Kumbhkonam

II day.

We had a sumptous BF what with hot idlies, Vadas, dosa, and butter toast too, with hot coffee, couldnt ask for anything else, filled myself to the brim and then we started to Kumbhkonam.

After around one hour we reached Patteswaram temple, this is durga temple and the idol is covered with silver.
Darasuram..This is the Unesco heritage site, a hindu temple built in dravidian style..huge gopuram and shivling.
Nageshwara kovil....This is a shiva temple and known for its shrine of Rahu..its one among the navgrah temples.
Uppiliappan coil....This is very near to Nageshwaram temple and dedicated to Vishnu.

Now the times was around 12, the time for temples to be closed , so we looked around for a hotel and found Green Park...it was reasonably good, we had a big room with dining table and sofa,we didnt need all that but it was spacious and clean and with all the amenities too..like AC TV.We had lunch in their restaurant and it was delicious.Though they dont serve everything they list in menu.Then we took some rest, but when i am out , i dont feel like resting, so we went out around 3.30, and started from Sarangpani temple..But it was closed and they said that they would open at 4.30, but they didnt open till 5.30.So we just sat there..It has a very big chariot, biggest i have seen so far. It is said that this is the biggest Vishnu temple in south.

Next on my list was Ramaswamy temple, this is called the Ayodhya of south, as there are few temple here where we can see Ram sita, lakshaman , Bharat and Shatrughna..When we do parikrama we see the whole Ramayana depicted thru pictures all around,but all the description is in Tamil, so we cant enjoy them..

NAGESHWARAM KOVIL

DARASURAM

RAMASWAMY TEMPLE

KASI VISHWANATH

UPPILIAPPAM KOVIL

SARANGPANI

Kasi vishwanath..This is a shiva temple, deity being the same who is in Varanasi..it has Mahamman tank also and it is said that all sins can be washed away by having a bath there.

Outside Ramaswamy temple there are many tea shops and serve excellent tea, so good that i had two:)..I wanted to see the market but driver couldnt find parking ,so we had to go back to hotel and called it a day

THANJAVUR

I was planning for a long time to see the temple cities of Tn and this time on sakranti god fulfilled my wish.We made a three day trip
1 day..

we started from Chennai around 6 in the morning. whenever i get up early, it feels so fresh and rejuvenating that i promise myself that i am going to make it a routing, but sadly it never happens.Since I didnt know anything about either the cities or temple, my friend's DIL made a detailed itinerary for me, keeping in mind my preferences.and what a methodical person she is.I feel very grateful to her, as she did it on a very short notice.She had advised us to have breakfast at Neyvelli..ITC restaurant, but since we started a little late,(she had advised us to start at 5.30), our driver stopped somewhere on the way to eat..but the place was not good, neither the food nor cleanliness..

Around 11 we reached Chidambaram and saw Natraj temple its a very ancient temple of Shiv ,what a huge temple it is, one gets the feeling of complete awe.There were so many foreigners there and most of the women wearing silk sarees and I thought what an irony it is, our young generation finds it cumbersome and they are loving it.There all Swamis keep asking you about your address, but our friend had already warned us not to tell it to anyone.so we had darshan and came out. There are many restaurants outside, so one can have lunch there.

Then since it was closing time for temples we decided to travel to Thanjavur. On the way we had some tea and snacks.I found lot of thatched houses there, may be because of heat..In TN, it looks that govt hasnt gone to the interiors, development is limited to big cities only. There are narrow bumpy roads.But it was therapeutic to see so much of lush greenery.We reached there around 3.30 and went to see Thanjavur Palace first...Its not exactly palace like, just a reminder of that. Rest there are museums.for old manuscripts.and you will be surprised to know that even in 17th century medical people had full diagrams of our systems.There are different type of files,minute writings on tree barks...Then there are bronze statues and so finely carved that you can see the nails even beautifully...amazing craft and people we had..

Then we went to see Brihadeeshwar temple and it was the most beautiful and big temple I have seen, everything is so huge and amazing, even if one takes a parikrama it will take some time..I cant express in words..its impact on you...awesome..

THANJAVUR PALACE

CHIDAMBARAM TEMPLE

bRIHADEESHWAR TEMPLE

Then we looked for the hotel to stay. There were two good ones but they didnt have place and some were very expensive. Ultimately we found onePLA Residency..it was excellent, in everything.ambiance, comfort and cleanliness and reasonable too at 2200/ night inclusive of BF and what a sumptuous BF they had..perfect.Since the market was completely closed we had an early night.