Temples around Nagercoil

Trip Plan

Trip members: Karthik, Sanjeev

Trip date:  31 Aug - 1 Sep 2024

Trip Plan : Chennai - Nagercoil - Thiruvattaru - Chengal - Kanyakumari - Suchindram - Nagercoil- Thirparapu - Nagercoil - Chennai

The plan was to visit couple of 108 Divya Desam temples in and around Nagercoil and extended it to a complete 2 day trip covering few more popular temples and tourist spots.

Started by Anantapuri express and reached Nagercoil Town station around 8 AM. 

Day-1

Weather at Nagercoil welcomed us with great delight - mild rains, grey clouds, lush green hills and chill winds - a great start to the trip!

Reached Sanjeev's house to refresh and we started with a breakfast at Hotel Aaryas. Our first objective was to visit the Thiruvattaru temple, the longest distance of the whole plan first.

Thiruvattaru Adikesava Perumal Temple

The temple is located 25 kms from Nagercoil town and around 8 kms from Marthandam. One of the 108 Divya Desam temples, Lord Sri Adi Kesava Perumal is a massive 22 feet long in Bhujanga Sayanam and to be worshipped across 3 parts of feet, body (navel) and face through three different doors. This is alike Srirangam and Padmanabhaswamy temples. The temple is surrounded by 3 rivers and one has to climb 18 steps to reach the first prakaram of the temple. The temple timings are 4:30 am – 11:00 am; 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm. The temple has ample parking space and rest rooms.

We visited the temple at 10:45 and it was almost closing time. Next, we visited one of our colleague's place to collect some honey and then proceeded to a popular Mahadeva temple.

Chenkal Mahadeva Temple

Chenkal is 25 kms from Thirvattaru enroute to Trivandrum. The Chenkal Maheswaram Sri Sivaparvathi Temple is one of the tallest Shiva Linga in India. The Shivalingam is at a record height of 111.2 feet, and also built with 8 floors inside. One has to buy a ticket to visit these floors for Rs.150 per person. Each floor is dedicated to each of the energy centers of human body - Muladharam, Svadhistanam, Manipuragam, Anahatam, Vishuddhi, Angya and Shashrara.

The temple is said to be built with water, sand and soil from various holy places like Kashi, Rishikesh, Gangotri, Rameswaram, Danushkodi, Badrinath, Gomukh, and Kailash were also mixed with the construction materials.

Reaching Kanyakumari

We came out of the temple around 1 PM and going back to Nagercoil could be waste of time. We planned to visit temples in Kanyakumari area and drive towards Madaikadu Bagavathi amman temple. The curvy roads and sea view at times made it an interesting drive and reached the place by 2:45 PM. The temple was suppose to be open only by 5 PM and we planned to have lunch. We had lunch at a veg restaurant - around 5-6 kms from Madaikadu at Hotel Venkateswara Bhavan and Thingal Market.

The drive all the way in this area is very exciting and the views are refreshing.

Post lunch, we drive towards Kanyakumari and reached the Kanya Bagavathy Amman temple around 4:45 PM. We spent few mins in the temple and cherished the divine blessings of the Balambika. The temple timings are 6:00 am – 11:00 pm and 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

We then spent some time seeing the views from Kanyakumari beach of Vivekananda Rock and Thiruvalluvar statue and walked back to the car.

Chothavilai beach 

We drove down to Chothavilai beach for the Sunset view. Chothavilai beach is around 9-10 kms from the main tourist area of Kanyakumari. The beach is very scenic and beautiful, given its elevated sands and the lengthy coast line view. Truly a not so crowded beach and we sat down and relaxed for some time enjoying the sunset view.

Around 6:30 PM, we decided the return and stopped at Suchindram.

Thanumalayan Temple

Thanumalayan Temple at Suchindram is a big temple in the district and very popular. The main deity at the temple is the trinity of Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva together. There are separate main sanctums for Lord Shiva as Lingam and Lord Vishnu as Perumal apart from almost 30+ sanctums around the prakaram including a very tall Anjenayar.

The day we went to the temple was very aspicious - Sani Pradhosham and it was crowded with thousands of devotees - almost all of the locals around were in the temple. We spent time going around the temple and visited the surrounding sanctums and seeking blessings from the Urchavar who was going around the inner prakaram. The temple was decorated with so many lamps and it looked absolutely stunning and divine.

We spent around 30-40 mins and decided to come back the next day to see the moolavars as the the presiding deity of utsavars were still being carried around and celebrated.

We returned back home, had dinner and hit the bed really tired.

Day-2

This day was actually suppose to be light, but the day being Ayilya natchatra was special for Lord Adishesha.

Nagaraja Temple

We were in Nagercoil and what better than visiting the Nagaraja Temple on his birth star day!

We were urged to goto the temple by 4 AM so as we complete the dharshan well before massive swelling of the crowd from around Nagercoil. We obliged and reached the temple around 04:30 AM. We joined the dharshan queue and had a fantastic dharshan of Nagaraja, Lord Ananthakrishna and Lord Shiva - the three important sanctums. We were fortunate to come out by 5 AM, by which massive crowds starting making to the temple.

The temple timings are 4:30 am – 12:00 pm and 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

We had couple of more temples to visit apart from the pending Suchindram temple. The first one was to visit one of the two Divya Desam temples as per the actual trip plan - Thirupathisaaram.

We also very blessed to see a beautiful sunrise!

Thirupathisaaram Temple

Thirupathisaaram Temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams and hosts Lord Vishnu as Sri Kuralappa Perumal / Thiru Vazh Marban. The temple is around 7-8 kms from Nagercoil.

The main diety is of 9 ft tall and made of stone, lime, jaggery and mustard (Kadu Sarkarai Yogam). This is also the birth place of Nammalvar's mother. Perumal is called so as Goddess Lakshmi lives in the chest of Lord Vishnu. The temple timings are 4:30 am – 12:30 pm; 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm.

Suchindram again

After a great dharshan at Divya Desam temple, we visited the Suchindram temple again. This temple, void of almost any sort of crowd, we visited every sanctum and leisure and had a great dharshan. The temple timings at Suchindram are 5:00 am – 12:00 pm; 4:30 pm – 9:00 pm.

We then had breakfast in Hotel Aaryas in Nagercoil and planned to go to Kumarcoil.

Kumaracoil

Kumaracoil is a very ancient temple hosting Lord Subramanya. The temple is approachable from Nagercoil at a distance of 10-11 kms. There are around 40 steps to climb and reach the main temple. The place is also called Veelimalai. Here, Lord Muruga is in the form of married with Valli.

The beautiful 10 foot Murugan in Valli Kalyana Kolam is stunning to see and one cannot resist to see more than one time. The place is popular for offering hair, first food for new borns and many more prosperous moments in life and seek his blessings. The temple was slightly crowded given that it was Sunday, yet, we had great dharshan.

Having exhausted all our list of temples, we decided to give it a shot to visit the very popular waterfalls in the district - Thirparapu.

Thirparappu Waterfalls

Thirparappu Waterfalls is actually closer to Thiruvattaru, and we skipped on Saturday as we were visiting multiple temples. This waterfalls is around 28 kms from Nagercoil and was a 45 min drive for us from Kumaracoil.

This is cascading waterfall from the surplus of river Khodaiyaru. There is an entry ticket to entry to waterfalls area. The waterfall was at its fullest best to take bath. Even a little more water would not let tourists take a bath. We used the locker facility to keep our belongings and got into the water.

We spent close to 20-25 mins in the water and had amazing time. There was not much crowd and it was indeed a great experience in the waters. We started our journey back to Nagercoil - stopped inbetween and tasted the very famous Nungu Sarbath.

We also bought lot of local snacks - Nendram chips, chakkai (pala) chips, Mudiri kothu, thattai and the native fruit - Matti palam. We returned back to Chennai by the Kanyakumarai Express around 18:20 PM.

Popular temples of Ernakulam and Chengannur

Trip Plan

Trip members: Karthik, Sivakumar and Krishnakumar

Trip date:  06-07 July 2024

Trip Plan : Chennai - Aluva - Tiruvanchikkalam - Aranmula - Chengannur - Thiruvalla - Changanaserry - Kottayam - Chottanikara - Ernakulam - Chennai

Primarily, the plan was to visit 3 temples (2 Divya Desam and 1 Padal Petra sthalam near Ernakulam) and 6 Divya Desam temples in and around Chengannur. We also added few very popular temples enroute and nearby on the go based on time and route comfort.

We started by Trivandrum mail from Chennai Central around 19:35 and destined to Ernakulam.

Day-1

We had planned to complete 3 temples in Ernakulam to Tiruvanchikulam area by first half of the day and drive to Chengannur. We had booked a cab (Dzire) for 2 days on disposal with us.

Train Delays and Catch-up

The train was running late almost by 90-100 minutes, which was a big spoiler on our plan. Since the train was delayed, we had to re-plan instantly and called the cab to come to Aluva for our pickup instead of Ernakulam.

This instant re-planning saved us almost 2 hours of travel time and tried to control the lost time to some extent. We got down at Aluva railway station and refreshed at the AC waiting room around 8:30 AM. We had a very good breakfast at Hotel Anandha Bhavan and started out to the farthest temple  Thiruvanchikulam Mahadeva Temple by 9 AM.

Thiruvanchikulam Mahadeva Temple 

Thiruvanchikulam Mahadeva Temple is an hour drive from Ernakulam and 23 kms from Irinjalakuda. This is one of the 276 Padal Petra sthalam temples dedicated for Lord Shiva. This temple is very historic as this is where Sundarar and King Cheraman spent days together before starting to Kailash on white elephant. The temple timings are 5 AM -11 AM; 5 PM – 8 PM. Most of the temples in Kerala open early and close by 11 AM in the mornings. So, please plan accordingly when you visit temple trips in Kerala.

Sri Moozhikkalathaan Perumal Temple

We had a very good darshan around 10 AM and swiftly travelled to the next temple - Sri Moozhikkalathaan Perumal Temple - one of the 108 Divya Desam temples. The temple is present by the banks of river Poorna also known as Chalakudy river, near Aluva. It is said the Lakshmana had built this temple for Lord Vishnu. The temple is named so, as Lord Vishnu appeared before Haritha Maharishi and uttered ways to overcome Kaliyuga problems - hence "Thiru Mozhi". The temple timings are 5 AM -11 AM; 5 PM – 8 PM.

By the time, we came out, it was almost 11 AM and the temple nearby Ernakulam would have closed as well. We then decided to visit this missed temple, before we board the train on Sunday evening.

Enroute Chengannur

We then, visited Siva's relative, one who arranged cab for us from Thirupunithara. We took the route via Vaikom - Kumarakom - Kottayam to reach the farthest temple down south in our plan - almost a 3 hour drive from Ernakulam to Aranmula. We had lunch at Hotel Aryas at Vaikom.

The Chengannur Divya Desam temples are associated with Mahabharata and linked to each of the Pancha Pandavas.

Aranmula

We reached Aranmula temple around 4:15 PM. Krishna bought the very famous Aranmula mirror - made of glazed tile. The temple is located around 12 kms from Chengannur. The temple opened at 4:30 and we had darshan immediately. Aranmula's main deity is Sri Parthasarathy Perumal and the deity was so well presented with the moustache. The temple is also renowned for the paal payasam and we were blessed to taste it. The temple is located by the banks of Pamba river and associated to Mahabharata - this temple being built by Arjuna. Temple timings are 4:30 AM -12:30 PM; 4:30 PM – 8 PM.

Thirupuliyoor

Next temple was at Thirupuliyoor - Sri Maayapiran Perumal Temple. This temple is connected with Mahabharata and built by Bheema and also called Puliyoor Maha Vishnu temple. The temple also has a huge stone Gadhai at the entrance depicting the Bheema connect. The temple is 4 kms from Chengannur.

Thrichittat / Thirucchenkundroor

Thrichittat Maha Vishnu temple is within the town of Chengannur - also called Sri Imayavarappa Perumal Temple. This temple is connected with Mahabharata and built by the eldest of Pancha Pandavas - Yudhistra.

It was almost 6:30 PM and most of the temples would close by 7 PM. The rest 3 temples around Chengannur where on the route towards Ernakulam. We planned to visit these 3 on next day morning and drive towards Ernakulam.

We completed the spiritual day with a visit to the very popular Chengannur Mahadeva temple.

Chengannur Mahadeva temple

Chengannur Mahadeva temple is within the town of Chengannur - 500m from Chengannur railway station. The temple is very auspicious and hosts the representation of Arthanareeswarar in the main Lingam sanctum. The temple is quite big and would take 20 minutes to go around. Most of the temples close by 7 PM in Kerala and we ended the day.

We had booked our rooms at Hotel Amden; spacious and ok ok room. We relaxed nearby for some time. It also had pure veg restaurant Hotel Aryas and we had dinner there itself.

Day-2

Our plan was to visit the pending 3 temples at the earliest and try to accommodate few more popular temples as much as possible enroute to Ernakulam. The most important factor was that most of the temples in Kerala are open by 4 AM to 5 AM influenced us to start early and head in the right momentum.

Thiruvanvandoor

The first temple to visit was 6 kms from Chengannur - Sri Paambanaiyappa Perumal Temple. This temple timings were 5:30 AM -11 AM; 5 PM – 7:30 PM and we made it a point to reach there around 5:45 AM. We had a very pleasant darshan so early in the morning with almost only us in the temple. This temple is said to be that Divyadesam sthalam which was built by Nakulan.

Thiruvalvaazh

Next we visited the Sri Kolapira Perumal Temple at Thiruvalla. The temple is also known as Sree Vallabha Temple. This is 7 kms from the Thiruvanvandoor temple. This temple opens even earlier, with timings of 4:00 AM -11:30 AM; 5 PM – 8 PM.

One more very peaceful dharshan with almost none around in such a calm morning. By 6:15, we had completed these 2 temples.

Before we drove to the next and last of the 6 Divya desam temples in the area, we stopped by the very popular Bhagavathi temple at Chakkulathukavu.

Chakkulathukavu

Situated 9 kms from Thiruvalla, Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathi amman temple is very popular in the state. The Chakkulathukavu Bhagavathi amman is said to have terminated the 2 asuras - Sumbhan and Nisumbhan and liberated the devas from their torture. The temple is quite big, popular and crowded. The temple also has so many sanctums - Lord Shiva, Ganesha, Subramanya, Nagar, Hanuman and several others.

Thirukkadithaanam

Sri Athpudha Narayana Perumal Temple was the last temple for us as per the plan to visit near Chengannur. This temple is closer to Chenganaserry - 6 kms. Sahadevan from the Pancha Pandavas had built this temple. Temple timings - 4:00 AM -11:00 AM; 5 PM – 8 PM.

We were discussing about Chottanikara Bhagavathi Amman temple if we get time, and we got time. Enroute to Chottanikara, we planned to have breakfast at Kottayam. Entering Kottayam, we spotted a Mahadeva temple at Kottayam which is also a very popular temple. We stopped by and visited the temple.

Mahadeva temple at Kottayam

This temple is called Thirunakkara Mahadeva Temple - A 16th century temple built by one of the Kings back then, is a popular temple and one of the revered 108 Shiva temples of Kerala. The king was visited couple of other old temples at Vaikom (Vadakkumnathan) and one day had a dream of a suyambu linga in this location and built the temple.

Breakfast at hotel Anandh bhavan at Kottayam - Idlies, idiyappam, dosas, vadai and coffee - all of them were delicious and very good.

Chottanikara

We reached Chottanikara - 22 kms from Kottayam around 10:15 AM. The temple was too heavily crowded with almost few thousand people on queue for the darshan. We roamed around and understood there was a special queue for darshan with a payment of 1400 with Ghee samarpan for abhishekam. We paid and took the queue and had darshan in no time - we had an amazing dharshan and were out in 15 mins! Wow ... the crowd and a way out for a satisfactory darshan.

The temple is very auspicious and special in few ways.  The Goddess will be presented as Saraswathy in the morning, Mahalakshmi in mid-day and Goddess Durga by evening. This is one of the very renowned temples in the state of Kerala.

Having satisfactorily had darshan of all the temples we visited, we were very content and reminded of the only temple to visit in Ernakulam, which we missed on the earlier day because of train delay.

The mid-day is going to be void and we decided to visit Fort Kochi through Kochi Water Metro based on local advice.

Water Metro

India's first water metro - at Kochi! We reached the High court area after the Marine Drive and left the car at the parking space. We took one way ticket of Rs.40 per person to Fort Kochi and reached there in 12-15 mins. The whole experience of very clean and well managed Water metro station, the flashy boards and details, the Cochin Shipyard built electric boats transfers 100+ people in a single ride! The experience was great with the wide glass windows admiring the place around from the boat.

We reached Fort Kochi strolled around and settled in a road side eatery - Fort Kochi is very popular for these type of eateries. We had a Zucchini pizza, Kerala parotta (why to miss this while in Kerala) with Paneer masala! 

We strolled around for some time by the streets of Fort Kochi and returned back to the main land by Water metro again!

Thirukkaatkarai

The last of the temples that we planned to visit is located around 9 kms from the Ernakulam railway station - Sri Kaatkarai Appa Perumal Temple. The temple was suppose to open by 5 PM; and we reached early around 4 PM and took some rest.

The temple opened exactly on time and were the first to have a darshan. The temple timings are 5 AM -11 AM; 5 PM – 8 PM.

On the way to the railway station, we bought some local chips, and packed dinner. The whole trip though started with some delays, ended with lot of satisfaction and completeness.