Exploring River and Coastal Towns of Andhra

Trip Plan

The plan was for 4 days covering the popular cities and towns of Coastal Andhra and nearby - Rajahmundry, Kakinada, Machilipatnam, Yanam and Vijayawada. Primarily, we were planning to cover places of ancient temples and nature.

Members : Karthik and Sathish Raja 

Dates : 10 Sept 2021 - 13 Sept 2021

Trip route

Chennai – Vijayawada – Rajahmundry - Annavaram - Kumararamam - Kakinada – Draksharamam - Yanam – Machilipatnam - Vijayawada – Mangalagiri - Chennai

Day-1 - Chennai to Rajahmundry

As goes our travel plan every time (to make it a grand success!), reach the farthest point first - we planned to reach Rajahmundry on Day-1 starting from Chennai after Vinayaka Chathurthi - just 632 kms. Post a grand brunch, we started around 10:30 AM and the cruise mode was on right from Chennai Outer Ring Road. We had packed some food to have - Podi idli, so we dont run out of time to reach Rajahmundry!

The ECR - NH is quite fantastic to drive on and you get couple of fighter jet landing areas enroute! 

https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/200821/emergency-landing-in-place-in-chilakaluripeta-and-nellore.html

What else you need for a long drive! Closer to Ongole, we stopped on the NH and had the podi idlies we had with us around 2 PM and continued with the cruise mode; next stop for a tea closer to Vijayawada at 4:30 PM. We were confident to reach Rajahmundry by 6:30 PM; however, the highway work between Eluru and Rajahmundry plus the amazing Godavari bridge on the West side of Rajahmundry made sure we reached only around 7 :30 PM.

Open challenge

The West side bridge of Rajahmundry on the NH is one of the best off-road bridges one can imagine to do. With pits up-to 2 feet and tricks all around, one can ultimately enjoy off-roading experience! Dare to challenge the ride with a sedan!

Rajahmundry

We reached Rajahmundry by 7:30 PM and went to Kotilingeshwar Ghat - one of the 51 Shakthi Peets. However, we learnt that the temple shall be open from Sunrise to Sunset - literally 5:30 AM to 5:30 PM. We then checked into Hotel Urvasi. The rooms were very spacious and absolutely in budget for the comfort offered. Post check-in in Rajahmundry, what else - have a go at street food snacks and the famous rose milk! We spent the next one hour on tasting various street foods - mirchi bhaji, Tomato bhaji and more! 

Day-2 - The rally starts

Starting the day by 5 AM, first visited the Kotilingeshwar Ghat; and offered prayers to one of the 51 Shakthi Peets - Shri Vishweshwari Maa, representing the cheeks of the body part. The temple is right on the banks of the massive river - Godavari. There is ghat right in front of the temple. We spent around 10-15 minutes in the temple with almost none in the temple. Around 6:30 AM, we started from the temple and lit the NH towards Annavaram.

Annavaram

Annavaram is around 81 kms (2 hours) on the NH from Rajahmundry towards North. Sri Satyanarayana Swamy is the primary deity and the temple is treated next to Tirupati in the list of Holy shrines for Lord Vishnu. The temple is located on a small hill, called Ratnagiri - a climb for 4-5 hairpin bends - hardly 3-4 kms. The ride to the top is very scenic and its a one-way by the river Pampa. 

We did the special dharshan at the temple for Rs.200 each. The dharma dharshan would have take around 1 hour, whereas the paid dharshan took only 5 minutes for us to have a very satisfactory dharshan and seek the blessings. This is truly a must visit temple in Andhra. Very blessed to visited the temple.

We climbed down the hill and had breakfast around 8 AM at a local hotel - Puri/sabji and sambhar vada. The taste was sumptuous and the portion was quite elaborate for the order. We then started towards Pithapuram.

Pithapuram

Pithapuram is around 30 kms from Annavaram. The roads are quite good till reaching the town of Pithapuram. Pithapuram hosts a Maha Sakthi Peet - one amongst the 18 Maha Sakthi Peet temples. The deity is Puruhitika devi. There is a small hut structure depicting a local temple in narrow lanes of Pithapuram. The temple has a small idol claimed to be centuries old and the legend goes like whenever a grand temple was planned to be constructed it was dealt with nature's brutal force or war and never completed. That ensures that the idol is kept in a small hut like structure and worshipped.

Meanwhile, we also visited the other temple by the highway - Shri Kukkuteswara Swamy temple - dedicated to Lord Shiva, popularly known as Pada Gaya Kshetram. At this place, Lord Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva killed Asura called Gayasur. His head reached Gaya (Bihar), waist part reached Jajpur (Orissa) and feet (Padam) at Pithapuram (AP). In these three places, Sakthi Peet temples are situated and Puruhitika Devi's Sanctum is seen in this temple too. We prayed and seeked blessings in this temple too.

Inbetween, we also visited Sri Pada Sri Valli Samasthanam with presiding deity as Sri Dattatreya. We spent few minutes in this temple too before reaching  Shri Kukkuteswara Swamy temple.

Kumararamam

Kumararamam (the town is called Samarlakota) is around 16 kms from Pithapuram; however, because of a broken bridge/road, we had to take a de-tour, reaching Kakinada by-pass and then taking an extra 8 km route to Samarlakota. Kumararamam hosts Lord Shiva in the form of Bheemeswara Swamy – a 14 feet Spatika Lingam. The Lingam is very thin/narrow and the gigantic size of 14 feet is witnessed across 2 floors inside the temple. This is also said to be one of the oldest temples of India. The temple's ground floor helps the devotees to see the base of the Linga; one has to be climb few narrows steps to reach the first floor of the temple and see the top of the Linga! Truly mesmerizing!

Kakinada

We then reached Kakinada. The plan was to visit the beautiful beach of Kakinada overseeing the port, drive through the East cost road - by the waves of Bay of Bengal and have lunch. 

We first reached Kakinada Beach. The parking place is wide open by the beach. The beach had very low waves and still had a great view with a bunch of ships hovering around the Kakinada port and few industries on the other side. We spent around 20 minutes by the beach on mid-day, it was a pleasant weather with mild drizzles and not-so-sunny day.

We then, guided by our own Mr.Sathish, drove by the narrow (too narrow) roads by the coast. Literally it is by the coast, often waves were spilling over the car as we drive cautiously! Wow, one of the best roads to be on! On one side, it was great fertile land and other side of the road in few feet were the waves of Bay of Bengal. I dare to claim that not any other place in the planet may have such a fertile land and ocean so close by!

We then drove to the city to have lunch at one of the most popular places - Subbayya Hotel at Kakinada. It is said to be the number of varieties that makes it a grand feast! We had close to 35 varieties of food items on the plantain leaf - food was ok with respect to taste.

Post lunch, we were destined to Yanam - one of the regions of Pondicherry.

Yanam

Yanam is popular for the mangrove forests - Coringa wildlife sanctuary - and the river mouth of Godavari entering Bay of Bengal.  Yanam was a French Colony for close to 200 years and culturally a part of Andhra by all means. From Kakinada, The Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary is around 15 kms. The parking area can host around 20 cars and few bikes. There is an entry ticket and cameras are not allowed surprisingly; however, mobile phones are allowed. The entry timings are 9 AM to 4:15 PM.

Coringa sanctuary has beautiful wooden walkways and a watch tower to see the dense mangroves. We first climbed up the watch tower and it gave a grand view of the mangroves and the Korangi river running between the mangroves. We then walked around the mangroves hearing the different sounds of insects and birds. It was bad that cameras are not allowed.

We walked around for 20 minutes and reached the boat jetty. We took the 15 minute boat ride leading us to the mouth of the river and returned back. A definitely must-to-see location when you are nearby Kakinda.

Draksharamam

Instead of entering Yanam, we decided to visit the Draksharamam temple and then go to Yanam.  Draksharamam is 21 kms from Yanam and the roads were pretty bad - single and narrow roads, with too many broken places. We reached the temple around 5:30 PM.

Draksharamam is a small town hosting one of the 18 Maha Sakthi Peet temples - the Goddess is Manikyamabika Devi. The temple timings are 6 AM to 11.30 AM and from 4 PM to around 8 PM. This temple's main deity is Bheemeswara Swamy - another 14 feet Lingam, similar to the one we worshipped at Kurmaramam - a 2 tiered visit to see the base and top of the Lingam. The temple has good amount of parking area and we had a very good dharshan - no crowd. We spent around 15 minutes in the temple. Kurmaramam and Draksharamam are part of the Pancharama Kshetras of AP.

We reached Yanam around 7 PM. Yanam has very narrow lanes and navigating through the lanes was not an easy job as it was confusing and misleading with many a roads being barricaded as one-way. We had booked our rooms at Hotel Sarva Inn online before entering Yanam. The parking area was quite crampy, but the room was very spacious and absolutely comfortable. We spent the evening walking around Yanam's narrow crowded streets for local street food and dinner.

Day-3 - Yanam to Machilipatnam

We started the day pretty early around 5:30 AM; wanted to see the Godavari river bank and drive Machilipatnam and then to Vijayawada. Yanam has a beautiful river front by river Godavari - called The Beach Way. When we went, the river was running to the brim heavily. We could not reach closer to the river too because if it. However, we walked for few minutes enjoying the morning freshness by the river.

Next, we drove down to a Yanam Obelisk tower. The Tower is around 13 kms from the Beach Way. The tower seems to be built for some purpose and looks like it never served the purpose - it was orphaned.

Machilipatnam

Machilipatnam is around 168 kms from Yanam and the map showed as 5 hours. Unfortunately, the roads were completely ploughed for re-laying new roads and we ended up in one of the horrible drives! We were driving on first and second gears for almost 2 hours - we both took turns to drive!

We reached Machilipatnam around 1:30 PM after the exhausting road journey. There are very few places to see in Machilipatnam - mainly touching upon historical references - Bandar Fort, Kekini Mahal and local eateries.

Bandar Fort

The Bandar Fort was built by Dutch in 16th Century and historically used by Dutch, French and British as the power shifted. Essentially to be known is that this was the first ever fort built on the east coast that enabled business to flourish and help setup colonies in India. Closer to the fort is an Armory, where the East India company secured there arms and ammunitions. The fort is not maintained at all and often locals do not know what it is. The fort is strong enough to withstand several powerful and havoc wrecking cyclones and come of ages really!

We then tried located the Kekkini Mahal on Google maps; location is marked wrongly. We did figure it out by chance and it is under lock.

We then had good meal at RK mess - a locally popular mess. Post lunch, we started out reaching to the NH for a cruise to Vijayawada - our final frontier of the plan.

Vijayawada

Vijayawada is one of the bigger and finer cities of Andhra. It is located around 72 kms from Machilipatnam and takes around 1:30 hours - with heavier traffic, closer to the city. While entering the city, we booked for a premium stay as we were quite tired after 3 days of road trip and specifically, post the Yanam-Machilipatnam route! We booked Red Fox hotel which offered great discount for same day booking. We got it for around 2k as against 4k!

We checked-in and immediately planned to visit the most important place of the city - Shri Kanaga Durga Temple. The Kanaga Durga Temple is situated on the small hillock near the Krishna river. We reached the parking space, available in plenty through the Prakasam Barrage. The temple was expected to be crowded as it was a Sunday evening and also the Lord Vinayaka idols were being immersed in the river after 3 days of Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations. We read and learnt about the temple facilities and various dharshan options. There is a 7-storey stairs just enabling devotees to climb to the top of the hill. For paid dharshan, at Rs.300 per person; it also includes an elevator trip to the top of the hill and puts you almost into the main temple. Luggages and footwear needs to be left at the hill base. Also, mobile phones and camera were not allowed, however, we saw many of them take mobiles with them and picturing at the hill top.

We opted for the Rs.300 ticket and reached the temple in no time. The paid dharshan enabled a swift dharshan and ultimate satisfaction. The wait time was not of any interest as we would want to be safe during COVID times and also beat the queue. We then walked down from the parking area to the Prakasm Barrage. We spent few minutes seeing the idol immersion and walking across the bridge.

We started looking for dinner places. Vijayawada is popular for branded restaurants as well as locally popular and tasty outlets. We did our research and had few on our list. We opted to keep it simple and reached SSS idly shop. We had to wait in a queue for entry and on reaching inside the hut, we had to pay at the counter for whatever we want to eat and get the bill. The only food that is served here is idly. We had 3 idlies each and the highlight were the softness of idlies and more than that the yummy ginger chutney!

Day-4 - Caves and temples

The final day of the trip included few local sighting around Vijayawada and return to Chennai. Our primary item to do was check-out for the best breakfast and we went to Babai tiffen shop and it took very little time for us to realize that it was the best option! We had amazing pongal - super spicy with jeera, pepper and tons of curry leaves. The coconut and ginger chutney just made it so soothing!

Post the fantastic breakfast, we planned couple of places to visit - Undavalli and Mangalagiri. 

Undavalli caves

Undavalli caves are around 10 kms from Vijayawada and easily locatable on Google maps. Undavalli caves are four storeyed 7th century BC rock cut caves for sculptures depicting Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. The caves primarily host Lord Vishnu, few rishis and several unfinished sculptures. The main attraction is a gigantic Lord Vishnu sculpture in reclining position, worshiped by locals.

Mangalagiri

Mangalagiri is a very popular divine destination near Vijayawada, away by 13 kms. This is one of the 8 important Mahakshetrams in India. Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple also known as Shri Panakala Narasimha Swamy temple on a hill, where Lord Vishnu in the form of Narasimha appears as swayambu out of a rock. The deity is offered panakam as the offering and it is said that the panakam cannot be traced back where it goes. Part if it is offered as prasadam to the devotees.  The temple is open from 7 AM to 3:30 PM. There is a lot of parking space on top of the hill for cars.

At the bottom of the hill is Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple. The legend goes like Yudhistra (eldest of the Pancha Pandavas) is the founder of this temple. The temple has a gopuram - 153 feet high, one of the tallest gopurams of South India. This temple is open from 5 AM to 1 PM and 4 PM to 8 PM. Cars can be parked on a big parking space.

We then started back to Chennai by catching the great National Highway. The cruise mode was on! We stopped near Ongole at Blue moon Dhabha for lunch around 2 PM. There are no lots of restaurants by the highway; please be mindful of locating a place by not missing anything you see. We reached Chennai around 5 PM.  

Distances

• Chennai – Vijayawada – 452 kms
• Vijayawada – Rajahmundry – 157 kms
• Chennai – Rajahmundry – 632 kms
• Rajahmundry – Annavaram – 81 kms
• Annavaram – Pithapuram – 29 kms
• Rajahmundry – Kakinada – 63 kms
• Kakinada – Yanam – 33 kms
• Kakinada – Vijayawada – 221 kms 
• Kakinada – Draksharamam – 34 kms
• Yanam – Draksharamam – 21 kms
• Draksharamam – Vijayawada – 192 kms
• Yanam - Machilipatnam - 168 kms
• Machilipatnam - Vijayawada - 72 kms
• Chennai – Kakinada – 670 kms
• Chennai – Nellore – 260 kms

Temples around Sirkazhi - Karaikal

About the Destination

The trip was primarily planned to cover ancient temples in and around Sirkazhi, Karaikal, and across them. We planned to visit a few of the 276 Padal Petra Sathalangal of Lord Shiva and a cluster of 108 Divya Desams at Annan Koil (Thirunangur).

Trip members: Karthik, Vijay, Siva, and TP
Trip date:  17, 18, 19 May 2019
Trip Plan : Sirkazhi - Tharangambadi - Karaikal

Route :: Chennai - Cuddalore - Sirkazhi - Tharangambadi - Karaikal - Chidambaram - Panruti - Tindivanam - Chennai

Night Stay at Sirkazhi

We started by Friday evening by car around 5 PM and reached Sirkazhi around 10 PM. The plan was to visit a few temples around Sirkazhi - Karaikal and on the way visit Tharangambadi. The temple trip is covered in this blog while blog to share the experiences at Tharangambadi is here.

We had dinner at Cuddalore - Hotel Anandha Bhavan. We had typical south Indian items like dosa, poori, and other items. All were quite good and so was the service. We had our rooms booked at Hotel Grand White Palace at Sirkazhi. We reached Sirkazhi by 10:15 PM and checked in. The hotel rooms were spacious, comfortable, nice mattress, and clean rooms. The sleep quality was very good. Parking is available at the hotel.

Day-1

Temples of Sirkazhi

We started the day by 6 AM and the plan was to complete 3 temples within Sirkazhi before moving out of the town towards Karaikal.

Temple Name: Sri Brahmapureesar Temple / Shri Sattainathar Temple

Deity: Sri Brahmapureesar / Shri Sattainathar, Tirunilai Nayaki
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. The temple has three different Shiva shrines in three stories. The three shrines are - Shivalingam (Brahmapureesar), a colossal image of Uma Maheswarar (Toniappar) at the medium level, and Bhairavar (Sattanathar) at the upper level. The temple is also known for the legend of Sambandar. Sambandar as an infant was blessed with poetic abilities by Goddess Parvathi.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 4 PM to 9 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located in the main area in Sirkazhi and easy to locate.
Google Maps location code: NCN014

Temple Name: Tirukkolakka Shiva Temple

Deity: Sri Shabdapureesar / Thaalapureeswarar, Osai Kodutta Nayaki
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. Sambandar was blessed with golden cymbals in this place. Hence, known as Taalam Udaiyar Kovil.
Timing : 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM, 4:30 PM to 8 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple.
Additional Info: 1.5 km from Shri Sattainathar Temple
Google Map Code: NCN015

Temple Name : Sri Thiruvikkrama Perumal Temple (Divya Desam)

Deity : Thadalan, Lokanayaki
About: This is one of the 108 Divya Desam Temples. Lord Vishnu is in Vamana avatar in this temple with his left leg above his head and questioning where to put his next foot.
Timing : 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM, 4:30 PM to 8 PM.
Parking: Parking near the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located 1 km from the Sattainathar Temple.

We then had breakfast at the Hotel Chola Inn. We were the only ones to be present for breakfast and it looked like they were surprised. They took some time to serve puri, dosa, and idlies. They were good. We then set the direction towards the next cluster of temples towards Karaikal.

Annan Koil - 11 Divya Desam Temples

The next destination is Annan Koil which is 8 km from Sirkazhi. There are 11 Divya Desam temples in this circuit (Nangur Vishnu Temples) around Annan Koil in a distance of 5-7 km; out of which we visited 9 of them. We gave two of them a miss - Madhava Perumal Temple and Thiru Paarthanpalli due to time. The information about these temples is tabulated here for quick understanding instead of briefing separately.

For all the temples, parking is just near the temple through narrow roads or in front of the temple. There are local people who offer to come as a guide for Rs.100. We did it ourselves with the help of Google maps. Almost all the temples are open from 8 AM - 11 AM and 5 PM to 7 PM.

Lord Shiva started dancing in anger and fury at this place after the death of Goddess Uma due to the yajna (sacrifice) of Daksha. Each time Lord Shiva's lock of hair touched the ground, there were eleven forms of Shiva who appeared and this gave birth to an endless number of it continues. Other deities were worried that if the dance continues, it would result in severe destruction. Lord Vishnu came for help, Shiva's anger was reduced and he requested Vishnu to appear in eleven forms like he did. Lord Vishnu appeared in eleven different forms at Tiru Nangur. Hence, the eleven temples in Tirunangur are located.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temple Name: Thalachangadu Shiva Temple

Deity: Sri Shankarunadheshvarar / Sri Sankaaranyeswarar, Soundara Nayaki
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. This temple is a Mada kovil - in an elevated platform. This temple is where Lord Vishnu got the Conch (Shangu) as His weapon from Lord Shiva. The temple has a sanctum for Lord Vishnu also.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 5 PM to 7 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple by narrow lanes.
Additional Info: The temple is located 17 km from Sirkazhi on the left side towards Tharangambadi - 100 m from the highway - Opposite to the temple - Sri Naan Madhiya Perumal Temple.
Google Map Code: SCN045

Temple Name : Sri Naan Madhiya Perumal Temple (Divya Desam 25 - Thalaichangadu)

Deity : Naan Madhiya Perumal
About: This is one of the 108 Divya Desam Temples. This temple is a place where people wishing for a blessing from Moon come and pray. Lord Vishnu helped Chandra to get out of the sins committed and wore him as his ornament.
Timing : 9 AM – 12:30 PM ; 3 PM – 5:30 PM
Parking: Parking on the road near the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located 17 km from Sirkazhi on the right side towards Tharangambadi - 200 m from the highway - Opposite to the temple SCN045.

Tharangambadi (Tranquebar)

The weather was absolutely hot by then around 11 AM. By 11 AM, most of the temples shall be closed. We decided to go to Tharangambadi from thereon and reached Tharangambadi by 12:30. We had Nongu and Tender coconut on the way. The travel experience with Tharangambadi is shared in a separate blog here.

Post Tharangambadi, we reached Karaikal by 1:30 PM. We had lunch at Hotel Sri Kandaas. They have an air-conditioned dining room on the first floor. The meals were quite ok, typical south Indian meals, good service, hot rice and a lot of veggies. parking is difficult; need to stop in adjacent streets. We then checked into the Hotel Uniq Inn. Uniq Inn is located on a shopping complex building on the 4th floor. Parking is in the open area by the front side of the building; no restaurant. The rooms are quite spacious, lift available, clean mattresses, and bathrooms. No frills place, some mess like hotels available nearby, and nothing more. Not suggested for people not coming by their cars as access to temples, bus stand, and restaurant is difficult.

After taking some rest, we left the rooms by 4:30 with the plan to visit three temples in Karaikal and the beach. We skipped Thirunallar temple as it was a Full moon day and a lot of rush could be there.

Temple Name : Tirumeniazhagar Temple (Thiruvettakudi)

Deity: Sri Thirumeniyazhagar (Sri Sundareswarar), Soundara Nayaki, Lord Punnaivananathar
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. This temple is a locally very popular temple with 2 sanctums for Lord Shiva. Lord Punnaivananathar is behind the main sanctum of Sri Sundareswarar and gets all the abhisekhams. Arjuna performed Penance here and obtained the Pasupathasthiram from Lord Shiva in this place. Lord Shiva came as in hunter form with Parvathy and argued with Arjuna for a hunted boar. Upon convincing in the argument, Arjuna got the Pasupathasthiram from Lord Shiva.
Timing : 6:30 AM to 12:00 PM, 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located close to the entry point of Karaikal from Tharangambadi. One needs to go for a km from the ECR to reach the temple - Temple arch can be seen on the main road.
Google Map Code: SCN049

 

Temple Name : Karaikal Ammaiyar Temple / Somanathar

Deity : Karaikal Ammaiyar / Somanathar
About: This is one of the popular Shiva temples in Karaikal and the home place of Karaikal Ammaiyar, a staunch Shiva devotee. This is the place where Chandra lost his beauty and prayed to Lord Shiva to regain the same. There is a shrine for Karaikal Ammaiyar as well as Lord Shiva.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 5 PM to 7 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple by narrow lanes.
Additional Info: The temple is located 1 km from Karaikal bus stand on the ECR road.

 

Temple Name: Yazhmurinathar Temple, Dharumapuram

Deity: Yazhmurinathar / Dharmapureeswarar, Thenamirthavalli
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. A 5 tiered gopuram and the temple is known for Lord Shiva granted darshan for Yama after Yama tried to take the life of Markandeya. Yama's sin was banished here. Another legend is that Yazhpanar, the instrumentalist (Yazh) with Sambanthar for these songs, could not play for a song of Sambanthar and decided to break the Yazh. Lord Shiva himself appeared and played the Yazh and also danced for it at Dharumapuram.
Timing : 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 5 PM to 9 PM.
Parking: Parking outside the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located around 3 km from Karaikal bus stand and 1.5 km from Karaikal Ammaiyar temple.
Google map code: SCN051

 

Evening by the Beach

After visiting the above temples, it was 6 PM by then. We then visited Karaikal Beach. The parking area and beach are quite distant when compared to many other beaches across Tamilnadu. The beach was quite slushy as well. Policemen were sending back people by 6 PM and not allowed after - a sorry state definitely. There is a park-like place with shops on one side of the beach, which we did not go. Not a great beach and can give it a miss.

 

We returned back to the rooms by 8 PM. We had dinner at a small mess - hot idlies recommended at the reception of Uniq Inn. The idlies were piping hot with sambhar and 2 chutneys and were excellent. The idlies were disappearing as were got ready so fast. A very long day and we were all very tired to hit the bed immediately.

Day-2         Ancient Shiva temples

We had planned around 6 temples to see on Day-2 before starting the drive back to Chennai. Most of the temples planned were remote ones and we were sure that they shall start after 8 or 9 AM only. We started the day by 7 AM and visited one of the temples which we could not see because of Paurnami poojas on Day-1 in Karaikal.

Temple Name: Karai Koilpathu Shiva Temple / Parvatheeswarar Temple, Karaikal

Deity: Sri Parvatheeswarar, Parvathi Amman
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This temple is a locally very popular temple locally. The temple is built in a way that the sun rays fall for 10 days on the main deity Linga in Tamil month of Panguni. Chaya Devi, wife of Sun reported that her husband is not affectionate to her and her father cursed Sun. This made the Sun lose its shine. Sun prayed to Lord Shiva to regain the shine and this place then onwards called Bhaskara Lingam.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
Parking: Parking outside the temple on the road.
Additional Info: The temple is located close to Karaikal bus stand within 1 km.
Google Map Code: SCN050

We had breakfast at Hotel Raman opposite to Karaikal bus stand. The Tiffen items were all good and very big portions. One item was more than enough for a person to have. The quality was also quite good here, better than other places in Karaikal.

The rest of the temples we planned to attend very remote on single roads and google maps were good enough to reach. We ended up going to each of the temples we planned, however only 3 of them were open - one after calling the person and waiting for 1 hour - Parasalur Shiva Temple, which disappointed and delayed us to complete our plan. Each of the remote temples was one of 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams of Lord Shiva and were not operated as per the temple timings :(

Temple Name: Thiru Vilanagar Shiva Temple (Vilanagar)

Deity : Sri Thuraikattum Vallalar / Uchira Vallalar, Veyuru Tholi Ammai
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. The temple is located 7 km east of Mayiladuthurai. Sambandar could not cross the place because of heavy floods in river Cauvery. The saint was looking for some help and Lord Shiva in the disguise of hunter helped with directions.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located 7 km from Mayiladuthurai on the way to Sembanar Koil - SCN042. Temple arch can be seen on the main road.
Google Map Code: SCN040

Temple Name: Sembanarkoil Shiva Temple (Tiruchemponpalli)

Deity: Sri Swarnapureesar Temple / Semponar Temple, Maruvar Kulazhi
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. Sun rays fall on the main deity for 12 days in the month of Chithirai. This is as a result of Sun being blessed by Lord Shiva for curing his illness. Also, Lord Parvathy performed penance here to wash her sins for stopping her father Daksha's  Yagna, for which Lord Shiva was not invited and the Goddess was instrumental to invoke Veerabadhra form from the Lord.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located around 10 km from Mayiladuthurai; at Sembanar Koil. Temple arch can be seen on the main road.
Google Map Code: SCN042

Temple Name: Parasalur Shiva Temple (Tiruppariyalur)

Deity: Sri Veeratteswarar, Dhakshapureeswarar
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Stalams. This temple is one of the Ashta Veerataanam temples - the ones that were formed as a result of Lord Shiva beheading Dakshan by performing Thandavam - called Daksha Samhara Moorthy. This temple is the place where Dakshan performed the Yagna and got beheaded by Veerabhadra. Since Daksha was a king, Lord Shiva after beheading him is known as the King and one needs to kneel down to worship and walk backward to come out of the main prakaram. The temple is very special and serene. It is said that this place all the rishis and tapashvis were present here and regarded as Dhakshina Naimisharanyam.
Timing : 6:30 AM to 12:00 PM, 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM.
Parking: Parking space available outside the temple.
Additional Info: The temple is located 4 km southwest of Semponar temple through narrow streets across the green paddy fields.
Google Map Code: SCN041

 

We then visited 2 more temples of the Padal Patra Sthalam temples and they were closed - Ponjai Shiva temple and Akkur Shiva temple. We then started towards Chennai via Chidambaram, Panruti - GST. En route, we stopped at Maleswaran Kovil - Lord Shiva as Dhakshinapureswarar. This is a new brick temple - Mada Koil for Lord Shiva built privately. We visited this temple for a few moments and started back to Chennai.

 

We stopped at Chidambaram for lunch at Hotel Krishna Vilas. We had meals, which was absolute homely, and reached Chennai around 5:00 PM.