[ampere]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Chennai - Veppur - Vridachalam Bypass - Jayam Kondam - Andimadam - Gangai konda cholapuram - Meensuriti - Anaikarai - Kumbakonam.

Why Anaikarai? If you dont have anything to visit like Gangai konda Cholapuram, the best option beyond Jayamkondan is to continue to T-Palur. Thats the best option. Also I am not sure about Anaikarai. Not very clear when its closed and when open.

This is the best route as of now with just a small stretch after jayamkondam bad. started from chennai at 12.30 PM and reached Govindapuram near Kumbakonam @ 6 PM with 2 stops @ Vikravandi and Gangai Konda Cholapuram temple. Numerous options for lunch till Veppur.

Going via Anaikarai is a slight roundabout in my opnion if you coming down to Jayamkondan.

Kumbakonam - Mannargudi: Road is in decent condition till Alangudi after that is little bad.

This is good update. So looks like KMU-Nedamangalam is not good after all.

Mannargudi - Thiruthuraipoondi: Horrible condition with lots of potholes.

This option for critical for folks to hit Velankanni given Tanjore-Thiruvarur was bad. Now that we have decent north bound option, that aspect should be OK. But for south access this is not good especially places Vedaranyam.

Mannargudi - Muthupettai: Road is good. facilities none.
Kumbakonam - Mayiladuthurai: Road is good.

The first part is again good to hear. Have not tried that approach.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ampere

Why Anaikarai? If you dont have anything to visit like Gangai konda Cholapuram, the best option beyond Jayamkondan is to continue to T-Palur. Thats the best option. Also I am not sure about Anaikarai. Not very clear when its closed and when open.


Going via Anaikarai is a slight roundabout in my opnion if you coming down to Jayamkondan.

This is good update. So looks like KMU-Nedamangalam is not good after all.


This option for critical for folks to hit Velankanni given Tanjore-Thiruvarur was bad. Now that we have decent north bound option, that aspect should be OK. But for south access this is not good especially places Vedaranyam.



The first part is again good to hear. Have not tried that approach.

Ampere,

2 reasons for going via anaikarai: 1: the temple is going to have kumbabhishekam on Feb2nd after 85 years. Wanted to take a look and show it to my daughter the grandeur and tell about the great history of Rajendra cholan. 2: my destination was Govindapuram and I wanted to try the thirupanandhal - Aduthurai road. Except for a bridge which is under construction this road is a decent one. Saved me the pain going around KMU through Bypass or going through KMU. from thirupananthal within 15 mins I was in Aduthurai. which would not have been the case with both the earlier options mentioned.

KMU - Mannargudi: is decent. till alangudi surface is good. after that surface is uneven and few potholes till needamangalam. after that till mannargudi its a good surface. covered the entire distance in 45 mins.

Mannargudi - Thiruthuraipoondi: the condition of this stretch was pathetic. Considering the fact this was in excellent condition till last year. there is a bridge construction going on just before kottur and the due to rains this stretch had turned in to a marshland. took about 1 hr and 35 mins which I used to cover in less than an hour.

While coming used the Muthupettai - Mannrgudi: this was a surprise. lots of twists and turns and surface was very good, no traffic but scarry as there was hardly any facility in between. In night i would not recommend this route at all.

[venki.bala]

Few more updates on KMU side:

KMU- NachiyarKoil - Nannillam: Horrible condition. Not a good route to go to Nagappatinam/Velankani through this road.

KMU - Kollumangudi - Nedungadu - Thirunallar - Karaikal - Nagapattinam/Velankanni: Except for 2-3 kms stretch on the border near Nedungadu, this road is in a great shape.

Thirunallar - Peralam: This road is also in good shape. while going i took the above mentioned route in return i took the Peralam road. road was small with speed breakers but condition was very good.

KMU - Papanaasam - Thirukarugavur : Great condition.

Thirukarugavur - Avoor - Patteswaram - KMU: This was a surprise package. No traffic as compared to the main Tanjore highway and road was decent. few great temples are on this road like avoor, oothukaadu.

Return to Chennai took KMU- Mayiladuthurai - Chidambaram Bypass - Cuddalore - Pondy - Tindivanam - Chennai. Cuddalore roads are being relaid. hence a bottle neck. Otherwise road is a beauty. it takes the same time as the veppur - vridachalam route but i would not recommend the pondy road just for the stress of driving. too much bus traffic. the veppur - vridachalam stretch is for a relaxed drive though distance wise it adds about 40 - 50 kms than pondy route but timing is almost the same if not more faster.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Few more updates on KMU side:

These are awesome updates. And just as you said, there are many many beautiful temples around this belt other than the big ones. Have had the chance to visit many of the them (wont dare to say most of them! ).

Opening up of the NH532 between Thalaivasal-Veppur-Vridhachalam bypass has improved travel times to this region especially for people coming from Salem/Bangalore. The only other big road-relaying work I remember was the SH22 (Pompuhar road) between Suryanaar temple to the Kumbakonam bypass.

As you mentioned the road to Karaikal from Kumbakonam has also improved by leaps and bounds and thankfully is not the main traffic bound road. This helps one to visit many temples around Peralam and be back in Kumbakonam very soon.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

KMU- NachiyarKoil - Nannillam: Horrible condition. Not a good route to go to Nagappatinam/Velankani through this road.

I had been on this route in August 2015. KMU-Nachiyar Koil wasn't that bad. Nachiyar Koil-Nannilam was bad as you say. I couldn't avoid since our destinations (Koothanur, Thiruppugalur) was closer to Nannilam. I didn't see any bus take the Nannilam route at all during the round trip.

The Nagapattinam bus we were closely behind, went towards (Kudavasal)-Tiruvarur.
---
Improvements on Kumbakonam-Karaikal is so good to hear. It was historically a disaster route. Wasn't too bad in 2010 taking 1:20 for the 58 km drive, it was being resurfaced in parts then.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by narayans80

I had been on this route in August 2015. KMU-Nachiyar Koil wasn't that bad. Nachiyar Koil-Nannilam was bad as you say. I couldn't avoid since our destinations (Koothanur, Thiruppugalur) was closer to Nannilam. I didn't see any bus take the Nannilam route at all during the round trip.

When I last updated on NH532, I had come down to these regions. We visited Koothanur, Thilatharpanapuri and Peralam during the later half of the day. I had half a mind to continue beyond Peralam towards Nachiyar kovil. But decided against. I came back to Kollumangudi and drove back to Kumbakonam. It was an absolute belter!

The first half of the same day we visited Vaitheeshwaran Kovil, Sirkazhi and Chidambaram before returning back and visiting the temples south of Mayavaram by evening.

Earlier we went around SH22 (Thirukodikaval. Thiruloki, Kadiramangalam apart from Suryanaar and Kanjanur). Thats when I realised, SH22 was getting re-surfaced.

Some snaps

Sirkazhi


Chidambaram




Peralam


Sunset on the way back towards Kumbakonam after crossing Kollumangudi.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

I travelled to Kumbakonam and I took the following route:

Chennai - Veppur - Vridachalam Bypass - Jayam Kondam - Andimadam - Gangai konda cholapuram - Meensuriti - Anaikarai - Kumbakonam.

This is the best route as of now with just a small stretch after jayamkondam bad. started from chennai at 12.30 PM and reached Govindapuram near Kumbakonam @ 6 PM with 2 stops @ Vikravandi and Gangai Konda Cholapuram temple. Numerous options for lunch till Veppur. After that facilities are very minimal. Gangai Konda Cholapuram temple is astounding.

I travelled to Kumbakonam a couple of days ago - Madras -> Ulundurpet -> Veppur - Vridachalam -> Jayam Kondan - Gangai Konda Cholapuram -> Anaikarai - Kumbakonam.

As you have mentioned it was a longer route - but the roads were good. On the way back, I came via Sethiathope for some distance (Google actually shows this route - Sethithope, Neyveli, Panruti and then Thindivanam) and the roads were awful. To add to the narrow roads, tractors were hauling carriages loaded with hay - leaving you little space to maneuver. Finally ended up retracing to Vridachalam and then took the bad roads to Ulundurpet.

Anaikarai is still a gamble. On my forward journey had to wait for 15 minutes to cross both bridges. They have posted people with walkie-talkie to communicate with the guys at the other end so that they can allow/block in unison. Surprising that they couldn't build broad bridges across the river Cauvery and we have to depend on the British built bridges to this day.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Anaikarai is still a gamble. On my forward journey had to wait for 15 minutes to cross both bridges. They have posted people with walkie-talkie to communicate with the guys at the other end so that they can allow/block in unison. Surprising that they couldn't build broad bridges across the river Cauvery and we have to depend on the British built bridges to this day.

There is no need to go to Anaikarai. From Jayamkondan, continue towards T Palur and cross the river. Its much better that way.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by Prowler

I travelled to Kumbakonam a couple of days ago - Madras -> Ulundurpet -> Veppur - Vridachalam -> Jayam Kondan - Gangai Konda Cholapuram -> Anaikarai - Kumbakonam.

Anaikarai is still a gamble. On my forward journey had to wait for 15 minutes to cross both bridges. They have posted people with walkie-talkie to communicate with the guys at the other end so that they can allow/block in unison. Surprising that they couldn't build broad bridges across the river Cauvery and we have to depend on the British built bridges to this day.

I second what Ampere has suggested. there is no need to take left from Jayam kondam towards Gangai Konda Cholapuram/Anaikarai, instead go straight to T.Palur and cross kollidam at Neerathanallur Bridge. This bridge is very wide. infact the entire truck traffic to Kumbakonam takes this bridge. Also this road ends right at Bypass. Easily you can navigate from here to all corners of Kumbakonam.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

This bridge is very wide. Infact the entire truck traffic to Kumbakonam takes this bridge. Also this road ends right at Bypass. Easily you can navigate from here to all corners of Kumbakonam.

Very true. In spite of the good, this route has too many humps though. One needs to be careful. Also after the bridge its a blinding road for 5-6 km till you hit Kumbakonam bypass. But still I would prefer this route any day compared to the uncertainty of Anaikarai.

A good hotel in Jaymkondan would have been ideal. But not much to depend on in these towns.

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ampere

. But still I would prefer this route any day compared to the uncertainty of Anaikarai.
.

Talk of uncertainity at Anaikarai makes me remember horrible experience that I had 6 - 7 years back. I was going with my family ( me, wife, daughter, dad and mom) and we were not aware that Anaikarai Bridge was closed for maintanence (Before Neerathanallur bridge was finished) and they were allowing only auto's to cross the bride or walk across. Our destination was Thirukarugavur. We were driving in an Alto and we were stopped at Anaikarai. People diverted us towards a small village road to T.Palur - Udayarpalayam - Paluvur - Thiruvaiyaru - Papanasam - thirukarugavur. Horrible roads. the Cement factory on that road meant excessive limestone carrying trucks and moon surface may be better than the condition of the road. not sure how the condition of this stretch is now?

[prabhuferrari]

What is the best way to reach mayavaram from chennai?

Option 1: Via tindivanam, pondy, chidambaram

Option 2: Via thindivanam, vridachalam, panruti.

Please advice. I plan to start at 5.30 AM from chennai. So I might reach Pondy by peak hours!

[hserus]

Panruti any day. Stay on the GST Road for as long as possible, the rest of the way has improved to a good extent after maha maham but is still narrow and two laned, choked with traffic

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Option 2: Via thindivanam, vridachalam, panruti.
Please advice. I plan to start at 5.30 AM from chennai. So I might reach Pondy by peak hours!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

Option 2: Via thindivanam, vridachalam, panruti.

Please advice. I plan to start at 5.30 AM from chennai. So I might reach Pondy by peak hours!

Vikravandi-Panruti-Sethiyarthope-Chidambaram bypass - Sirkazhi Bypass - Vaitheeshwaran Kovil - Mayavaram

If you plan to continue on GST till Ulundurpet to get to Vridhachalam, you might as well detour it further till Veppur and turn left to Vridhachalam bypass directly. Ulundurpet-Vridhchalam is quite rough and not fun driving.

I guess it may be a big detour. Would suggest Panruti option instead. Its really smooth from Chidambaram all the way to Mayavaram.

[prabhuferrari]

Originally Posted by ampere

Vikravandi-Panruti-Sethiyarthope-Chidambaram bypass - Sirkazhi Bypass - Vaitheeshwaran Kovil - Mayavaram



If you plan to continue on GST till Ulundurpet to get to Vridhachalam, you might as well detour it further till Veppur and turn left to Vridhachalam bypass directly. Ulundurpet-Vridhchalam is quite rough and not fun driving.



I guess it may be a big detour. Would suggest Panruti option instead. Its really smooth from Chidambaram all the way to Mayavaram.

Thanks. How is it from Vikravandi to Chidambaram by pass? Currently am before dindivanam. Have stopped for breakfast.