[rajwheelz]

A regular update. Yesterday went to Thiruvannamalai and back same day. But tried out KSRTC Volvo & S.E.T.C buses. Roads are holding up and no problems anywhere.
Samalpatti and Uthangarai bypasses are not yet done.

A word of caution for bus travelers. Due to ongoing road works around the main temple, buses are not entering the city from Chengam road. Anyone who has an accommodation near Ramana Ashram should alight at the intersection of Chengam-Bangalore road and the Girivalam road. All buses take a left turn there and are reaching the main bus stand.

[subincb]

Uttangarai bypass almost done. Motorcycles can ride through unpaved road. Small portion needs to be asphalted at start and bridge segment. Paver and rollers are at site to complete the works. May get completed in a week or two.

Mathur bridge slope stabilising going on. Mostly that also will get completed this month. Not sure if samilpatti. Looks like approach road is completed but railway bridge i am doubtful.

[Seeker108]

We did Blr-Thiruvannamalai-Thirukoyilur-Ulundurpet-Virudachalam-Chidambaram-Thirukadaiyur-Tharangabadi beach-Bangalore in Dec 2023 in our Audi A4. About 1000 kms round trip.


Roads are largely ok with intermittent construction works still ongoing. We covered the 215 kms to Thiruvannamalai from Bangalore in about 5 hours with stops.

Other sections of the trip, roads are largely OK. Chidambaram to Thirukaiyur construction work is ongoing and we had to navigate the craters.

Tharangabadi Beach is highly recommended. It is very serene in the mornings and no rush whatsoever.

[NPV]

A group of friends did a weekend trip to Tiruvannamalai, and everything fell into place perfectly with the blessings of God.

We started around 3:30am from RR Nagar and were at Ramanasramam around 7am since we could maintain good cruising speeds (car was a newish Toyota Crysta which is a proven workhorse that just gobbled the roads).

Roads are superb and there was very low traffic at that time, there are diversion signages, barrels and heaps of soil placed at the entry and exit of couple of bypasses though they’re almost ready, otherwise it’s perfect.

We headed straight to the Arunachaleswarar temple, got a good Darshan (free Darshan queue) and we were out by 8am. We then headed back towards Ramanasramam to have breakfast at Ananada Ramana which is just opposite the Ashram.

Next, we drove to Tirukkoilur, a first time for all of us. The SH 9 is now a nice 4 lane road. Here again, we got a good Darshan at the Ulagalandha Perumal temple, a very nice temple that is one of the 108 Divya Desams and has lot of significance for Vaishanvism and the idol of the deity is huge and unique (in my limited knowledge of temples).
From there, we drove on the SH 9A towards Manalurpettai to visit the Adi Tiruvarangam Perumal temple (another must visit just to see the unique and huge idol of the deity). There was renovation work in progress inside the temple and crowds were there so it took an hour for the Darshan.

We then headed back to Tiruvannamalai on the SH 9A. This road was excellent last year but a bit rough at some places now with culvert constructions and diversions.

We did the Girivalam in the evening starting at 6pm and ending around midnight with breaks of about an hour or so en route. Day time temperatures were around the 40 degree Celsius mark, quite similar to what we’re seeing this year in Bangalore!

On Sunday, we visited the Arunachaleswarar temple at 6:30am only to be welcomed by large crowds, we took the special Darshan entry which actually seemed slower and longer than the free Darshan when compared to our previous day experience! The queues split and merge at few places and we finally got our Darshan around 9:15am and were out by 9:30. We then made a quick visit to Ramanasramam and were blessed to have their annadanam meal around 10:30 am, I had to request them to serve less than half their normal serving, it was that big!

We left Tiruvannamalai around 1pm and were at NICE road entry around 5pm, took a short lunch/snack break at Krishnagiri en route.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by NPV

Next, we drove to Tirukkoilur, a first time for all of us. The SH 9 is now a nice 4 lane road. Here again, we got a good Darshan at the Ulagalandha Perumal temple, a very nice temple that is one of the 108 Divya Desams and has lot of significance for Vaishanvism and the idol of the deity is huge and unique (in my limited knowledge of temples).
From there, we drove on the SH 9A towards Manalurpettai to visit the Adi Tiruvarangam Perumal temple (another must visit just to see the unique and huge idol of the deity). There was renovation work in progress inside the temple and crowds were there so it took an hour for the Darshan.

Good to see that SH9 continues to be a good 4-lane. I got to know about this update on this forum only. And the road runs all the way to Panruti, via south of Villupruam

[adisan]

Google Maps is showing the Samalpatti bypass as open to traffic. If anyone travelled recently, please update regarding the status and condition.

[gopikb]

Originally Posted by adisan

Google Maps is showing the Samalpatti bypass as open to traffic. If anyone travelled recently, please update regarding the status and condition.

Travelled to Tiruvannamalai last Friday and happy to see that the regular route from Krishnagiri to Tiruvannamalai is fully complete including bypasses to Uthangarai, Samalpatti and Chengam. Very good to drive this route. I was going to this temple for girivalam after an year.

But the temple rules have completely changed now with huge unmanageable crowds. Even during Girivalam, I saw mostly Telegu speaking people and even the priests started addressing to us in Telegu assuming we were also from AP. Looks like some astrologer in AP has been recommending Tiruvannamalai girivalam as solver of problems that many from AP state started visiting Tiruvannamalai. I am not against AP people coming here. But I was seeing this huge influx of people from AP to Tiruvannamalai for the first time.

[m8002?]

Is the Tiruvannamalai by pass to Tindivanam ready?

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Is the Tiruvannamalai by pass to Tindivanam ready?

Its been open since my first drive around Sankaranti 2023.

[pypkmsrikanth]

Originally Posted by m8002?

Is the Tiruvannamalai by pass to Tindivanam ready?

Yes. All bypass between Krishnagiri to Tindivanam is completed.

[vsrivatsa]

Folks need an advice between the following two Stay Options in Tiruvannamalai: (Planning a trip soon)

• https://www.giamantraglobalvillage.com/
• http://www.holymountainvilla.com/

Any tips, past experience sharing regarding these options would be helpful.

[murugaveln]

We are planning to travel from Erode to Tiruvannamalai for a weekend. We hear that the road condition between Salem and Harur is bad. So planning Salem - Kallakurichi- Tiruvannamalai route.
How is the condition of the road between Kallakurichi and Tiruvannamalai?