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Based on current conditions I would avoid avinashi-Coimbatore bypass-walayar-palakkad.
Instead I would take hosur-salem-turn off to NH 47-Perundurai-avinashi-turn off to mangalam-palladam-pollachi-palakkad. This will merge close to chandranagar junction in palakkad. It is much better than the straight route. I took the same last week :thumbs up

I can vouch for the Hosur-Malur-Hoskote-Devanahalli route. There was a short rough patch just as you divert off the NH-7 at Hosur. Somewhere after Malur, there were some speed breakers and the road gets patchy on a couple of stretches, but nothing worrisome.
Depending on where the origin is, you can choose among the Walayar route or the Chittur/Meenakshipuram-Pollachi-Mangalam-Avinashi. If the start point is somewhere in the town or towards Olavakkode, then it makes sense to stick to the Walayar route.

Agree that the road is rough between Walayar and Madukkarai, but you'll end up taking a way longer loop without any savings in time. You will hit the NH-47 at Chandranagar or Manappullikkavu or further south. The road is good inside the town, but the Manappullikkavu junction is a mess. Next, you'll have to negotiate the ultra rough patch at Chandranagar, and a traffic mess that goes on till Kootupatha to turn right into Pollachi SH. Then, an extra 30+km to reach Avinashi via Pollachi, translates to 30-40min extra.

The other option, via Pollachi-Palladam-Mangalam works fine if you can stay on the well-laid SHs or main roads leading to Pollachi and not hit the NH at all

Planning a drive this weekend from calicut - Mangalore - uduppi - kollur. Please suggest the best route available. Last time in July, I took the bypass after kanhangad because of the work going on in the old road. How is the condition of this route now?

I would go with silversteed given the current condition.

Though not all the four lanes are opened between Pollachi Kootupatha and Walayar you won't loose any time since all vehicles in this stretch are moving at a acceptable speed. Should be careful while overtaking since there aren't proper directions for diversions vehicles choose the lanes as they wish.
The stretch between Walayar and L&T bypass entry (approximately 11 Kms) is bad to worse but then patch works on road will save even sedans. After L&T bye pass it is a bliss barring few initial speed brakes on the bridges.
Hence in my opinion it wont make sense to take diversion through Pollachi unless you start somewhere before Alathur, nor it will save you any considerable time.

Cheers!

The SH between Kanhangad and Kasaragod(route through Chandragiri bridge) is still under construction. So, please take the bypass and continue on NH17 to proceed to Kasaragod.

Route conditions that I am aware of:

Kannur - Kanhangad: Good.
Kanhangad - Kasaragod: Some bad spots will appear especially in the first half. But, mostly good.
Kasaragod - Mangalore: Fairly good. Couple of patched stretches so you might find it slightly bumpy. However, you can manage good speeds if traffic condition is favourable.

Anyone with any suggestions for this unattended query?

I think this is the best route to take. Bangalore - Madurai is excellent 4/6 lane all the way. Madurai - Varkala will be two lane roads. Not sure about the recent conditions but should be OK. traffic will be heavy.

Best time to start will be 4:30 AM - 5:00 AM.

I have taken this route December last week. My destination was Pandalam, I took Tenkasi-Thenmala-Punalur-Adoor-Pandalam. You will be taking Tenkasi-Thenmala-Varkala.
I was not very sure about road condition of Thirumangalam - Rajapalayam - Tenkasi route. Instead I took Thirumangalam - kovilpatti - Sankarankovil - Puliyangudi-Tenkasi
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/9....d9.1725368!3e0
Though this route is 25-30km more, you can cover more distance in 4-lane NH7 itself and this route will be faster. Overall road conditions are good, very few bad sections in between kovilpatti - Thenmala, but easily manageable. From NH7 look directions for Sankarankovil.
Travel time will be around 10-12 hours, start from Bangalore as early as possible, ideally by 4AM.

Kannur - Kanhangad: Good (Please note there is a railway gate just before Nileswar)
Kanhangad - Kasaragod: Do not go to Kanhangad town. Take the NH and it is mostly good. But there are potholes at some places.
Kasaragod - Thalappady - Good but there are road work and deviations when your nearing to Thalappady.
Thalappady - Kundapura : Lots of road work happening and many deviations. Be careful about the heavy traffic and Buses.
Kundapura - Kollur : Road is in very good condition. Perhaps the best stretch after Kanhangad..!!!

Please be ready to face lots of traffic if travelling in day time other than Friday or Sunday.

Just traveled from Bangalore to Tiruvalla over the X'Mas break (Dec-2014) took BLR-Hosur-Salem-Dindigul-Theni-Kumily-Kanjirapally-Tiruvalla. The return journey took less time than onward journey. I guess that was because we traveled on 24th Dec. 10 Hours average without counting the breaks, started at 5:30am and reached Tiruvalla by 5:00pm. Roads are very good, the bad stretches are between Theni to Kumily.
Bangalore-Dindigul -> 5 hours
Dindigul-Kumily -> 2.5 hours
Kumily-Tiruvalla -> 2.5 hours
breaks -> 1.5 hours

I would say if you are travelling to Kottayam-Tiruvalla side , this route is way better than Coimbatore-Palakkad-Angamaly route. I saved 1.5~2 hours.

Thanks Rajesh. We are starting tomorrow at around 3:30am from Calicut so that traffic can be avoided. I have to reach Mangalore by 9. I'll be staying in Mangalore for two days and on Monday we will be leaving for kundapura. How is the drive from kundapura - kollur at night? Is it safe to travel with family in this route because few of my relatives have suggested to avoid night drives in this route! One more query, Can you please suggest a good stay in Mangalore city?

Sorry Dear, I may not be the right person to guide you on this. The road from Kundapur to Kollur will be deserted at night, but its in very good condition.

About stay at Mangalore, I have never stayed in Mangalore as my native is just 100km from there in Kerala. Every time, I used to come back. I remember one Hotel Yuvraj in KSR Rao road where I used to have food earlier (10years back ;) ). But this is in heart of the town.

Thanks
Rajesh

Thanks Rajesh. BTW I'm in Mangalore now. We started at 4am and reached Mangalore by 9:15 AM which included a break for 30 mts in a CCD after kasargod. The roads were good except some stretches like kanhangad and kasargod bypass, a few kilometers upto thokkottu after that CCD.

Guys,
I am planning a Kochi - Kollur drive during 23rd-25th of Jan. My plan is to start on 23rd early morning (around 4AM) from Kochi and drive all the way to Kollur. Is it possible to reach Kollur by 6 PM or so with an early start from Kochi or shall I break the journey somewhere in between?

I would say instead of Kollur target Udupi. Kollur is 80km from Udupi. In fact even Udupi drive should be quite tiresome.