[abhi_tjet]

On the first day of year 2022 – me, my wife and my sister’s family were in queue for darshan in Trimbakeshwar temple, Nasik (one of 12 Jyotirlingas). We casually discussed if it will be possible to visit all the Jyotirlingas in a year.

Come November 2022 and by Dev Krupa(Almighty’s wishes), we were all set to visit Ramanathaswamy temple, Rameshwaram. Our 10th Jyotirlinga in the calendar year. As I am drafting this log, we are all set to visit the 11th one next month



This travelogue is about our visit to Tamil Nadu. Our initial plan was to visit Ramanathaswamy temple, Rameshwaram. As we started to plan in more detail, we added points of interest in our route and the ones which can be visited by taking slight detour.

Accordingly, below was the itinerary.
Day 1 – Pune – Hosur, TN (NightHalt)
Day 2 – Hosur – Madurai, TN (NightHalt) via Namakkal
Day 3 – Madurai – Rameshwaram, TN
Day 4 – Rameshwaram stay
Day 5 – Rameshwaram – Kanniyakumari, TN (NightHalt)
Day 6 – Kanniyakumari – Kodaikanal, TN
Day 7,8 – Kodaikanal stay
Day 9 – Kodaikanal – Davangere, KA (NightHalt) via Palani, Mecheri
Day 10 – Davangere – Pune.

Day 1

Early Start


As per above plan we left from Pune at around 5 AM on 26th November 2022. I had done Pune – Bangalore once in early 2018 and had a decent idea of what was about to come. The drive was uneventful. We stopped for breakfast at a McDonalds, Kognoli after just crossing into KA side. Wife had prepared sandwiches and it was only coffee which was needed. Continued onwards and we reached our night halt destination in Hosur at around 6:30 PM after covering around 900 plus kms.

McD Kognoli, KA


View from room


About property - Hotel ASR Parklane, Hosur. Decent hotel with parking space and average food. OK for a night with little to complain.

Day 2

Early start again

Today’s drive was relatively short with approx. 400 kms to cover. Left a while after 5 am and reached our first planned halt in Namakkal at Sree Anjaneyar Temple by 8:30 AM. Parking space nearby is big enough with narrow approach road. Had a beautiful darshan there. Since we were quite ahead of schedule, thought of visiting Narsimha temple just across the road and were truly mesmerized by the beauty.

The beautiful Anjaneyar temple


After taking all the blessing of God in empty stomach, it was tummy worship time. I had shortlisted a restaurant near by earlier and we walked down there. We had a hearty breakfast at Rukhmani Ammal Saiva Pure veg restaurant. It was our first time at a traditional south Indian restaurant and we couldn’t be much happier. Just loved the food, the serving in banana leaf, filter coffee, etc. A wholesome experience, I must say.

After filling the stomach with lip smacking food, we continued to our final destination for the day and reached Hotel TamilNadu Unit 1, Madurai (TN Govt property) by afternoon. The plan here was simple. Visit Meenakshi Amman Temple.

Meenakshi temple, Madurai


Hotel TamilNadu, My room was just above where my car was parked.

About property - Hotel is simple and better to keep expectation low. Room needs some renovation, especially bathroom. Place is big enough with parking space and complimentary breakfast. Also, temple area is in walking distance from this place. This was my primary criteria for booking the place. However, I will look for some other place if I visit again.
Visited temple after resting for a while. Despite the long queue and rush, had a wonderful darshan. Called it a day once we explored the nearby temple streets and had a wonderful dinner at Murugan Idli.

[abhi_tjet]

Day 3

We were excited for today since we were visiting the most important destination of this trip. Rameshwaram is close to 175 kms from Madurai and this means not much of driving. Left hotel at around 8:30 AM after having breakfast and reached Rameshwaram property around 1 PM.

Stopped at couple of places before reaching Rameshwaram.

Ariyaman beach




Villoondi Theertham - There is a fresh water well/bore here which was formed in between salt water areas when God Rama dipped his bow in the seawater to quench Mata Sita's thirst


Our hotel


About property – Rameshwaram Grand, near Railway station. Place though looked good online, wasn’t that good in actual. Complimentary breakfast was decent and open ground in front of hotel means no dearth of parking space.

Rested for a while and took an auto for temple to make the most of time despite the place being quite close.
Now there is an elaborate process to visit Ramnathaswamy temple. We tried to follow it to T.
It’s said that one should first take a dip in sea known as Agni Theertham. Afterwards, there are 22 Tīrthas in form of numbered pond inside temple campus in which a dip (temple staff takes out water from well and pours at you from a height) should be taken in order before queuing for darshan. These 22 Theerthams represent the 22 arrows of Bhagwan Sri Rama.
Temple had a big place to change clothes and it wasn’t much rush there.
Temple opens around 4 pm and dip section opens around 3 PM. We were bang on time and after following the steps as mentioned above, had a wonderful mesmerising darshan without any queue.

Temple's Southern Gate


The infinity architecture


It was evening time and we were a bit tired by now. So, decided to come back to the property and leave again later for dinner. However, I slept like a brick without even waking up for dinner. Good that we had a quick lunch in property via their in room service when we arrived at afternoon. One more reason to sleep early was Sphatik Mani darshan.
It is a special darshan, which opens at 4.30 AM in the morning every day and remains so only for an hour.

Day 4

Accordingly, woke up at around 2 AM, got ready and left for temple parking at around 3 AM. We were in queue before 3:30 AM and there was a queue like anything. There were at least 300-400 people before us in queue!
We kept patience and once the gate opened up at around 4:30 AM, we had a beautiful darshan – the sphatik lingam glows against the dark background of sanctum and leaves you speechless. We prayed to ‘Mahadev’ and were out by 5:15 AM, well before sunrise.
We had the entire day for us and visited lots of places.

First place we visited was Agni Theertham - A nice promenade kind of structure is created where you can watch sunrise/sunset, sit, relax or just absorb the vibe


Ramar Patham - Beautiful place to get a panoramic view


The actual temple also known as Gandhamana Tirtham


Brisy Beach - A beautiful secluded beach with beautiful roads leading to it. It was absolute silence here




GPS view


Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam memorial. Photography isn't allowed. It showed him with various dignitaries, his dresses, his meetings with world leaders, scale model of rockets, etc. Nice place to spent some time. Entry is free


Jada Theertham - This was a beautiful temple with acres of open space




Peacock sighting was very common




The company


Shri Nambunayaki Amman temple

[abhi_tjet]

Day 4 contd..

It was almost sunset time when we proceeded towards Dhanushkodi. Police doesn't allow people to stay in Dhanushkodi 5 PM onwards and starts pushing them to move back from Arichal Munai - The lookout area where National emblem is placed on top of a stambh.

Approaching Vibhishan temple, Rameshwaram. This is quite famous and hence there was lots of rush. Didnt clicked any pictures

https://youtu.be/sAVtcjqPSBg

Sun coming closer to horizon on our way back from Vibhishan temple


The beautiful road leading to land's end


The final structure


Last view before cloud captured the sun. No proper sunset


The trusted drive soldiering on


Night view of temple gate


Dinner needs a special mention. Ganesh mess near west gate of temple is a must visit place if you are into South Indian and pure veg food. I can’t stress it enough. This was the best meal of my entire trip. Economical as well. Despite giving a healthy tip, it was cheaper than a cup of Chai Latte at Starbucks.

Day 5

Arriving next day for Sunrise - They only allow traffic towards Dhanushkodi after 5:45AM-6 AM depending on the duty officers mood. So, we waited for around half an hour near checkpost before the officer let us go

https://youtu.be/wirI6oYHfYk

Cars are not allowed inside. Though there was no one to check, I still kept my car out and didn't took it inside for a quick click.




Sunrise capture was beautiful. Sun took its time and came out of cloud with some efforts








Linea didnt have a bad angle! Always ready to pose




Ruins

[abhi_tjet]

Day 5 contd..

After having a satisfying breakfast in the property, checked out at around 8:30 AM and left for Kanniyakumari. Reached the property at around 2 PM after covering a distance of around 300 plus kms and stopping at a couple of places.

View from Pamban bridge


Divya Desam Shri AadhiJagannatha Perumal Thirukoil Thirupullani - one of 108 divya desam


Sharing few clicks of property - Peacock sightings were common






Props


Lots of parking space


Sea side entry of property which is closed for vehicles. Guests can use this exit to visit beach and other touristy places


Restaurant



About property – Hotel Tamilnadu, Kanniyakumari (TN govt). This was the best property of our entire trip. Lavish open space, big spacious renovated rooms/bathrooms, rooms with wonderful view, decent breakfast, good staff with all touristy places in walking distance. Definitely recommended.

Freshened up and left for visiting Vivekananda Rock memorial. Ferries close quite early in winters


Thiruvalluvar Statue view from Vivekananda rock. It was closed for renovation


Ferry commuting tourists




Visited Arulmigu Bhagavathy Amman Aalayam(Kanniyakumari temple) as well. We didnt found any rush. Gents need to be topless in order to visit the temple. No clicks since no camera allowed. Took dinner in property itself and called it a day.

Day 6

View from Room


Southern tip of Indian mainland


Tsunami memorial




Left the property with below sound in memory

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ZZ-s5vI_k?feature=share

[abhi_tjet]

Day 6 contd..

Left the property around 10 AM after having breakfast. We were on leisurely pace since distance to be travelled was less for today. Accordingly, reached the Kodaikanal property at around 4:30 PM after covering a distance of around 350 kms.

Windmill farm gave us company for a while


Welcome to Kodaikanal - Silver Falls. It greets you as soon as you approach close to the hill station just after paying municipal toll


The property


Cottage and parking




About property - Hotel Tamilnadu, Kodaikanal (TN govt). Just like other govt properties, this too was huge with lots of props kept to enjoy with kids, take pictures and just soak in the natural beauty. However, not all was good. Rooms definitely need renovation. It wasn’t as bad as in Madurai but definitely could have been better. Breakfast was decent with good parking place. Location was quite good as well.

After settling in, went for a walk to Kodai lake. Didnt clicked any pics as it was getting dark. Explored the market around lake and came back. Just like always, sleep early, wake up early, start exploring places early. It was nothing different here as well. Benefit generally is you can visit couple of places with absolutely no one else to bother.

Day 7
Accordingly, got up early and reached Coaker's walk only to find it closed. We were on time, however, since it was kind of off season, the staff sometimes comes late.

Coakers walk - Since we came early, grabbed the opportunity to have a quick cup of tea


It was absolutely foggy and not much to explore. We left in 10-15 mts. PS - please ignore the background score. I absolutely suck at this

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qqqr8fLTljg?feature=share

View of property from Forest Officer's office. You need to visit here to get a pass if you want to visit Berijam lake and couple of other places which falls in forest area.

Address of Forest Office, just in case - District forest office, 6FQW+949, Laws Ghat Rd, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu 624101

Enroute Berijam lake

https://youtube.com/watch?v=1eKUBWvUO1w?feature=share

Approach road to lake. This is kind of last place in TN border towards Kerala. Its all forest from here.


Few lake pics - It was absolutely serene here. Traffic is regulated here and they dont allow more than 10-20 vehicles, I suppose. Roads are narrow with no network. Visit can only happen between 9am-5 pm. Pass is issued daily












Moir point


Pine forests. They say Raaz movie was shot here. Few scenes and a song.




Guna caves. We explored till the trail was blocked




Kodai lake view from upper road


Kodai lake


Bryant Park




We ended the day on this high note. Next day was even better!

[abhi_tjet]

Day 8

We woke up to a bright and chilly morning. It was cloudy and chill till now.

We were greeted with this view


Visited the beautiful temple of Lord Murugan near by which goes by the name of Kurinji Andavar Temple.


Breakfast at property was still not ready. So, utilized the time as shown in below pics. View from Hotel


Few property clicks




Utilizing the prop


Meme material


Visited Solar Observatory and it was a wonderful experience. Since we were early, we got the full attention of the staff. Got to observe the cooler spots on sun which ultimately results in Aurora Borealis. It was full circle for us getting to know the actual reason in detail having observed the Aurora in Lofoten Island, Norway


Natives occupying the look out point


Mannvannur lake - First view


Few pics of lake and the landscape












Landscape near by




Visited Natural History museum. It had lots of exhibits of animals, birds, snakes, fetus of various organisms, old coins, utensils, etc. Good for a one time visit.




Took a final stroll in evening near Kodai lake. Since it rained for a while, had a quick filter coffee in nearby cafe

[abhi_tjet]

Day 9

It was time to retreat. Left property after a hearty breakfast at around 8:30 AM.

Final morning at Kodaikanal


The awesome Palani ghat


Palar dam view point






Our first planned stop today was at Bhadrakali Amman temple, Mecheri. Considering the beautiful highways of TN, ditched the NH and thought of checking State Highways. Accordingly, proceeded via Palani – Dharapuram - Perundurai. We weren’t disappointed and except for crossing a couple of villages via some extremely narrow routes, it was all good and reached temple at around 2:30 PM after covering 250 plus kms.

Beautiful Bhadrakali Amman temple


We left from temple around 3 PM towards our final destination for 4th December 2022 in Davangere. Continued from Mecheri and joined NH44 at Thoppur. Took a small coffee break at Shell before the NICE road start and reached the hotel for night halt at around 10:30 PM after having a pathetic dinner experience at Hotel Apurva just before entering Davangere. Distance covered was around 450 kms. Total distance - 700 kms.

About property – Srigandha Residency. Pretty much average place. It should be considered only if no further option left. I was aware that its an average place but check-in experience and room ambience further made me regret.


Day 10
Woke up early, skipped the complimentary breakfast and made a dash towards home. Had breakfast at Haldiram’s, Kolhapur and were home by 2 PM. Distance covered on last day was around 600kms.

Only click from last day, Haldiram's, Kolhapur


Observations –
:- Encountered superlative road everywhere inside TN. I was truly amazed.
:- We weren’t stopped by cops anywhere. Heck, I rarely found traffic police anywhere.
:- Linea performed splendidly. We achieved a true overall mileage of 15 plus km/l for our entire trip of approx. 3700 kms.
:- I am in awe of Tamil Nadu temples. Such a beautiful architecture and how well preserved these are.

Final reading

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[CliffHanger]

A lot of beautiful places in Tamil Nadu visited at the beautiful time of the year. Yes, temples in Tamil Nadu are beautiful and mesmerising, should be planned in non summer months though. Thanks for sharing the travelogue, made for a good read on a Tuesday morning.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

We casually discussed if it will be possible to visit all the Jyotirlingas in a year

Very very inspiring thought
Hopefully my post inspires someone else to attempt (just like your inspired me to post) although we were blessed to pay tributes only to some of them in bits & pieces. I think it's very difficult unless one is really really dedicated (and ofcourse they've HIS divine blessing) to accomplish all 12 in a year; doable but difficult!!

List of 12 Jyothirlinga Temples
1. Ghrishneshwar Jyotirlinga, Aurangabad, Maharashtra
2. Bhimashankar Jyotirlinga, Maharashtra, Maharashtra
3. Trimbakeshwar Jyotirlinga, Nasik, Maharashtra
4. Somnath Jyotirlinga, Gujarat
5. Nageshwar Jyotirlinga, Gujarat
6. Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga, Madhya Pradesh
7. Omkareshwar Jyotirlinga, Madhya Pradesh
8. Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, Jharkhand
10. Kashi Vishwanath, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
11. Kedarnath Jyotirlinga, Uttarakhand
11. Mallikarjuna Jyotirlinga, Andhra Pradesh
12. Rameshwar Jyotirlinga, Rameswaram, Tamilnadu

Barring the 2 Jyothirlinga Temples in South, I think this should be the shortest route to cover the Temples in North, East & West corridors.

[GeeTee TSI]

Lovely write up, I especially admired your hotel choices, given my soft corner for sprawling state tourism properties and their extravagant parking space (right from MTDC days). As someone planning a TN temple journey soon, it reaffirmed my preference for TTDC hotels wherever possible, and surely your write-up will be revisited while planning

[mayukh42]

Nice travelogue. Inspired me to make another trip to these places

Had stayed in Madurai TTDC-1 in 2019 (their 2nd property is a bit on the outskirts) and I had exactly same observations like you. The only great thing about this place is proximity to the temple.

Kanyakumari TTDC seems to be renovated. The ground tiles were not there and the cottages were a bit shabby. We had stayed in their main building though which they claimed to be Heritage. Hard to beat this property if you want location and view in KK. This is also the southernmost hotel of India

Did you book TTDC through their website? Asking because we were unable to book when we went to Tiruchendur in Dec. The website had issues and we had to book one in Tuticorin (via Cleartrip).

[abhi_tjet]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words!

Originally Posted by mayukh42

Nice travelogue.

Kanyakumari TTDC seems to be renovated. The ground tiles were not there and the cottages were a bit shabby. We had stayed in their main building though.

Thanks buddy!
Yeah, looks like it was recently renovated. The bath fittings looked clean and freshly installed. We got the sea facing room just opposite to restaurant, ground floor of which also houses the reception.

This was our room. PS - Bed sheet was ours.

Did you book TTDC through their website?

We got a better price on booking from makemytrip for Kanniyakumari hotel. The one in Kodaikanal and Madurai were booked directly from ttdc.

[Arun_S]

Originally Posted by abhi_tjet

Yeah, looks like it was recently renovated. The bath fittings looked clean and freshly installed. We got the sea facing room just opposite to restaurant, ground floor of which also houses the reception.

I visit Yercaud and Kodaikanal fairly regularly, always book rooms in TTDC, inspite of the below average cleanliness.

Thing I like about TTDC is they have huge place, with ample parking, kids play area and food eventhough not an extensive menu doesn't affect your health.

In TTDC Kodaikanal, Wild Buffalo visits are pretty common, last time in Oct-22 when I visited, couple of them were just sitting in the park photo you have posted.