[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by xingamazon

Hi Aargee, do you remember of the travel agency which arranged for your visiting of all the places on one day???

And wanted to know where I can find him is he in Thanjore or kumbakonam?

Rajkumar, 09865283982
In Kumbakonam or Mayiladuthurai

[Ranga]

Rajkumar can arrange all 9 Places in a single day .

We did All 9 in 24 Hrs . Its possible if we plan it properly . Internally its more then 300Kms of travelling between these temples . From Blore it will be app 1200 Kms .

[Ranga]

The Pondy route from Bangalore is very bad . 2-3 Feet Pot Holes on NH66 . We went to Thirivanamali recently and found this road to be very bad . So do not suggest Pondy route to any cars, leaving out the SUV

Even on a SUV we were struggling as the roads were really very bad . So those who are planning to to travel to Navagraha temple on Pondy route , check this out ...

Raj kumar tour guide is available in Thirunallar

[jkrishnakj]

Ranga -

Your trip inspired me to no ends and i set out on a navagraha circuit, had some fantastic darshan at each place and returned completely content and satisfied yesterday night. Thanks so much for posting good details that were quite useful and handy.

We skipped Trichy ( covered temples around Trichy two years back ). We stayed at Kumbakonam, hotel Raya's Annexe. . We finished all the 9 temples in one and a half days. We also covered several other important temples there.

I couldnt locate mami's mess, but we had some fantastic lunch experience at Sri Ambal Mess near Karaikal and at Venkatramani's Hotel at Kumbakonam. Raya's was a good place to stay, with super large rooms and clean rooms and bathrooms. Their service was a shade poor and the food wasnt all that great.

The route i took is as follows.

Bangalore to Coimbatore, to visit parents and spend a couple days there

Coimbatore to Kumbakonam, via Karur, Trichy
Kumbakonam to Bangalore, via Thingalur, Kallanai, Trichy, Musiri, Namakkal, Salem

Given the school exam times at TamilNadu, there were hardly any crowd at the temples. At most temples, it was just my wife, son and I along with the temple priest for company. It was truly a luxury to be in such situations and i felt blessed.

[figo_united]

Excellent thread Ranga. It is very informative.
I am planning to do this circuit this long weekend with my parents.
Please help me out with some clarifications.

I am planning to leave bangalore after lunch on friday[parents have to attend a wedding!], and planning to stay in Trichy/Tanjavur. I heard Trichy is a better place to stay than Tanjavur, please let me know.

Is it possible to cover all 9 temples in a single day? I mean starting early morning on saturday, and finish on saturday night, and rest at kumbhakonam/Tanjavur?

If that is possible, I am planning to return on sunday, and cover the srirangam temple on the way back to bangalore.

Please do suggest if there are other places of interest on the way back to bangalore which can be covered.

[jkrishnakj]

Hi Figo_united
If you want to cover the Navagraha temples, the better place to stay would be either of Kumbakonam or Myladuthurai.
If you plan it well and take help of a local cab there, it is possible to do all the 9 in one single day. I covered 7 of them on day 1, and the 7th temple done was at 3.30 PM. Bear in mind that all temples are closed between 12.45 - 4.00 PM. We were lucky to have the Raghu temple open, since it was a thursday and Ragukaal time was between 1330 to 1500 hours and the puja was going on. I was too tired by that time and called it a day. Else, i could have finished the balance two temples as well.

There are ofcourse plenty of temples in Trichy and Tanjore. On your return, you can visit the Anjaneya Temple at Namakkal. It is on the way and there isnt too much time that you lose.

I would also leave this to Ranga for more comments here.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Hi Figo_united
If you want to cover the Navagraha temples, the better place to stay would be either of Kumbakonam or Myladuthurai.
If you plan it well and take help of a local cab there, it is possible to do all the 9 in one single day. I covered 7 of them on day 1, and the 7th temple done was at 3.30 PM. Bear in mind that all temples are closed between 12.45 - 4.00 PM. We were lucky to have the Raghu temple open, since it was a thursday and Ragukaal time was between 1330 to 1500 hours and the puja was going on. I was too tired by that time and called it a day. Else, i could have finished the balance two temples as well.

There are ofcourse plenty of temples in Trichy and Tanjore. On your return, you can visit the Anjaneya Temple at Namakkal. It is on the way and there isnt too much time that you lose.

I would also leave this to Ranga for more comments here.

Thank you for the inputs jkrishnakj.
Since I will be starting from bangalore only after lunch time, I thought reaching kumbhakonam would be a bit tought. So was planning to leave early from tanjore the next day and start the temple visits.
Since we can reach kumbhakonam within an hour from Tanjore, I thought it should work out.
We can get a guide at kumbhakonam right? If anybody has contact numbers, please do share. the one Ranga has shared is based in tirunallar.

[jkrishnakj]

That's a good idea then. You certainly can get good guides at Kumbakonam. While i didnt specifically ask for any guides, i got a good taxi driver that i hired from hotel Raya's and he seemed to know the interior roads, the shortcuts and the other important temples outside of the 9 temples. In one and a half days, he took us close to 21 temples in that region. Unfortunately, i dont have his number, else would have been happy to share with you.

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

That's a good idea then. You certainly can get good guides at Kumbakonam. While i didnt specifically ask for any guides, i got a good taxi driver that i hired from hotel Raya's and he seemed to know the interior roads, the shortcuts and the other important temples outside of the 9 temples. In one and a half days, he took us close to 21 temples in that region. Unfortunately, i dont have his number, else would have been happy to share with you.

Back from the trip and it went perfectly according to plan
Even I got hold of an auto driver near kumbhakoNam temple, who came along with us and took us to all 9 temples in a single day!
Will post a detailed travelogue soon.

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by figo_united

Back from the trip and it went perfectly according to plan
Even I got hold of an auto driver near kumbhakoNam temple, who came along with us and took us to all 9 temples in a single day!
Will post a detailed travelogue soon.

Glad to know that you had a good trip and covered all of them in one single day. Am sure it was very peaceful experience coming out of each temple. I hope you didnt run into some very hot weather, it becomes difficult running towards the temples barefoot.. One of the reasons why i decided to wind up around 3.30 PM on day 1 and decided to cover the balance two on the next day.

Did you stay at Tanjore only ? Did it cost you a lot for the rick driver ?

[figo_united]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Glad to know that you had a good trip and covered all of them in one single day. Am sure it was very peaceful experience coming out of each temple. I hope you didnt run into some very hot weather, it becomes difficult running towards the temples barefoot.. One of the reasons why i decided to wind up around 3.30 PM on day 1 and decided to cover the balance two on the next day.

Did you stay at Tanjore only ? Did it cost you a lot for the rick driver ?

Weather was indeed hot, but not has hot as it can get, because of the rains.
I stayed at Tanjore on both the days. The rick driver guide cost me 500.
Will post the full details in a thread, should be complete by tonight.

[Ranga]

Been to thirunallar recently .

What i realized was that out of the 9 Navagraha temples, some are near by from Chidambaram Side and some are from Trichy side .

The one's thats far and not connected in the route is Thingaloor chandra temple .

If we can plan properly , we can start from Thingaloor and come down towards Karikal to visit other temples

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by Ranga

If we can plan properly , we can start from Thingaloor and come down towards Karikal to visit other temples

I visited " Thingaloor" as the "last" temple. Thingaloor falls on the way to Trichy from Kumbakonam. The state highways that lead from thingaloor to Trichy, via Kallanai are a joy to drive as well. Keeping this last ( if you are driving back to Bangalore / Trichy ) can be another good option while planning.