[mah45]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Same road. It was average and doable at 60 kph types. This was roughly 20 kms.

Till Thiruvaiyaru roads were in excellent shape. I remember starting Chromepet at 420 am and reaching Swamimalai at 840 am for breakfast.

Thanks

Is the route from Perambalur to Thiruvaiyaaru a double road like say the Trichy - Karaikudi route ?
That would help save a lot of time than going through Vridachalam, Jayamkondam towns etc

4:30 hrs in any case is too good.
For us usually it takes 3 - 3.5 hours even to reach Ulundurpet with a 30 minute Breakfast stop in between

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by mah45

Is the route from Perambalur to Thiruvaiyaaru a double road like say the Trichy - Karaikudi route ?

Yes both are wide 2-lane road. Traffic was minimal in morning hours

[mah45]

Thanks for all the inputs
Just to update, I had to drop this plan last minute due to health issues.
Will plan sometime soon
Thanks again

[jasonbourne]

Originally Posted by RGK

Did Chennai - KMU yesterday. As said by Ravib, took Vridhachalam - Jayamkondam - Andimadam - Anaikaarai route. Started at 5.45 AM and reached at 11.15 AM with a short break. Started back at 4.20 PM and reached T Nagar at 10.05 PM.

Your post came at the right time as we are planning for a trip to Thiruvisanallur this month end for the Karthigai Ammavasai celebrations at Sri Sridhara Ayyaval Mutt and take a holy dip in the Cauvery river.

The route I am planning to take is

Kelambakkam >> Thiruporur >> Chengelpet >> Tindivanam >> Ulundurpet >> Vruddhachalam >> Jayamkondam >> Anaikarai >> Thirumangalagudi >> Thiruvisanallur

and stay the night at Mp Bhavani Mahal in Thirukkattupalli (our usual place of stay with good budget friendly rooms). We are then planning to visit our Native temple at Ariyur the next day and return post the pooja via the regular Chennai - Trichy Highway

[Donhere]

Thanks for all above updates.
I am planning to travel Chennai to Kumbakonam and to all navagraha temples during 4th week of Dec. I hope to take chennai - ulundurpet - vridhachalam - anaikarai - kumbakonam route and on return thinking of traveling via chidambaram, Pondy, tindivanam back.
Has anyone recently travelled? How is the route conditions especially after the recent cyclone/ rains?
Appreciate your inputs. Thanks.

[Donhere]

Has anyone recently travelled from Chennai - Kumbakonam? How is the road condition after recent rains?
Thanks.

[ravib]

Originally Posted by Donhere

Has anyone recently travelled from Chennai - Kumbakonam? How is the road condition after recent rains?
Thanks.

its good, if you take Tindivanam-Ulundurepet-Mangalampettai bypass-Vridhachalam-Andimadam-Jayankondam-Anaikarai-Kumbakonam route.
No issues in road conditions,except for couple of diversions due to known under construction road sections between Anaikarai to Kumbakonam.

-Ravi

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by ravib

its good, if you take Tindivanam-Ulundurepet-Mangalampettai bypass-Vridhachalam-Andimadam-Jayankondam-Anaikarai-Kumbakonam route.
No issues in road conditions,except for couple of diversions due to known under construction road sections between Anaikarai to Kumbakonam.

-Ravi

Yesterday I took the route given by Ravi. After anaikarai, thirupanandal bypass is not open yet. after that all bypasses are completed and open. becareful if you are going to Kumbakonam, you may miss the left and if you take the flyover you may end up in Thanjavur bypass. After joining meensurity its a breeze till Anaikari bridge. then till thirupanandal you go thorugh the old road. after that its all bypasses. virudachalam bypass till jayamkondam, there are 2 bridges which are work in progress. otherwise its a beauty. i started at 11 am from Avadi reached Madhanam Inn in Kumbakonam bypass at 4.45 PM after stopping for lunch at Tindivanam.

[Donhere]

Originally Posted by ravib

its good, if you take Tindivanam-Ulundurepet-Mangalampettai bypass-Vridhachalam-Andimadam-Jayankondam-Anaikarai-Kumbakonam route.
No issues in road conditions,except for couple of diversions due to known under construction road sections between Anaikarai to Kumbakonam.

-Ravi

Thanks Ravi. I will update after the trip.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by venki.bala

Yesterday I took the route given by Ravi. After anaikarai, thirupanandal bypass is not open yet. after that all bypasses are completed and open. .

Good to hear most bypasses are now done. Thirupanandal bypass will be much needed if we are going towards Kumbakonam city or Thanjavur further on. If we are going towards Thirunageswaram / Aduthurai etc it will be better to go via Thiruppanandhal. Hopefully the Anaikarai bridge is opened soon, that will be a big relief

[venki.bala]

Originally Posted by pypkmsrikanth

Good to hear most bypasses are now done. Thirupanandal bypass will be much needed if we are going towards Kumbakonam city or Thanjavur further on. If we are going towards Thirunageswaram / Aduthurai etc it will be better to go via Thiruppanandhal. Hopefully the Anaikarai bridge is opened soon, that will be a big relief

Yes. Thirupanandal Bypass work is in full swing and should be ready soon. Not sure about the Anaikarai bypass. Its a breeze after thirupanandal and you certainly will miss the exit towards Kumbakonam after koranad karuppur. The Hotel fellows confirmed the Kumbakonam - Thanjavur stretch is almost done and it takes only 30 -45 mins now in car. The only pain vikravandi - sethiyathope will hopefully get a new contractor soon and gets completed before next TN Elections atleast.

[Donhere]

Thanks Ravi and Venki.Bala. I travelled during the weekend. Good to see the real progress made in many of the roads in this region.

Travelled through Chennai-Tindivanam-Ulundurepet-Mangalampettai bypass-Vridhachalam-Andimadam-Jayankondam-Anaikarai route. Then via Tiruppanandal to Thirubhuvanam and then to Kumbakonam. stayed overnight. Road condition was really good. I should say it was a nice ride until Anaikarai.

Travelled to the navagraha temples. The road condition was broadly ok, many of the roads were newly laid / broadened. I am visiting these areas after many years and it was a pleasant surprise. Final leg after visiting the 9 temples was the stay at Thirukadaiyur.

On the return direction travelled through Thirukadaiyur - Sirkazhi - Chidambaram - Cuddalore - Pondy - Tinidivanam route. Thirukadaiyur to Sirkazhi - lot of work is in progress. Frequent diversions to either side of the road almost every couple of KMs. But Sirkazhi to Cuddalore SIPCOT, it was a real breeze. Excellently laid new road. Really enjoyed the ride.

Cuddalore to Pondy outer was painful traffic. After crossing Pondy, it was usual good roads.

Thanks.

[careind]

Originally Posted by Donhere

On the return direction travelled through Thirukadaiyur - Sirkazhi - Chidambaram - Cuddalore - Pondy - Tinidivanam route.
Thirukadaiyur to Sirkazhi - lot of work is in progress. Frequent diversions to either side of the road almost every couple of KMs. But Sirkazhi to Cuddalore SIPCOT, it was a real breeze. Excellently laid new road. Really enjoyed the ride.
Cuddalore to Pondy outer was painful traffic. After crossing Pondy, it was usual good roads.

Thanks.

This came at the right moment. I am planning a run to Thirukadaiyur from Chennai and I was wondering whether to take the ECR route or take the Ulundurpet/Virudachalam/Bhuvanagiri route.

Former may be shorter , but not sure about the road conditions from Pondy to Chidambaram. The latter would be slightly longer, but till Bhuvanagiri roads would be good and relatively stress free.
After that both would lead to travel on ECR.

What would you suggest based on your return trip on that road? Is the roundabout worth it to byepass pondy/cuddalore/Chidambaram? I would be travelling by XUV700 and would not worry much in terms of GC.

[Donhere]

Originally Posted by careind

This came at the right moment. I am planning a run to Thirukadaiyur from Chennai and I was wondering whether to take the ECR route or take the Ulundurpet/Virudachalam/Bhuvanagiri route.

Former may be shorter , but not sure about the road conditions from Pondy to Chidambaram. The latter would be slightly longer, but till Bhuvanagiri roads would be good and relatively stress free.
After that both would lead to travel on ECR.

What would you suggest based on your return trip on that road? Is the roundabout worth it to byepass pondy/cuddalore/Chidambaram? I would be travelling by XUV700 and would not worry much in terms of GC.

Hi, based on the recent experience, my preference would be to take the ECR. The road from Cuddalore SIPCOT to Sirkazhi is excellent about 60 kms of new 4 lane well marked concrete expressway type road.

In this option, the only bottleneck is about 25-30 odd kilometers from Pondy until you cross Cuddalore town. This is the usual 2 lane road, but the road condition is fairly ok, not many potholes or any road work. Most of the road work/shoulder expansion work seems to be finished. The concern is about the lack of center median for most part of Pondy to Cuddalore and the amount of traffic on this.

Once you cross Cuddalore town, it is a breeze till Sirkazhi. After Sirkazhi, there are diversions to drive on either side of the newly paved roads, ok to drive for most part of the distance. Hope you will find this information useful.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by Donhere

I travelled during the weekend. Travelled through Chennai-Tindivanam-Ulundurepet-Mangalampettai bypass-Vridhachalam-Andimadam-Jayankondam-Anaikarai route.

I did a visit yesterday. Started at 5:15 AM and reached Thirunagheswaram by 11 AM, with 2 short breaks. The road condition is good everywhere except after Vriddhachalam for a few kms till you reach the dual carriageway after crossing the bypass road. We really see that the work is going better now. At Meensuritti intersection, structures on service road/ NH 86 have been demolished for expansion.The journey to and fro across the Anaikarai bridges was completed in 10 minutes.There is a small diversion at Thathuvaanchery i.e.before making it back to Anaikarai.

Traffic at Vriddhachalam took extra about 15-20 minutes in the evening around 6 PM and we need a byepass here. Departed at 4:20 PM and arrived at 10:30 PM and traffic is very normal throughout the trip.