[GTO]

Madhav Sreedharan shares this link with Team-BHP.

Link to Information

He says

"This blog has a list of 108 divya desams (vaishnavite temples), its story, location, travel info etc in great detail. Anyone interested in visiting these temples can just go through the info in the blog and travel to these places. The travel info is up to date. Most of these temples are at least a 1000 years old and in a not-so-great condition because there arent many visitors to them unlike Tirupathi! So the darshans are peaceful and not the you-blink-and-you-miss kind of darshans at more famous temples, the priests dont care whether you put Rs.10 or Rs.100/ in the aarthi plate. Some of these are architectural wonders and believe me when I say each Balaji/Perumal is unique in terms of posture (sitting, standing, walking, lying down), color, avatar etc."

[sumathindra]

Thanks for this GTO. I have been on the lookout for this from some time now. I am sure many tbhpians will be interested in going to these devine places with their rides . I have been to a few places mentioned and trust me folks it is worth it.

[Gansan]

Anyone aware of these "Nava Tirupathi" temples? All of these are centuries old and I think will be found in the "divya desam" list as well. They are all in the earlier unified Tirunelveli district, now split between Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts. If one travels about 50 - 60 KM at a stretch, he can see all these temples in a single day. But there may be some zig-zag travel, as there is an order in which these temples should be visited one after the other. All are connected by good motorable roads.

Nava Tirupathi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Anyone aware of these "Nava Tirupathi" temples?

I've done twice. All are along Tiruchendur Tirunelveli highway. You can reach Srivaikuntam or any if the temples. Take an auto and visit all at a shot. Should take 3 to 4 hours starting at 8. Note the timings don't match across temples, so driving around yourself on first attempt is not advisable if you are having other plans. It can be done leisurely if you dedicate a day for it. Nanguneri had .two Divya desams that is attemptable same trip. One near material might be ambitious if you are short of time. Tirunelveli or Tiruchendur are the ideal base points. Roads from tuticorin aren't that good. Tiruttangal and srivilliputtur are very much attemptable too driving from madras or blr as these aren't much detour off nh7. If you need more details I can add let know. I have a picture of temple timings that needs resize to upload here

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by narayans80

I've done twice. All are along Tiruchendur Tirunelveli highway. You can reach Srivaikuntam or any if the temples. Take an auto and visit all at a shot. Should take 3 to 4 hours starting at 8.

Thanks.

I am planning to visit these temples mid-August.

I'd like to know how long it would take if I visit these temples at a leisurely pace - say I start from Tirunelveli at 0700.

Also, I'd be happy to see the temple timings.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

I'd like to know how long it would take if I visit these temples at a leisurely pace - say I start from Tirunelveli at 0700.

If you are self-driving, start at 630 from Tirunelveli and budget an entire day. It would take 30 min to get to Alwartirunagari (which is just off the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur main road).

Alwartirunagari, Thirukkolur, Thiruthenpirai are all less than a km away from the main road. Srivaikuntam is 2 km in (you'll be crossing Tamirabarani to the other side). The roads connecting other temples range from average to terrible. Though the total round trip will take no more than 20 km, the transit time would be more.

Except for Srivaikuntam, other temples are more or less (all for yourself).

You could stay one day at Tirunelveli and the other day at Tiruchendur to cover Nellayappar and Tiruchendur Murugan. Nellayappar Temple opens at 4pm and Iruttukadai right opposite opens close to 445-5ish

There are 2 more Divya Desams that are close to Nanguneri (the pic has their timings as well) which are pretty achievable from Tirunelveli. Chitra Park is a decent place with covered car park to stay in Tiruchendur, costed us 1500/day for a triple bed A/c.

The trip on Apr '07 started at 9am in Srivaikuntam bus stand and ended with Srivaikuntam temple close to noon. Costed 300 for the auto.

The Jan '12 started at 1020am in Thiruthenpirai, by 1pm we covered 7 (all except Alwartirunagari and Thirukkolur which were accessible from Tiruchendur-Tirunelveli road. This costed us 400 for the auto. This was achievable despite the fact that we had a 2 year old and my 65+ mom who walks pretty slow.

Vanatirupathi (aka Punnai Nagar) is a good place to fill your tummy . Its the home of HSB.

Virudhunagar-Sivakasi-Srivilliputtur is in good shape if you are looking to cover Tiruttangal and Srivilliputtur.

[maddyoni10]

While at the Thiru Ooragam temple at Kanchipuram last weekend, a gentleman gave us a hand-drawn map of the divya desams in Kanchi. It is in tamil. Will try and post a English Version later. This might help if you want to drive around instead of taking auto. Auto drivers charge about Rs. 1000 to 1100 to show the 14 divya desams in Kanchi. The 15th one (thiruputkuzhi) is about 12 kms away from Kanchi.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by maddyoni10

The 15th one (thiruputkuzhi) is about 12 kms away from Kanchi.

If you are driving your own vehicle, Thiruputkuzhi is easy to reach. The temple is just about 200 m off NH4 near the 82km milestone from Madras (Baluchettichathiram). Tiruparkadal is 1 km in off NH4 from Kaveripakkam (~ 100 km milestone from Madras). It would be easier to do these 2 on your own drive than taking an auto from Kanchipuram.

[maddyoni10]

Originally Posted by narayans80

If you are driving your own vehicle, Thiruputkuzhi is easy to reach. The temple is just about 200 m off NH4 near the 82km milestone from Madras (Baluchettichathiram). Tiruparkadal is 1 km in off NH4 from Kaveripakkam (~ 100 km milestone from Madras). It would be easier to do these 2 on your own drive than taking an auto from Kanchipuram.

Thank you very much! I just checked out the blog link at the start of this thread and realized that this temple is the earthly equivalent of 107th divya desam. To quote the blog, "Visiting these two temples is said to bear fruits equivalent to visiting the 107th Divya Desam (Thiruparkadal) which one cannot visit in this Bhoo Logam ". My weekend plan is made! Another very unique temple.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by maddyoni10

My weekend plan is made! Another very unique temple.

You could try seeing Sholinghur, Tiruvallur as a part of a half day trip. Ratnagiri Murugan (not a Divya Desam) is a further 24 km on the GQ. Tiruvallur is fairly crowded. Tiruparkadal or Tiruputkuzhi darshan can be done in a jiffy

[munishsurendra]

Originally Posted by Gansan

Anyone aware of these "Nava Tirupathi" temples?

I have heard of this but was unable to get much details, thank you for the details ! Planning to visit very soon.

[maddyoni10]

Attached picture is a map of Kanchi Divya Desams. I edited the original to write the names in English as promised earlier.

[Tempelhof]

Had a great trip to Nava Thirupathi on 16th August.

Left Bangalore on 15th morning at 0520.

Whitefield : 0520
Chinar (AAB) : 0630 (Breakfast)
Salem : 0845
Karur : 0930
Dindigul : 1030
Madurai (byepass) : 1130
Tirunelveli (inside the Hotel) : 1300.

Photos soon.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by Tempelhof

Had a great trip to Nava Thirupathi on 16th August.

How long did it take you my friend? Did you drive around?

[Tempelhof]

Originally Posted by narayans80

How long did it take you my friend? Did you drive around?

I took a taxi to visit the 9+ Temples. Did not take my Civic (though I took my Civic from Bangalore, I left it at the Hotel premises).

We left the hotel (AppleTree) at 0730; completed all the 9 temples by 1245, including a one hour wait at 'Then Thirupaerai' due to morning divine rituals.

Visited 'Vana Thirupathi' by 1345. Had lunch there at Hotel Saravana Bhavan.

Visited Thiruchendur at about 1530.

Returned to Tirunelveli at about 1645.

While visiting the 9 Nava Thirupathis, some of the bridges were under construction - so our Indica taxi had to get down onto the dry fields and get back on the road. Thank God, I didn't bring my car.