ones in Trichy and Tanjore and KMU and Mayavaram/Sirkazhi/Chidambaram.

Totally agree with this. These "other" temples are more interesting than the Navagraha temples. I would even go to the extent of saying that Navagraha temples should be done if and only if one has real purpose associated with it. Otherwise, it is too taxing to travel long distances to cover these temples in a day or two. Same with Tanjore-Trichy too. We spent more time in travelling than at the temples. So we completed these far off temples in first two days. Dropped Chidambaram for the same reason. Remaining days, we went for the nearby temples. which we found much more interesting and we got to spend quality time at the temple. This provided a more calming and peaceful experience which to me is the real purpose of being at a temple.

Some more of these special temples, other than the ones I mentioned above, the Ramaswamy temple in Kumbakonam - life size idols of Rama and his entire family, Swamimalai Murugan temple - Such an important temple for Murugan, but we could just walkin and get darshan, Shri Saneeswaran Temple at Nachiar Koil - a rare temple with idols of the full family of the god. The main temple at Nachiar Koil itself. List goes on..

[ravib]

Originally Posted by mankuthimma

Some more of these special temples, other than the ones I mentioned above, the Ramaswamy temple in Kumbakonam - life size idols of Rama and his entire family, Swamimalai Murugan temple - Such an important temple for Murugan, but we could just walkin and get darshan, Shri Saneeswaran Temple at Nachiar Koil - a rare temple with idols of the full family of the god. The main temple at Nachiar Koil itself. List goes on..

Very happy to know you had great darshans. Its always very satisfying for those who are spiritually inclined.
The speciality of Ramaswamy temple in Kumbakonam is that, Ramar, Sita and family statue is of "Ramar Pattabhisheka" pose and blessing, which is not even there in Ayodhya. Very unique. I don't recollect seeing any other Ramar temple in Pattabhishekam state.
Swamimalai is one of the 6 abodes (arupadai veedu) temples, and very important.

-Ravi

[manjubp]

Ravib/Ampere,

Planning to take my Mother (73+ yrs, with below average physical fitness) for TN Temple trip starting from BLR, covering Srirangam, Trichy, Tanjore, kumbakonam and Chidambaram over 4-5days. There are so many beautiful temples around this circuit, I am unable to decide what to cover and what not to cover.

Need your suggestion on what are the temples to be covered. Thanks in advance,


.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by manjubp

Need your suggestion on what are the temples to be covered. Thanks in advance,

My take just stick Trichy/KMU. Leave Tanjore.
Trichy: Rock fort (will be difficult for her to climb), Srirangam, Thiruvanaikaval (if possible : Samayapuram)

KMU: Sarangapani, Kumbeshwar. Apart from these like I we all mentioned, there are infinite options. It all depends what she wants to cover and how much she can manage.