Thiruvalanchuzhi

This is the best place I visited during my Kumbakonam Trip. This houses "Swetha Vinayagar Temple" that is very very auspicious and has a lot of spiritual significance. The deity is supposed to be lasting the past yugas..!

Thiruvalanchuzhi is  a couple of Kilometers from Swamimalai that is about 6 KMs from Kumbakonam.
The temple is situated in a sprawling area..Has a number of imposing  mandapams.

This is one of the best temples I ever visited.See for yourself...!

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Click here for PHOTOS

Videos

Thiruvalanchuzhi Videos

Kumbakonam Temples

The intent of this blog is to provide as many photos as possible with some details that I felt could be useful or unique. Enormous amount of info is available on all these places on the internet.

I found this site to be quite informative: http://kumbakonam.info/cityscape/ and used it to decide on the temples to visit. I chose the places that are ancient,big and relatively less congested around Kumbakonam.

All the ones I chose provided ample photographic opportunity. I believe in 'One photo is worth million words'.So concentrated on sharing as many number of photos as possible. All temples are good and each has some specialty. But some temples create lasting impression in our mind and it varies from person to person. Photos will help identify the ones that suit one's taste.

Dates of visit - 28th Sep to 1 Oct 2010.

The temples that I visited in Kumbakonam itself are Sarngapani Temple, Ramaswamy Temple,Kumbheswarar.

The other places/Temples will be  covered in separate blogs soon...! I hope to do it over this week end...!

 They are:

 Darasuram  ( Wonderful architecture and carvings...!)
 Swamimalai
 Thiruvalnchuzhi (Out of the world & Expansive...!)
 Patteeswaram
 Thiruvidaimarudhur (Big & Ancient)
 Konerirajapuram (A long pending trip of mine...has the world's largest Nataraja statue...!)
 Thiruvisainallur 
 Thirunageswaram
 Oppiliappan temple
 Nachiar Koil ( Found this temple very special..!)
 Thirucherai ( Fantastic Statue...and a divine looking Bow..)
 Thirukkannamangai 

          ( Recently re-consecrated...Kumbhabishekam..Bright and beautiful..!)
 Thiruvarur
 Tanjore Big temple ( Should I tell anything about this at all...!)

Kumbakonam Streets PHOTOS- Click here

They say every other street will show up a Kumbham (kept on top of the Temple Gopuram) and hence the name for the place...! How true it is...!

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Kumbakonam Idols PHOTOS-Click here

Metal idols is one of the primary industries in Kumbakonam

This , I snapped at a roadside shop

Sarangapani Temple PHOTOS-Click here

Huge temple and  Deity.  The deity resembl

es Srirangam Ranganathar, lying posture-lengthier than Ranganathar..! 

Ramaswamy Temple PHOTOS-Click here

This Ramar temple houses exquisite carvings on the granite pillars at the entrance mandapam of the temple. Each of the carving is a treat to watch...See for yourself..! 

The whole ramayana is painted on the walls of the corridor.. Great looking paintings...!

Videos Ramaswamy Temple
http://www.youtube.com/user/sridharan9999?feature=mhum#p/c/3465CC5CB7454B00/0/iGvrM2BZwF8




Kumbeswarar Temple PHOTOS

This is also a huge temple. I liked the elephant in this temple... an enterprising one.. I had the opportunity of seeing it drinking water from the tap.. I clicked a few snaps and took a short video... Will upload the video to youtube and update this blog.. you can view the photos here..!

Videos Kumbeswarar Temple
Don't miss the third video in this play list...!
http://www.youtube.com/user/sridharan9999?feature=mhum#p/c/8D8BB9650E92CC8A/0/CJQAherg1sE

GangaikondaCholapuram & Tanjore Big Temple

Gangaikonda cholapuram -> PHOTOS

Is a wonderful place that is missed by many (including me thus far..!) for being similar to Tanjore big temple. It is similar...but has its own charm and uniqueness. A wonderful monument that every South Indian must visit...! I am already planning to visit it once again to spend more time and take a little more detailed set of photos.. I, already have an excuse to plan another trip , not being able to get into the temple during this visit as I reached the temple at 12:10. The temple closes at 12 noon. I could not wait till 4pm when the temple re-opens as I had a return booking from Tanjore that night...!

Dont Miss the Tanjore Photos and Videos...Contain close-up shots and Videos of Tanjore Big temple Tower (Gopuram) that can not be seen by naked eyes....! Read on for Tanjore portion in the same blog...!

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Videos

Gangai konda Cholapuram Videos-Click here

Tanjore

Tons of information is available on Tanjore big temple on the internet..The photos are worth seeing again and again and each visit never fails to amaze you.

The Peruvudaiyar Kovil or Brihadeeswarar Temple is also known as Rajarajeswaram at Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, is the world's first complete granite temple.

This temple is one of India's most prized architectural sites. The temple stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The 'Vimana' - or the temple tower - is 216 ft (66 m) high [4][5] and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kalash or 'Chikharam' on the top of the temple is not carved out of a single stone as is widely believed. There is a big statue of Nandi, carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high. The entire temple structure is made out of hard granite stones.

When the temple was completed, it was 40 times larger and five times taller than any temple before. It's made up of 130,000 tons of granite...!. The 60-metre tall Vimana is still the tallest in South India. A European-like figure is carved on the Vimana, probably a warning of the arrival of the British. And the most important feature of the building is that at no time of the day the shadow of the Gopuram will  fall on the ground.

If you ever wanted to know how the close-up shots of this tower looks like visit the videos given below.

Tanjore Big temple PHOTOS Set 1

Tanjore Big temple PHOTOS Set 2

Tanjore Exhibition in PALACE

Tanjore Close up Videos

Click here for ALL Videos

Srirangam & Thiruvanaikkaval

Srirangam Ranganathar is close to my heart, ever since I made a trip with my father back in 1987. I'd been planning to visit Srirangam temple for quite a while after that. Could manage it just now. I made a trip during first week of Sep 2010.

The sprawling area , Gigantic Gopurams, Vast Mandapams make Srirangam temple an unforgettable place.

Not many know that , you can get on top of the I floor of the temple to have a nice view of all the gopurams for a charge of Rs 10/-per person.

What I liked in both Srirangam and Thiruvanaikkaval is that the Cameras are allowed inside the temple... (of course photography is not allowed in the inner sanctum-santorum..)

Click here for photos from the I floor..!

You can view the video here

Click here for other Srirangam photos

I didn't imagine, it will be difficult to get accommodation in Trichy. But it turned out to be so. I could not book room in any decent hotel on the phone from Chennai since the days I wanted happened to be Muhurtha Day and happened to be the day when a popular local VIPs family wedding was taking place. I could finally book a room in a service apartment that proved to be too costly for Trichy's cost of living.. Rs 1500/-per day, Comfortable though. Too big for a couple. Two bed room flat. You can view the details on their website www.Trichytravels.com

For those interested, the photos of the apartment can be viewed below

Thiruvanaikkaval

Srirangam and Thiruvanaikkaval are like twin temples. You can not miss this when you visit Srirangam. Not a small temple by any means...!

Click here for Thiruvanaikkaval temple Photos

For those who like videos

One can not but think of visiting Cauvery in Srirangam.

Amma Mandapam is a good place to go and view the river when there is enough water...!

Click here for Amma MandapamPhotos

A glimpse of Trichy, the charming town, will not be out of place here...!

I went to Gangaikonda cholapuram and Tanjore from Trichy. The photos and Videos are in my next blog post....!

Aquaserene Kollam

Wanted to unwind and relax in a serene environment on the lap of nature. Kollam Aquaserene turned out to be apt. It is a resort on the back waters. It is situated at Paravur about 20Km from Kollam railway station.

For details refer to their website on http://www.aquasereneindia.com/

We stayed for 2 nights and 3 days.

The accommodation is quite comfortable. Neat and nice rooms. All the cottages - 28 in all- overlook the back waters.

The restaurant serves tasty food. You can also ask for room service. We never made use of the room service.

There are two swimming pools. One for swimmers and the other for novices. Quite good.The shuttle court-they arranged flood lights for us in the night & Indoor games - Carrom, Table tennis - though not well maintained-will help you get active from the serenity induced laziness.

Boating on the speed boat or row boat is arranged by the resort.

Speed boat Rs 500/ and Row boat Rs 250/- plus tax for Half hour.

On the day of return, we went to Trivendrum Padmanabha swamy temple and Varkala Beach. On our way back to the railway station we visited Kollam Light house and Kollam Beach.

I'll have to visit the Padmanabha swamy temple again. Huge and great..! Deserves more than the 2 hrs we spent time in...! It is a pity they don't allow cameras inside the temples. The architecture is worth a lot of time and attention..!

Youtube Videos

Click on the Titles below to view PHOTOS

Aquaserene Reception - Click

Aquaserene Restaurant-Click here for PHOTOS

Boating- Click for PHOTOS

Swimming Pool-Click for PHOTOS

Aquaserene Cottage and Around

Aquaserene Fauna and Flora

Games

The resort deserves a cleaner TT Room..!

Varkala Beach 

Kollam Beach

Kollam Light House

Anantha Padmanabha swamy temple Trivendrum.

Shirts, Pants are not allowed. One should wear Dhothi only. One can buy or hire (!) Dhothis from shops nearby. I bought a Khadar Dhothi that I am wearing from the shop near the temple..

Don't miss to climb up to the Gopuram top.. Yes.. you can do that paying Rs5/ per person. About 6 stories of 100 steep steps in all...From each story you can take an ariel view..

Aappur - NithyaKalyana Perumal Temple

This temple is at about 10 Kms from Singa Perumal koil and at about 5 kms from Thirukkachur towards Sriperumbudur, at a village called Aappur, in a small hill called Aushadagiri (hill of medicinial herbs). By climbing about 500 steps you can reach the hill the steps are somewhat steeper than usual. In the hilltop you can see the beauty of the Nityakalyana perumal as well as beauty of the Nature with with full of lakes and reserve forests.


If you are going from Tambaram on the GST Road towards Singa Perumal Koil (SP Koil), you will have to take a right turn for The Sriperumpudur road. There is a huge highways name board on the GST Road, just after the SP Koil name board. Car can go up to the steps of this hill temple.


The temple is small and is open from 7:30am till 10:30am in the morning. Check out the availability of archagar on 9444142239-Balaji before making a trip. We (myself and Sai friends) made a trip to this temple on the new year day of 2010 and we enjoyed the trip very much.


The temple is small with one Sannidhi & beautiful.The steps are a little steeper for oldies- so we couldn't see many old people. You will pant a bit while climbing up. The deep breath you take will only be beneficial as you will inhale a lot of medicinal oxygen..


There are substantial number of monkeys on top of the hills, so be careful with your belongings.

Photos

Videos

Mantralayam

Manttralayam 

Mantralayam from Sridharan S on Vimeo.