Kumbakonam - Navagraha Temple Tour & more...

2011-09-14T12:04:00.000+05:30

This was my first trip to Kumbakonam andit turned out to be a very memorable one. Memorable for a lot ofreasons....

- First ever trip my dad and I madetogether.

- We looked at covering only 9 temples(Navagraha Temples) in 2 days. But we covered a lot more than that!

- Except for the tour guide provided bymy friend, which we carried throughout our trip, nothing was perfectly planned.Yet, it became a perfect trip! Read on... and you will know why! :)

This was our initial plan:

We were told that it would take 1 1/2days to go to these 9 temples that are situated in and around Kumbakonam. So,we decided to leave on a friday night, go around the temples on saturday andsunday and leave for Chennai by sunday afternoon so we could reach Chennai bysunday night.

31st August '11 - Wednesday

As we had scheduled our trip toKumbakonam for the weekend, I was afraid if we would get bus tickets. So, Iwent to SRM Travels Office in Koyambedu and booked 2 tickets in a semi-sleepernon-AC bus (each ticket costed Rs.280) 3 days in advance.

2nd September '11 - Friday

Got up early to pack my stuff for the 2 day long trip. Iknew I was going to have a busy day! And yes, It was a tight day at office,with work on one side and trip tension on the other side. Reason - Till noon, Ihad not got any hotel room reserved and I had no clue about how we were goingto commute to all the temples! I contacted some 3-4 hotels, and oops! novacancy! :-/ Finally, I got a AC double-bed room blocked at Kasi International(Rs.900 per room). The hotel manager said they had their own cab service thatwe could hire to go to the 9 temples and they said they would charge Rs.3000for 1 1/2 days. It sounded fair to me, but I said I would confirm by nightafter discussing with my dad.

After getting caught in thefriday-evening traffic in koyambedu, i reached home only at 7.45. Because ourbus was at 9.15 and we were asked to report at 8.45, my dad was alreadysuper-tensed!. And from my house in Saligramam, it would take 1/2 hr to get to thebus stop (though it was just 2 kms away from my home). So had a quick showerand very quick dinner and left from home at 8.15...

We took an auto to the bus stop (Rs.60!damn! we were running late. and we didn't have the time to argue with the automan). We reached the bus stop at 8.40, got some juices, water bottles for thenight travel and we boarded our bus and took our seats. I discussed with my dadregarding the cab service the hotel provided, and he said NO! He found itunfair and too much! hmmmm! confusion again! Anyways, I was happy we had someback-up!

The bus started at 9.15pm sharp asscheduled. We were told that we would reach Kumbakonam around 3.15am. But bythe time we got out of the city traffic, it was 11pm and we knew we were notgoing to reach Kumbakonam on time!

3rd September '11 – Saturday [DAY1]

4.00 am: woke up from my sleep all of asudden.... and we were still travelling! :-/ As the bus went right and leftthrough the narrow streets of the temple town, all I knew was, we had reachedKumbakonam! Roads were wet and shining after a heavy rain the previous night.And i was happy that the weather was going to be good for travelling!

4.15 am: reached Kumbakonam bus stop andwe got down the bus and walked towards an auto stand where there were some 3-4auto-men who were trying to catch hold of us. We approached one of these guys(who was around 45-50yrs, tall, thin, fit and clean. He was neatly dressed andhad kumkum on his forehead, looking genuine &God-fearing) and asked him to take us to Kasi International Hotel. He asked forRs.40 and we got in to the auto. As we were on our way, I whispered to my dad,to ask the auto guy's opinion on how to cover the Navagraha temples. My dadrefused to. But, I forced him to! :D (obviously! he is a locale and he willdefinitely give us options and ideas!) the auto driver said, generally cabscharge around Rs.1800 per day. So if we are looking at covering the temples in1 1/2 day it would be Rs1800+Rs900 = Rs.2700. Later, he said even he could takeus around in his auto and said he would be charging Rs.1200/day and would beRs1200+Rs600 = Rs1800 for 1 1/2 days. The best thing was, the auto drivervolunteered to take us to a lot of other important temples on the way to theNavagraha temples! Both my dad and I, with no second thoughts, agreed to gotouring in his auto!

4.30 am: reached Kasi Internationalhotel… saw “INTERNATIONAL” only in the name. We could get only a non-AC room(though we had blocked an AC room). Once we got our room keys, my dad and theauto driver (named Guru) exchanged their phone numbers, and decided we startfrom the hotel at 7.30am.

4.40 am: went in to our room. It waslittle smelly n poorly ventilated. But, we thought we could adjust for the veryfew hours we were going to be in there. Only good thing was, the bathroom wasbetter than what I expected it to be. It was small, yet clean.

6.30 am: woke up and ordered 2hot-coffees through room service. And they came as warm-coffee! Got ready andleft our room.

7.30 am: My dad phoned up the auto man(Guru) and he said he would take ten minutes to come. So dad and I decided tofinish our breakfast meanwhile. There was no restaurant in the hotel. But justoutside the hotel, there was a small restaurant. So, dad and I walked in and wehad a quick breakfast. Dad had pongal and I had idly. The sambar was just tooawesome that I literally drank it! :D We finished our breakfast with a hot cupof coffee! Also bought a water bottle for the day’s travel.

7.45 am: auto man had arrived and we startedour temple tour thereafter!

In the first half of the day, auto mansuggested we cover Chandran Temple (Thingaloor), Guru Temple (Alangudi) &Raaghu Temple (Thirunageswaram). On the way to these temples, he volunteered totake us to other important temples such as Swamimalai, Papanasam &Uppuliappan Temple.

The Navagraha Temples Tour Map

First he said he would take us toChandran Temple (Thingaloor) which is about 1 1/2 hours travel from Kumbakonam.On the way, he said he would take us to Swamimalai and Pillayar Agraharam.

8.15 am – 9.00 am : SWAMIMALAI – a goodstart.

The auto driver said we would first goto Swamimalai temple. There was hardly any crowd there. We were there at theright time as we got to see the abhishegam of Lord Murugan. We did asmall archana , lit 2 vilakus , did pradakshna and left.

9.45 am: PILLAYAR AGRAHARAM – to bevisited after Swamimalai

This was a very small temple that waslocated in a small village. Lord Ganesha is the main deity there. The localpeople say that this temple has to be visited after Swamimalai. We then,proceeded to Chandran temple.

It was an awesome travel experience inthe auto. It was green on all sides after the heavy rain the previous day. Theair was clean. It is definitely a pleasure to experience all this, especiallywhen you come from a big city that is always polluted!

10.00 am – 10.15 am: CHANDRAN TEMPLE(THINGALOOR)

First of the Navagraha Temples we werevisiting. This was a small temple located in a small village which if 10 minsdrive from the main road. Lit 9 vilakus and did an archana and wewere done in about 15 minutes.

After we came out of the temple, the auto man said hewould next take us to Guru Temple (Alangudi), which is another 1 1/2 hoursdrive from there. He again said he would take us to 2 important temples –Papanasam and Kalyana Sundereswarar Temple on the way to Guru Temple.

On our way, we crossed Cauvery river (which was almostdry) and Kudamarutti Dam and within minutes, (around 10.45am) as we joinedKumbakonam-Thanjavoor main road, our auto driver started to tell history aboutPapanasam temple. He was very informative and knowledgeable. I really feltlucky to have met him and for having him as our tour guide and driver!

River Cauvery almost dry

My dad & Cauvery

10.55 am – 11.05 am: PAPANASAM

It is a small Sivan temple but very famous for itshistory. After seeing the main deity – Lord Shiva, we bought a Rs.5 ticket tosee the 108 Siva Lingams, to which Lord Rama performed prayers and puja.The 108 Siva Lingams are positioned in 3 long rows with 36 lingams in each.

As we left Papansam, and continued our tour, the driverprovided us information about the next temple we were going to – KalyanaSundereswarar Temple. When my dad said, lets skip it because we are runninglate and our main intention was to cover only the Navagraha Temples, the autodriver was pre-determined to still take us to where he wanted us to go! :) hesaid this is a very important temple – the siva lingam changes colors every twohours between 6.00am & 3.30am. It really sounded interesting. And I didwant to see the colour changing…!

http://templesoftamilnadu.co.in/2011/01/22/kalyanasundareswarar-temple-thirunallur/

11.25 am – 11.35 am: KALYANA SUNDERESWARAR TEMPLE

As we were running late, we rushed to the main deity andthe lingam was gold in color. It was glowing. I was wishing I had more time tosee the color changing. (Hoping to see it atleast the next time).

12.10 pm – 1.00 pm: GURU TEMPLE(ALANGUDI)

This is the second of Navagraha Templeswe visited. This is quite a big temple and there was some crowd. Once we wentin, we bought 51 vilakus – 1st vilaku has to be litfor Lord Ganesha at the entrance of the temple and then the remaining 50vilakus will have to be lit for Guru Bhagvan inside the temple.

Just as I lit the vilakus and started to do a pradakshna, I had a pleasant surprise meeting my family friends there. Together we walked around the temple talking about each other's following plans. Soon, they left as they had come much earlier than us. Dad and I, then proceed to see the main deity - it was a very long queue, but it moved within few minutes.

As we came out of the temple, it was HOT!So hot that we couldn’t walk the small distance to our auto bare-foot! Yes….That was the end of the pleasant weather we saw that morning! And we werealready tired. So we decided to have lunch and get back to our hotel room for anap.

On our way back to the hotel, auto-man stopped by the very famous Mahamaham Tank.

Mahamaham Tank - view 1

Mahamaham Tank - view 2

We got down the auto and couldn't walk barefoot even for a minute. It was so hot! After quickly wetting our legs in the pond we rushed back into our auto.

1.45 pm: Lunch @Venkatramana Hotel.

The auto driver dropped us here and saidthis is a good hotel. This was just a minute walk from the hotel we stayed at.It was packed. So crowded that we had to wait for 20 mins. Both dad and I hadspecial meals (Rs.55 each) and the food was decent.

2.30 pm – 4.45 pm: a good afternoon napat our hotel room followed by a hot cup of coffee at the restaurant justoutside the hotel.

5.00 pm: continued our temple tour.

The auto driver said we would go toSuryan Temple (Suryanar), Sukran Temple (Kanjanoor) & Raahu Temple(Thirunageswaram).

5.30 pm – 5.45 pm: THIRUMANGALAKUDITEMPLE

It is said that one should first go toThirumangalakudi Temple and perform archana to Lord Ganesha &Goddess Mangalaambikai before one goes to Suryan Temple. This is located in asmall village. There was no crowd and was a very peaceful temple. We firstprayed to Lord Ganesha and then headed towards the main deity – LordPrananadheswarar and then Goddess Mangalaambigai. I lit 5 vilakus eachfor Lord Prananadheswarar & Goddess Mangalaambigai (to nullify problemsregarding marriage).

5.50 pm – 6.35 pm : SURYAN TEMPLE(SURYANAR)

Suryan Temple

The third of the Navagraha temples – hadall navagrahas. First, we prayed to Lord Ganesha and then went to Surya Bhagwan& Guru Bhagwan (both will be facing each other). After performing archana,I bought 10 vilakus – the first was lit for Lord Ganesha, then two vilakustogether for Surya Bhagwan & Guru Bhagwan (one each). And then had togo around the temple in anti-clockwise direction and light the remaining vilakus– one for every other grahas. Once all the vilakus are lit, I wasasked to do a pradakshna in clock-wise direction and we left.

6.55 pm – 7.15 pm : SUKRAN TEMPLE(KANJANOOR)

This is the fourth of the NavagrahaTemples that we were going to. This is a big temple, but again, there was nocrowd even here. Even here, I lit 9 vilakus, did archana and weleft.

Then we proceeded towards Raahu Temple(Thirunageswarar) and our auto man said he would take us to vittala perumal onour way to Raahu Temple, and after Raahu Temple, he said he would take us toUppuliappan Temple.

On our way, our auto stopped at a petrolbunk and we had to wait for ½ hr to get fueled!

7.50 pm – 8.20 pm: VITTALA PERUMALTEMPLE

This was one huge recently built templeraised on a very high plinth. Was beautifully lit from the outside and theorientation of the temple made it look magnificent. There was a long queue butwas fast moving.

As Raahu temple would close at 9.00pm,we literally rushed to it.

8.40 pm – 9.00 pm: RAAHU TEMPLE(THIRUNAGESWARAR)

The fifth of the Navagraha temples wewent to. This again, is a very big temple, but, because it was closing time,there was hardly anybody. I was asked to lit 21 vilakus, after which wedid archana to Raahu Bhagwan and then prayed to the main deity – LordShiva.

9.05 pm – 9.10 pm: UPPULIAPPAN TEMPLE

This temple is hardly 5 mins drive fromRaahu Temple. On our way, when my dad told the auto driver “Lets not go. Itmaybe closed by now”, the auto driver just replied “No, it will be open and youhave to go there”. He was too good a person! Like he said, it was open and wemade our quick prayers due to time constraint. Once we came out, our driversaid that one is not supposed to go home directly after seeing Raahu Bhagwan.One has to go to another temple and then only go home. And that was the reasonbehind him not listening to my dad! :-)

9.40 pm – dinner

Our auto driver dropped us at the samehotel where we had lunch that afternoon: Hotel Venkatramana. We decided tocontinue the temple tour at 7.00 am the next morning. As we entered the hotel,they were closing! :p They said they had only tea & coffee! We were verysurprised and then we decided to have our dinner in the small restaurant nearthe hotel where we stayed.

10.10 pm – back to hotel room, refreshedand hit the bed!

4th September '11 – Sunday [DAY2]

6.20 am: We woke up and this time, wegot 2 hot coffees through room service.

7.00 am: we checked out of our hotelroom. We were charged Rs. 450 for that room. We waited at the hotel receptionfor our auto driver to come. After sometime, dad and I decided to have ourbreakfast in the nearby hotel.

7.10 am – 7.40 am: Both dad and I hadpongal with plenty of sambar for breakfast.

8.00 am: auto driver arrived 1 hour latealong with his nephew – Sriram, 12yrs. And this was our plan. We proceededtowards Saneeswarar Temple (Thirunallar) which is about 2 hours fromKumbakonam. On the way, our auto man said he would take us to ThirupaamburamTemple.

9.00 am – 9.20 am: THIRUPAAMBURAM TEMPLE

This is a small temple located in aremote village. Yet, I believe it’s a well-known and famous temples as therewas some crowd. This temple is for Raahu-Kedhu. We performed archana andwe left.

We then proceeded towards SaneeswararTemple. But, our auto driver said he wouldn’t be able to go to the templebecause it is near Karaikal – that comes under Pondicherry. So, he said hewould drop us at Ambakarathur check post, from where we could take an auto(Rs.50) or bus to Thirunallar. And we could return back to the check-post thesame way.

9.45 am: Reached Ambakarathur check postand took a bus to Thirunallar. (Ticked costed Rs.5

9.55 am: Dad, Sriram and I took a bus toThirunallar. (Ticked costed Rs.5 each). The bus was so packed that it had nobreathing space at all.

10.15 am – 10.50 am: SANEESWARARTEMPLE (THIRUNALLAR)

Saneeswarar Temple (Thirunallar)

This was the sixth of the Navagraha Temples we saw. Thisis again a big temple, but because we went on a Sunday, it was not crowded.After praying to the main deity, I lit 2 vilakus for Saneeswarar Bhagwanand then did archana too.

After performing our prayers, we came out and thought wewill take an auto back to Ambakarathur check post. As we approached an auto guywho was at the temple and asked him to take us to the check post, he asked us200 rupees! Ha ha! My dad and I laughed out loud! 200 rupees for a place that’shardly 5 kms away. Some people won’t change.

So, we thought we ll take the bus itself as buses werequite frequent.

11.00 am: Bus to Ambakarathur check post.

11.25 am: Reached Ambakarathur check post and we proceededtowards the remaining 3 temples (Kedhu, Budhan & Chevvai)

As we were traveling, we were realized there was no pointin rushing to all the temples because all temples close around 12.30. So wedecided to have lunch at Poompuhaar, relax and then go to the remaining 3temples in the evening after 4.

12.45 pm – 1.15 pm: Lunch in a small mess in Poompuhaar

1.30 pm: Dad, Sriram and I went to Poompuhaar beach. Itwas so crowded. It was a very very hot afternoon. Hardly any shade. Stillthought we should wet our legs and then go relax. In contrary to the high risein mercury levels, the water was extremely cold and chill. The water wasamazingly cold! And I just loved it.

Dad (yellow shirt) and Sriram by the beach in Poompuhaar

Sriram posing with all the shells he collected in the beach

After some time, we went to a nearby park where my dadwanted to doze off for 2 hours. Meanwhile Sriram was busy playing in the playlot, and I just sat under a huge tree and relaxed, doing nothing but observingpeople around me

3.45 pm: We got in to our auto and proceeded towards KedhuTemple.

4.05 pm – 4.15 pm: KEDHU TEMPLE (KEEZHPERUMPALLAM)

This temple is just 15 mins drive from Poompuhar beach. Wehad a quick darshan after I lit 7 vilakus.

We then proceeded towards Budhan Temple which was some 20mins drive from Kedhu Temple. On our way, we stopped by a huge lilly pond,where my dad wanted some roots so we could put them in our pond back in ourhome in Chennai. A gentleman who was sitting by the pond, dived into it and gotus some 4-5 roots which we put in a plastic cover. When we offiered him somecash for his help, he refused to take it! He was a gentleman!

4.35 pm – 5.00 pm: BUDHAN TEMPLE (THIRUVENKADU)

This is was one huge temple. The architectural style ofthis temple was unique – unlike the other temples. This temple has both southIndian temple architecture and north Indian temple architecture. Being a SivanTemple, the vimana is unusually short (like in Vaishnavite Temples).After praying to the main deity, we went to Budhan Bhagwan where I lit 17vilakus with great difficulty – it was so breezy that I took nearly 10 minsto light them.

As we were running out of time and it was already gettingdark, we decided to go to the next temple. We could see only half the templecomplex. Hoping to see the remaining the next time I go there.

Once we came out, all of us had a hot cup of coffee in apetty shop just outside the temple. It was so refreshing because all of us werehaving a headache after roaming in the hot sun.

5.45 pm – 6.30 pm: CHEVVAI TEMPLE (VAIDHEESWARAN)

This was the last of Navagraha Temples we visited. I lit 7vilakus here and did archana to Chevvai Bhagwan after praying to themain deity – Lord Shiva (Vaidheeswaran).

7.10 pm – Our auto driver dropped us at Mayilaadudhurai(Mayavaram) bus stop. And God… the busstop was packed with people everywhere as it was a long weekend and many peoplewere traveling to Chennai. Luckily, we got bus tickets in a special bus toChennai. As we had time to board the bus, Dad and I decided to have dinner insome nearby restaurant.

When we enquired 2 ladies about some good restaurant, theydirected us to Hotel Pam’s which just opposite the bus stop.

7.35 pm – 8.15 pm: Dinner at Pam’s

Both dad and I wanted to have good hot food after the long& tiring day. So we ordered soups which was really hot and spicy, and wehad some dosas and chappatis after it. I finished with a hot cup of tea whichgave me a lot of energy.

After dinner, we got back t the bus stop around 8.30pm andwe waited for our bus to come.

9.30 pm: The bus started as per the scheduled time. Wewere told we would reach Chennai at 3.15 am sharp. But dad was sure we weregoing to be delayed as the driver was driving too slow (according to him) andwas chit chatting all the time with a passenger.

5th September '11 – Monday

4.30 am: Dad was right. We got delayed.We got down the bus @Vadapalani bus stop and took an auto to our home inSaligramam.

4.45 am: We reached home. Before I wentto bed, I sorted out all the prasaadhams (flowers, vibhudhi) that were given inall the temples and put those lilly roots in a bucket of water.

The two-day tour was really tight andtiring. But at the end of it, I was more than happy. I am not a saint. Still, Iwas excited about traveling places. We wanted to go to only the 9 temples, butwent to 17 temples. And luckily, there was hardly any crowd in any of thetemples. Our darshan was quick in all the temples. My mom regretted a lot for not coming for the tour as she had decided to stay back to take care of our home.

A very special thanks tothe very knowledgeable auto-driver (Guru), who accompanied us throughout ourjourney, taking a lot of interest in taking us to all these temples. [Dad haddecided to make him his tour guide/driver every time he would visit Kumbakonamthereafter!]

It was definitely a happy tour! : )

[for those of you who may need the driver's number.... this is for you! Guru : 9443171866]

foot steps......

Kumbakonam - Navagraha Temple Tour & more...