[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ampere

For return: Chidambaram-Vridhachalam-Ulundurpet-Salem-Bangalore.

Tiruvanaikoil is in Trichy. So he should be taking SH227 i.e Chidambaram-Kattumannarkoil-Jayamkondam-Lalgudi-Number 1 Tollgate-Tiruvanaikoil.

The return would be Tiruvanaikoil-Musiri/Thuraiyur-Namakkal-Salem-Bangalore.

That said, it still is not a 2 day plan. Definitely needs 3 days to do in a relaxed manner. Temple timings, poojas/abishekam/alangaram related delays are common and these will impact time reaching other temples same day.

Budget 3-4 hrs per temple (includes parking, tickets, standing in line) and average speed on SHs at 30-35 kmph (in around Vriddachalam it could be worse. Had first hand trauma doing Veppur-Vriddachalam). An hour or 2 for food, and last but not least shopping (3 ladies in the group )

[ampere]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Tiruvanaikoil is in Trichy. So he should be taking SH227 i.e Chidambaram-Kattumannarkoil-Jayamkondam-Lalgudi-Number 1 Tollgate-Tiruvanaikoil.

The return would be Tiruvanaikoil-Musiri/Thuraiyur-Namakkal-Salem-Bangalore.

Sorry. I did not realize he was also looking at the last of the 5. My bad.

What you suggest is perfect.

That said, it still is not a 2 day plan. Definitely needs 3 days to do in a relaxed manner. Temple timings, poojas/abishekam/alangaram related delays are common and these will impact time reaching other temples same day.
Budget 3-4 hrs per temple (includes parking, tickets, standing in line) and average speed on SHs at 30-35 kmph (in around Vriddachalam it could be worse.

+1.

D1: Kalahasthi and Kanchi. Spend night at Kanchi.
D2: Drive to Tiruvannamalai, visit temple and drive to Chidambaram darshan. Halt (Again need a very early start. Assume 3 hours to Thiruvannalai via Arcot - Arani (or Kannamangalam)
And 5 hours to Chidambaram. So if he is done with Darshan by 11/12 (assuming he starts by 5/6 for Kanchi), he should be able to make it to Chidambaram by evening for a darshan.
D3: Chidambaram-Tiruvanaikoil-Bangalore.

I hope he can make it to the temple before it closes. I think it closes in the morning by 10:30 or so. Need to confirm. (Even I barely made it once)
Chidambaram to Trichy should about 3-4 hours of drive.

So in case it closes he will need to wait for Darshan before driving back to Bangalore by evening.

One option: Having gone that far: Why not along with Thiruvanaikoil also visit rest of Trichy temples and come back on D4 (Srirangam, Rockfort and Samayapuram)?

[KD007]

First, thank you ampere,narayans80 and srvm for your suggestions.

So we basically agree it is a tight schedule. Unfortunately Day 3 and 4 are not feasible right now. Either I can skip a temple which doesn’t make sense to me as all fall in kind of one line or else shelve the plan till I can manage three days. While both of these are worst case scenario how about a best case one as below ( I have added suggested route as well to avoid confusion). So does the below make sense? Also adding temple timings as sourced from net. Hope it helps other travellers. Will update post my visit incase any changes in timings

Travel Dates – 23th – 25th July (Fri evening, Sat & Sun)

23rd Friday

Blr – Sri Kala Hasti – 282 kms - start Friday evening say 5 or earlier, reach srikalahasti by 10 and sleep. Would need suggestion on places to stay?

24th Sat

Perform puja at the temple (open from 6am-6pm), have breakfast and proceed

Sri Kala hasti – Kanchipuram – 127 kms - Reach by noon , do darshan when temple opens at 5 .

Kanchipuram – Thiruvanamalai – 115 kms - Reach at night via Kanchi-Arcot-Kannamangalam-Polur-Tiruvannamalai and sleep. Would need suggestion on places to stay?

25th Sun

Thiruvanamalai – Chidambaram – 150 kms - Leave early via Tiruvannamalai-Villipuram-Ulundurpet-Vridhchalam-Sethiyarthope-Chidambaram and try and enter for darshan by 10/11 am as temple closes by 12. Post darshan have lunch and proceed

Chidambaram – Thiruvanakaval – 140 – reach by 4/5 via SH227 i.e Chidambaram-Kattumannarkoil-Jayamkondam-Lalgudi-Number 1 Tollgate-Tiruvanaikoil Perform darshan in eve and leave for blr which is about 325 kms via Tiruvanaikoil-Musiri/Thuraiyur-Namakkal-Salem-Bangalore

26th Mon – go bleary eyed to office


Ekambareswarar Temple
Kanchipuram
All days of the week
6:00 AM - 11:00 AM
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM


Jambukeshwarar Temple, Thiruvanaikaval
Thiruvanaikaval, near Trichy
All days of the week
5:30 AM - 1:00 PM
3:00 PM - 8:30 PM
The temple is closed between 01:00 PM and 03:00 PM daily (Except Fridays, Sundays and other important festival days)

Fire Agni Lingam (Jyothi Lingam)
Arunachaleswara Temple
Thiruvannamalai
Morning 5:00 am to 12:30 pm
Evening 3:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Air Vayu Lingam Sri Kalahastheeswara Temple
Kalahasthi,Andhra Pradesh
Timings : 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM


Space Aagaya Lingam (Akasha Lingam)
Thillai Natarajar Temple[10]
Chidambaram
Dharshan Time
Morning 6.00.a.m to 12.00 noon
Evening 5.00.p.m. to 10.00 night

ARDHAJAAMAM pooja starts at 9:00pm with abhishekam and ends at 10:00pm ( Appro. Timings )

[narayans80]

You can try the reverse order, with some modifications to fit in better roads (NH45 and ECR).

Day 0- Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Nochiyam-No 1 TollGate-Tiruvanaikoil (halt)
Day 1-Early morning darshan-breakfast-NH45-Villupuram-Tiruvannamalai-darshan-lunch-Villupuram-Ulundurpet-Vriddachalam-Chidambaram-darshan-halt.
Day 2-Early monring start-ECR-Cuddalore-Pondy-Tindivanam-NH45-Chengalpattu-Kanchipuram-darshan-lunch?-Arakkonam-Tiruttani-Kalahasti-darshan-Tirupati-Chittoor-Mulbagal-Bangalore

- I'd suggest an early start on Day 0, 330 400 pm ish works better. 5pm start will land you in peak evening traffic whichever side you go. Even with a 4pm start you are looking at reaching Trichy at 1030-1100 pm. 5pm start would mean midnight+ reach time. You can stay at Temple Inn. Its bang on Trunk Road with a basement parking. Its about 1/2-3/4 km from the temple. Parking is there near the temple, its a small 10 min hassle to tread through the lane leading to temple.
- You'll avoid evening traffic on Chittoor road and Tirupati-Kalahasti. I hope you can avoid it to an extent on Sunday.
- Sunday is still a packed drive day. Am relucatant to suggest an evening start towards Cuddalore due to traffic.
- Have been to Tiruvanaikoil many times, open time is not 3pm. Its definitely more like 400-430pm and there is alangaram at amman sannidhi around 5-6pm, there's one similar around lunch time too like 12-1pm.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by KD007

....
Kanchipuram – Thiruvanamalai – 115 kms - Reach at night via Kanchi-Arcot-Kannamangalam-Polur-Tiruvannamalai and sleep. Would need suggestion on places to stay?
.....

At Tiruvannamalai:
Seshadri swamigal ashram (very near to Ramanashramam) has accommodation. It is a very simple kind of accommodation if you don't mind it. You can get their number from http://www.swamigal.com/contact.htm

At Sri Kalahasti
You can try looking here: http://srikalahastidevasthanam.com/accomodation.php

[ampere]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Day 0- Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Thuraiyur-Nochiyam-No 1 TollGate-Tiruvanaikoil (halt)
Day 1-Early morning darshan-breakfast-NH45-Villupuram-Tiruvannamalai-darshan-lunch-Villupuram-Ulundurpet-Vriddachalam-Chidambaram-darshan-halt.
Day 2-Early monring start-ECR-Cuddalore-Pondy-Tindivanam-NH45-Chengalpattu-Kanchipuram-darshan-lunch?-Arakkonam-Tiruttani-Kalahasti-darshan-Tirupati-Chittoor-Mulbagal-Bangalore

- Doable. but hectic. (It has to be irrespective of options!)
- Trichy-Tiruvannamalai-Chidambaram in a day with darshan. That seems difficult.
- Chidambaram-Kanchi : Avoid Cuddalore/Pondicherry. Will lose lot of time. Better take the bad roads via Sethiyarthope/Panruti/Vikravandi?

I think I feel : Kalahasth-Kanchi-Tiruvannamali-Chidambaram-Trichy may be easier? An option is to take Sun off at Trichy finish Darshan early morning by 6/7 and be in Bangalore by 1

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by ampere

- Doable. but hectic. (It has to be irrespective of options!)
- Trichy-Tiruvannamalai-Chidambaram in a day with darshan. That seems difficult.

For the number of places in 2 days, it is going to hecitc. For an early morning start from Trichy. It is doable. The Villupuram-Trichy 160 km can easily be done in 2 hrs. Add another 2 hrs to Tiruvannamalai. A 630 am start will land you at 1030-1100am, enough to have a darshan before temple closes.

ECR traffic is better if you leave early morning.

[KD007]

Originally Posted by narayans80

You can try the reverse order, with some modifications to fit in better roads (NH45 and ECR).

- I'd suggest an early start on Day 0, 330 400 pm ish works better. 5pm start will land you in peak evening traffic whichever side you go. Even with a 4pm start you are looking at reaching Trichy at 1030-1100 pm. 5pm start would mean midnight+ reach time. You can stay at Temple Inn. Its bang on Trunk Road with a basement parking. Its about 1/2-3/4 km from the temple. Parking is there near the temple, its a small 10 min hassle to tread through the lane leading to temple.

.

Thank you narayans80, i thought of the same however have heard that Kal sarpa puja is better to be performed on Sat. Checking on it

Unfortunately Day 0 early morning not possible for one of the couple hence all the circus. Thank you for the stay option

Originally Posted by srvm

At Tiruvannamalai:
Seshadri swamigal ashram (very near to Ramanashramam) has accommodation. It is a very simple kind of accommodation if you don't mind it. You can get their number from http://www.swamigal.com/contact.htm

At Sri Kalahasti
You can try looking here: http://srikalahastidevasthanam.com/accomodation.php

Thank you for the stay options. this will be super helpful

Originally Posted by ampere

- Doable. but hectic. (It has to be irrespective of options!)

Totally agree. Trying to find options to have more time. Checking with others. Will share updates

[realactivex]

Folks,
intend to travel by car with family (wife+2 kids under 10) to cover three Shiva temples which represent the three elements of nature.

Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth)Kanchipuram
Chidambaram - Chidambaram represents akasha (aether)
Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara,Trichy (water)

(i have already covered the other 2 out of 5)
Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire),Thiruvanna malai
and
Sri Kalahasti (wind),Kalahasti

planning to start from bangalore around christmas. Have not booked any lodging
I intend to start from bangalore->kanchi->chidambaram->Trichy-> Possibly (Coimbatore/Velliangiri)->Bangalore

Request inputs from experienced boarders here on how to plan my trip/route/hotels and to advise any scenic detours.
I also have read that some nice brass/bronze artefacts are available in kumbakonam. Any further pointers please.
We are not too keen on spending a lot of time on road and would like to cover our rides during day times.
Also appreciate local info on temples (which darshans to take/best time to visit/things to be aware of etc)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by realactivex

I intend to start from bangalore->kanchi->chidambaram->Trichy-> Possibly (Coimbatore/Velliangiri)->Bangalore

D1 : Start at 4 and be in Kanchi by 8/9 AM. Visit the temple and by 11/12 you will be good to go

Kanchi - Chengalpet - Tindivanam - Ulundurpet - Veppur - Vriddhchalam bypass - Chidambaram Reach by evening/night.

D2 : Visit the temple early morning and drive to Trichy

Chidambaram - Meensuruty - Jayamkondam - Lalgudi - Trichy

You should be there by noon. Evening you can visit the temple.

D3 Visit rest of the temples if possible and drive back

Either Karur-Namakkal-Salem-Bangalore
or
Thuraiyur - Namakkal - Salem - Bangalore

[KD007]

Originally Posted by realactivex

Folks,
.
Also appreciate local info on temples (which darshans to take/best time to visit/things to be aware of etc)

I did it few years back, my road update won't be applicable now but one suggestion - Do you homework on the temple timings. Some of the temples are closed from afternoon to evening, so please plan your day accordingly

[KD007]

Any latest updates on these roads?

Unfortunately could not do it in 2016 (hence no updates on roads) so planning to use the upcoming Eid hoiday on 26th June and make it in 3 days.

[tirumalavoleti]

We did this trip in december 2020 from bangalore.

Followed the route

Able to complete the trip in 4 days with enough time between darshans.