[ampere]

Originally Posted by srvm

Folks, me and my family (wife and daughter) did the darsan of all three Ranganathaswamy Temples situated on islands on river Cauvery last weekend.
Here are the details:

Totally missed this post of yours! And it was great to read it even though 2-years late. Come what may some of these interior roads have their own charm to be driven on.

Like you said the Hanur-Antiyur road is good may be for fun/exploration but surely not with family. I just saw on Google. Its about 70km and about 2 hours single lane. Not worth the risk in those ghats. MM Hills anyday would be better.

Also; From Mettur; another option to Sankari can be to cross the river at Mettur itself, head towards Mecheri and then fork out to Iddapadi. Even that's a decent option. Instead of Iddapadi you can also come to Tharamangalam and get on the Omalur-Sankari road. Its truck traffic no no-doubt. But it may not that bad as Iddapadi (just my speculation)

[srvm]

Originally Posted by pannags

Thanks, that was very detailed and helpful.

We are planning to do the three-ranga darshana during the end of the year. Can someone please update on the road conditions if you've done this recently?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by ampere

Totally missed this post of yours! And it was great to read it even though 2-years late. Come what may some of these interior roads have their own charm to be driven on.
......

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad that my post is useful after 2 years!
I did travel around Shivanasamudra and Mecheri/Edappadi in 2 separate trips in September 2021. So here are some updates.

Visited Melkote and Madhyaranga temples on 27th September 2021. Road conditions from Srirangapatna to Bannur has deteriorated since 2019. Many potholes. But doable in daylight if one is careful and at moderate speeds. Bannur-Malavalli-Shivanasamudra is a delight.

Most important update is Madhyaranga temple was under balalayam in September 2021. No priest was at the nearby makeshift temple when we went. Main temple was under repair/reconstruction. So please check with temple authorities before you plan the tri-Ranga trip.

Did Bangalore Coimbatore trip also in September 2021. Roads from Thoppur to Mecheri was very poor full of deep potholes. Roads improved only after Mecheri railway station crossing (overpass is under construction). The above information is not relevant to Tri ranga trip. But following is. Nangavalli - Jalakandapuram - Edappadi bypass was fine and smooth. Edappadi bypass to Sankagiri remains smooth, wide and super scenic. Hotel Vallalar at Sankagiri bypass on NH was closed this time (perhaps Covid effect on business?). So you need to find someplace else near Sankagiri for a food/bio break.

Hope this helps. Please do post your experience if you do make this wonderful trip.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Anyone did the Srirangapattana - Shivanasamudra - Srirangam route in the current month? How's the road conditions on this loop?

Edit - Specifically I would need help on the best route from Shivanasamudra to Namakkal.

KK

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

Anyone did the Srirangapattana - Shivanasamudra - Srirangam route in the current month? How's the road conditions on this loop?

Edit - Specifically I would need help on the best route from Shivanasamudra to Namakkal.

KK

Quoting myself since the edit time is up -

One route shows - Shivanasamudra - Hanur - Thamarakarai - Anthiyur - Bhavani - Namakkal

Another is - Shivanasamudra - MM Hills - Mettur - Omalur - Salem bypass - Namakkal - Though this route is 30km more than the above, the time is only showing as 5 to 10mins more.

Which one should i opt for? Planning to leave early tomorrow morning from Bangalore.

TIA.
KK

[ravib]

Originally Posted by KK_HakunaMatata

Quoting myself since the edit time is up -

One route shows - Shivanasamudra - Hanur - Thamarakarai - Anthiyur - Bhavani - Namakkal

Another is - Shivanasamudra - MM Hills - Mettur - Omalur - Salem bypass - Namakkal - Though this route is 30km more than the above, the time is only showing as 5 to 10mins more.

Which one should i opt for? Planning to leave early tomorrow morning from Bangalore.

TIA.
KK

Here is my 2 cents in general, though i didn't travel exactly in same route, but part of it few months back.

In general, till you reach TN border, roads in KA side are not good, especially in remote areas/village rural , except for very few good stretches but not for good distance. So that you are mentally prepared to drive up in slow speed with potholes.

I would recommend you to take Anthiyur route more than MM Hills, Mettur-Omalur route for 2 reasons.

1) TN Border to Anthiyur to Bhavani and all the way till Namakkal and beyond to SriRangam ( via Thuraiyur route ) should be good. Its more scenic too. Don't take Musiri route towards SriRangam from Namakkal. Look up to Bangalore-Trichy thread for more latest updates.
2) Mettur to Mecheri to NH7 road widening work was going on to add shoulders, hope it would have been complete by now, but not sure. However, once you reach Omalur to Salem is painful to drive due to bridge diversions and irritating traffic (particularly 2W). So in net effect, KA side bad roads, and then road widening work and then heavy traffic will make you more tired and hence its only a 2nd choice.

-Ravi

[ampere]

I would any day suggest MM Hills/Mettur option. It’s a known route but goes up and down the MM Hills. But post Salem you can do Thiuraiyur route, which would lead you directly to toll gate.


I had driven on MM Hills to Mettur long back. It’s usually 2-lane decent roads with with minimal traffic till MM hills. Beyond that it’s very less till Mettur. And there on its the usual TN traffic. No idea how the roads have changed these days.

[KK_HakunaMatata]

Originally Posted by ravib

Here is my 2 cents in general, though i didn't travel exactly in same route, but part of it few months back.

In general, till you reach TN border, roads in KA side are not good, especially in remote areas/village rural , except for very few good stretches but not for good distance. So that you are mentally prepared to drive up in slow speed with potholes.

I would recommend you to take Anthiyur route more than MM Hills, Mettur-Omalur route for 2 reasons.

1) TN Border to Anthiyur to Bhavani and all the way till Namakkal and beyond to SriRangam ( via Thuraiyur route ) should be good. Its more scenic too. Don't take Musiri route towards SriRangam from Namakkal. Look up to Bangalore-Trichy thread for more latest updates.
2) Mettur to Mecheri to NH7 road widening work was going on to add shoulders, hope it would have been complete by now, but not sure. However, once you reach Omalur to Salem is painful to drive due to bridge diversions and irritating traffic (particularly 2W). So in net effect, KA side bad roads, and then road widening work and then heavy traffic will make you more tired and hence its only a 2nd choice.

-Ravi

Originally Posted by ampere

I would any day suggest MM Hills/Mettur option. It’s a known route but goes up and down the MM Hills. But post Salem you can do Thiuraiyur route, which would lead you directly to toll gate.


I had driven on MM Hills to Mettur long back. It’s usually 2-lane decent roads with with minimal traffic till MM hills. Beyond that it’s very less till Mettur. And there on its the usual TN traffic. No idea how the roads have changed these days.

An update on the route and road condition.

Did the Tri Ranga Darshana yesterday and in short very happy to report that i did not possibly have a single bad patch in the entire route i took Yes, you read this right, read along for more info.

After my first message and revert from ravib, i was confused of the route to take and also changed my choice of car from Jetta to Rexton, in hindsight regret making this change as i now want to do this loop on the Jetta

This is the route taken (I have edited some of the roads to show the route i have taken and hopefully this link captures what i have edited).





1. Bangalore to Srirangapattana - Mysore highway, nothing more to talk about.

2. Srigangapattana to Shivanasamudra - via Bannur, Malavalli - Road condition is good

3. Shivanasamudra to Sriragam - I will break this down, since this has different kinds of roads

a. Shivanasamudra to Chamarajanagar 55kms - Single Road, condition is good, nothing to complain, may expect some traffic since it passes via Kollagala & Yelandur.

b.Chamarajanagar to Punajanur 33kms - Single road, mostly forest route which is part of the larger BR Hills forest. Road condition is great, could spot some deer's, which is an icing on the cake in otherwise a temple run.

c. Punajanur to Sathyamangalam (Sathy) 44kms - Single road, again, consists of forest route, but this time on the Tamil Nadu side and enter the Dhimbam ghat & hairpin bends, this was a pleasure to drive, good roads and bends. I took the Rexton on the ghat road for the first time and was pleasantly surprised by its turning capabilities, body rolls were contained very well. I was wishing I had chosen Jetta here.

d. Sathy upto Karur by pass road 122kms - Passing via Kodiveri Waterfalls, Kolappalur, Thingalur, Perundurai by pass and proceeding towards Karur by pass which further merges with NH81. This is the most unexpected and highlight of the drive with most of the route single road (and scenic too) and butter smooth. Really enjoyed driving this route and this is where I thought changing my route was well worth it despite a little higher distance and also missed my Jetta the second time. I would dare to say this piece was more enjoyable than the Anchetty loop i have driven/ ridden which most Bangalore drivers/ riders here can relate to.

e. Karur by pass to Srirangam temple 85kms - NH81, nothing more to say. Even the single road further is good, may find traffic of trucks, quite a lot.

I will take this route again if i am doing this loop, unless I know that it has gone bad.

KK

[ravib]

On Dec 26, 2023, i posted a reply on this thread, but never knew/imagined that a year later on same Dec 26th, 2024, i will be taking the same Tri-Ranga yatra. That was a natural coincidence that happened.

Just 2 days before on 24th, decided to go for Tri-Ranga yatra , because 26th Dec 2024 is an auspicious Ekadhashi day its good to see 3 ranganathars on same day. Spoke to srvm and gratitude for his guidance and help with the route as he and his family did the yatra back in 2019 before covid in same Maargazhi/Dhanur maasam. I just followed almost the same route as what he did.

Quickly booked a hotel for 25th Dec night stay in SriRangapatna, so that its easy to start darshan early in the morning.

On Dec 25th Christmas day, started from Bangalore around 2.30 pm and it took solid 1 hour to reach Mysore road due to heavy city traffic. Took a short tea break, entered Mysore express way finally reached SriRangapatna around 5.30 pm.

A pleasant surprise was , to see all KA registered vehicles were driving in more disciplined way in proper lanes and steady speed to avoid fines. However, non KA vehicles were over speeding.

That evening, visited Shri Karighatta Srinivasa temple and Nimishamba temple and rested for that day.

Adi Rangam Darshan (SriRangapatna Ranganatha Swamy)

On 26th Dec, Started at 5 am and reached SriRangapatna (Adi Rangam) Ranganatha swamy temple around 5.30 am and noticed very heavy crowd and parking was full. Highly recommended to blindly take the special entry darshan , because free entry darshan was super crowded.
Even special entry darshan took 1 hour in queue and additional 20 minutes to see other deities and exit the temple around 7 am.

Had breakfast in near by idly and packed few snacks/biscuits as we knew there won't be good restaurants around lunch time in forest route towards.

Left SriRangapatna around 8 am and reached Shivanasamudram around 9.30 am via Bannur-Malavalli.

Madhya Rangam Darshan (Shivanasamudram Ranganatha Swamy)

Again there was so much crowd and a long queue outside the temple. Vehicles were parked in both sides and again parking was bit difficulted.
Noticed numerous Tempo Travellers and cars doing Tri-Ranga yatra as srvm mentioned in earlier post.

Waited in queue for about 45 minutes. There is no special darshan tickets. Its just a simple one queue which is good and keeps moving.
Since main Temple is still under renovation, Perumal and Thaayar statues are still kept in next small building which is temporary one. At this pace of speed, guess it will take another 2 years or even more for the admin to complete the renovation for main temple to be functional.

Left Shivanasamudram around 10.30 am and drove via Kollegal-M.M.Hills-Mettur-Edappadi bypass-Sankagiri-Thiruchengode-Namakkal-Trichy.

Reached Namakkal around 3 pm for lunch break , despite 45 minutes delay due to local villagers protest before MM Hills. After 30 minutes lunch break, took Namakkal-Musiri-Thottiyam-Kulithalai-Karuru byepass road and reached SriRangam around 5.15 pm.

Anthya Rangam Darshan (SriRangam Ranganatha Swamy)


Took short break for tea and reached temple around 6.30 pm. Darshan starts only at 7.30 pm. So after seeing other deities, went to stand in the queue for perumal darshan. It was high unorganized unfortunately and crowd was very very high.
After standing in queue for about 1 hour, got darshan around 8.30 pm with much difficulty and then had a quick darshan of Renganayaki Thaayar around 8.45 pm and left temple around 9 pm.

That completed my Tri-Ranga yatra successfully from morning 5 am to night 9 pm by grace of Ranganathar.

Recommendations:
1) Start as early as possible around 5 am at SriRangapatna, if you are doing TriRanga yatra in Dhanur/Maargazhi month. Other months, temple won't be open that early, so you need to plan your timings accordingly.
2) Since time is critical to cover all 3 ranganathar darshan, Do take special entry darshan tickets to save time and overcome crowd.
3) Ensure you have sufficient and heavy breakfast in SriRangapatna itself as lunch won't be proper and in time.
4) Carry sufficient snacks, biscuits , that helps to eat
5) If possible, recommended to have more than one drivers as it will be a long day and long drive for entire day.
6) There are no good decent hotels/restaurants with clean rest rooms after SriRangapatna, till you reach Salem/Namakkal except for one in Malavalli near to bus stand. So plan the timings accordingly for ladies/senior citizens for breaks.
7) Do take only Hanur to MM Hills route to reach Mettur and completely avoid Hanur to Rampura route towards Anthiyur.
8) Do book online tickets for Trichy SriRangam darshan upfront.

Road Conditions

1) Bangalore to SriRangapatna -Nothing new to add. Great roads.
2) SriRangapatna to Madhya Ranga via Bannur-Malavalli-Shivanasamuram => Good scenic roads
3) Shivanasamudram - Kollegal - Hanur-MM Hills (Male Mahadeswara Hills) - Good roads in general and occasional potholes here and there till climbing up to MM Hills.
4) MM Hills - Mettur - Edappadi bypass - Sankagiri - Tiruchengode => Good roads all throughout. Narrow village roads between Edappadi bypass to Sankagiri but still good to go. However, there is good truck traffic till Thiruchengode.
5) Tiruchengode to Namakkal => Excellent and empty 4L roads
6) Namakkal to Musiri to Thottiyam and switch to south bank of Cauvery river via KUlithalai-Pettaivaithalai => Great roads all throughout.
7) Pettaivaithalai to Trichy => Good roads however, gets narrow with heavy traffic as we approach Trichy city.

Route Taken
Thanks to srvm for suggesting the below route. Road conditions were all good throughout.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/rhStkf6PjgFc9sJS6


Hope this helps

-Ravi

[srvm]

Originally Posted by ravib

On Dec 26, 2023, i posted a reply on this thread, but never knew/imagined that a year later on same Dec 26th, 2024, i will be taking the same Tri-Ranga yatra. That was a natural coincidence that happened.......

Very glad that you could do the tri-Ranga darshan this Dhanur maasa.
Very useful update on the route conditions. Thank you so much .

[Laxmistart]

Originally Posted by ravib

On Dec 26, 2023, i posted a reply on this thread, but never knew/imagined that a year later on same Dec 26th, 2024, i will be taking the same Tri-Ranga yatra. That was a natural coincidence that happened.

Thank you and really appreciate for sharing this useful information.
I am going to bookmark this post and add it to my bucket list.