[figo_united]

Originally Posted by ampere

That was one amazing ride you had! Thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Also glad to hear that Thuraiyur route is a good to drive! Definitely worth taking it.

300Km in a day and covering all temples was also amazing.
Dont these temples close during the daytime (esp noon time) ?

Thanks ampere.
Even I had read that the temples will be closed from 1PM-4PM, But during that time, we were at the thirunallar shani temple, and it was indeed open, probably because it was a saturday? The next temple we visited was anyway around 4PM. So not really sure about this.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

Nice travelogue with a lot of information, figo_united.


I am sure you are also a fan of Hotel Saravana Bhavan [HSB] as I am. But, I regret to inform you that HSB you visited at Namakkal and Thanjavur are the fake ones. The genuine HSB chains in India are located at Chennai [many outlets], Kanchipuram [two], Vellore [one] and New Delhi [two]. I have found many fake HSB outlets in Kochi, Coimbatore, Pondicherry, Theni, Periyakulam and many other places in Tamil Nadu encashing on the popularity of original HSB. Please visit HSB's website for the locations of their genuine outlets:

Saravanaa Bhavan - Home

Thanks Ravi.
Yeah, I'm also a fan of HSB Started off choosing it as a rather safe option wherever I go in TN.
Cant believe that they have their outlets in only 4 places! I'd always thought they were the most widely spread restaurant chain in TN.
So even the madurai one, where I had a super lunch was fake?

[gajadonga]

Nice to see your travelogue and pictures.
Crossed Namakkal so many times but did not visit the Anjaneya there thanks for
sharing the photos.
Hope the road from Srirangam to Namakkal via Thuraiyur was good.
Hope the road near Pavithram town is complete for about 10kms.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by gajadonga

Nice to see your travelogue and pictures.
Crossed Namakkal so many times but did not visit the Anjaneya there thanks for
sharing the photos.
Hope the road from Srirangam to Namakkal via Thuraiyur was good.
Hope the road near Pavithram town is complete for about 10kms.

The route from srirangam to namakkal via thuraiyur is indeed very good. You'd enjoy driving there, with lots of trees on the road side for most of the stretch. I've also shared a couple of pics of that stetch.

[narayans80]

Dont these temples close during the daytime (esp noon time) ?

Not always, some have 1pm. I've been to Thirunageswaram and Uppiliappan Koil around 1-130 pm. Is Thirunageswaram open all the time, since they have the rahu kala abishekam ?
~~~~~

The route towards tirunallar from kumbhakonam has some really bad patches, and we needed almost 1.5 hours to reach. We have to go via kollumangudi to reach tirunallar.

Its far better than what it used to be. A decade or 2 back it took 2.5-3.5 hrs to cross and was a back, rim breaker :( Last time I visited in Oct '10, roads were patched in pieces. BTW did you note a Shell pump on the way (left going from Kumbakonam towards Thirunallar). Dont know if it is genuine, the shell site doesnt mention it.
~~~~
A trivia on Saravana Bhavan: The Decatur, Georgia restaurant was under the name Madras Saravana Bhavan and is now a HSB. Its the HSB i hate the most

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by narayans80

Not always, some have 1pm. I've been to Thirunageswaram and Uppiliappan Koil around 1-130 pm. Is Thirunageswaram open all the time, since they have the rahu kala abishekam ?

May be. I'd been at the thirunageswaram temple during rahu kala itself it was between 9 - 10:30 on the saturday.
and may be the shani temple in tirunallar was open after 1PM cos it was a saturday?[considered most auspicious for visiting the temple].

Originally Posted by narayans80

Its far better than what it used to be. A decade or 2 back it took 2.5-3.5 hrs to cross and was a back, rim breaker :( Last time I visited in Oct '10, roads were patched in pieces. BTW did you note a Shell pump on the way (left going from Kumbakonam towards Thirunallar). Dont know if it is genuine, the shell site doesnt mention it.

Yes, I did see the Shell pump there, but I dont fill diesel at shell as it costs almost same as petrol cost

[raju2512]

What a good trip you had. Thanks for the detailed writeup

The Thanjavur belt has innumerable temples , of course the nava graha temples being more popular. There are other magnificent temples like Tiruvarur, , Chidambaram, Vaitheeswaran Koil, Swami malai, Thirukadaiyur etc., in the 75km radius from Kumbakonnam not to forget the temples in Kumbakkonam town itself. It may take a week to cover the major temples in this region.

Next time in Trichy try to cover the Rockfort and the temple at Thiruvanaikoil (one the Panchabootha sthalas) which is hardly a couple of kms from Srirangam

[specialist1968]

Great write up. Thanks for the details. I have once visited the Suryanar Kovil at Aduthurai. Now I am excited about the prospects of making a visit to all the Navagraha Temples. Thanks for seeding the idea.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by raju2512

What a good trip you had. Thanks for the detailed writeup

The Thanjavur belt has innumerable temples , of course the nava graha temples being more popular. There are other magnificent temples like Tiruvarur, , Chidambaram, Vaitheeswaran Koil, Swami malai, Thirukadaiyur etc., in the 75km radius from Kumbakonnam not to forget the temples in Kumbakkonam town itself. It may take a week to cover the major temples in this region.

Next time in Trichy try to cover the Rockfort and the temple at Thiruvanaikoil (one the Panchabootha sthalas) which is hardly a couple of kms from Srirangam

Totally agree. It takes atleast a week to cover all the temples around that area! But this trip was specifically to visit the navagrahas, and I sqeezed in the other major ones in between.
Thanks for the info about the other temples there, will surely visit when I'm in that part next time.

Originally Posted by specialist1968

Great write up. Thanks for the details. I have once visited the Suryanar Kovil at Aduthurai. Now I am excited about the prospects of making a visit to all the Navagraha Temples. Thanks for seeding the idea.

I will pass on your thanks to Ranga, who seeded that idea in me

[Ranga]

Nice photos . Plan to Visit Thirunallar next week . Hope we can post some photos this time ( I missed my camera during my trip !!!!!)

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by Ranga

Nice photos . Plan to Visit Thirunallar next week . Hope we can post some photos this time ( I missed my camera during my trip !!!!!)

Thanks Ranga!
Thank you so much for all the information on your thread, was so helpful to me
Have a nice trip.