Travel Log:
Places: Bangalore – Madurai – Sri Rangam – Trichy – Bangalore
Duration: 2 days (12-December-2013 to 14- December 2013)
Day 1:
Started from Bangalore by train at 11:10 P.M (Nagercoil Express)
Reached Madurai at around 8:30 A.M on 13th December
It was a good idea to travel by train as the temple is very near to the railway station. At the railway station, there were a lot of people offering to help us find a hotel. But, we ignored them all and went to find our own hotel. We got decent rooms at “Hotel Shree Kanna”. Even though it was only 9:00 in the morning, we had realized by then that A.C is not a luxury but a sheer necessity. So, we got a nice and cozy A.C room at around 1000 bucks for a day.
We started walking towards “Meenakshi Sundareshwara” temple. It was about 1 K.M. from the lodge, which was an added advantage. The temple is situated right in the center of the city and you don’t have to ask for any directions. (Asking people for directions, especially if you don’t know Tamil is a serious pain in the ass.)
We were greeted by the Gopuram in the west direction of the temple. It was the first sign depicting the magnanimity of the sight we were about to savor.
If you closely observe the first tower, there is a board indicating the direction on it. Unless you remember the board, it is impossible to track back from which side you entered the temple. The temple has 11 towers. After clicking a few pics, we entered the temple. There was a big queue for Darshana. After looking at the huge gathering of people, we decided to opt for Rs.100 special Darshana. Still, it was 2 ‘O’ clock when we walked out. While waiting in the queue, I decided to take a few pics and do a little research on the carvings present on the pillars.
One particular repeating sculpture caught my eye. It’s supposedly called ‘Veli‘ in English. It’s a mythological hybrid animal, which has the body of a lion, an elephant’s trunk, head of a beast, tail of a serpent and a human penis.
After a good Darshana, we went out of the temple and decided it was time to have lunch. A simple Tamil Nadu style restaurant ‘Gowri Shankara’ is where we went for lunch. It had good foursquare reviews. And the reviews turned out to be true.
After a sumptuous lunch, we went back to our room. When I searched to find nearby places of interest, I found many options. But, I decided to start with “Gandhi Museum”. The garment that Mahatma Gandhi wore when he was shot dead is preserved in this museum. It’s about 4 km from temple and is open between 9 A.M and 1 P.M, 2 P.M to 5 P.M. Unfortunately, the museum remains closed on all Fridays. I could take a few interesting pics.
After this, we decided to go back to the temple and see the leftovers. We encountered an interesting halwa shop. Apparently, this is open since 1901. The halwa was really lip-smacking. Also, the hall of 1000 pillars, the musical pillars, the enchanting statues of Natarajan, sculptures of Kali, oil paintings on walls were beautiful.
The day ended with sumptuous south Indian dinner.
Day 2:
After a good night’s sleep, we started towards Trichy at around 8:00 A.M in the morning. From the railway station, we took a city bus to Mattuthavani bus stand. A non-stop bus from Madurai to Trichy took only about 2 hours to cover 140 odd kilometers. From Trichy, we took another bus to Sri Rangam, the island town. We reached the temple at around 11:00. We opted for the Special Darshana, paying 50 bucks.
A few pics:
There were some interesting sculptures here too.
Warrior on a horse, attacking a tiger.
At around 5, we decided to make a move. Most internet reviews suggested that Rock fort temple is a must visit place. So, we took a bus going towards Trichy. This was truly the most beautiful part of the trip. The view from the top of the temple is unimaginable. A few pics:
(View) 2 new friends (Murali Manohar and Dev Prasanna)
Church at trichy
After a sumptuous dinner, we took a train to Bangalore.