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Two Triumphs on a road trip to visit the ancient Thirunelli Temple

6th October 2024, 11:17 by Utkarsh Chaudhary

I carried a larger tail bag on my Tiger Sport 660 so that my friend could take his exciting Street Triple 765 RS instead of the more practical Honda CB500X.

BHPian CrAzY dRiVeR recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Photolog - Tirunelli (Wayanad) overnighter

This trip was slightly different compared to the earlier documented ones - this was more of a temple visit than a weekend getaway. My friend has the habit of visiting Tirunelli temple once every few months at the least and I had also accompanied him on an earlier occasion. He wanted to ride there again during his birthday earlier this month, which had to be postponed and ended up as a weekend ride last weekend.

Tirunelli Temple

A beautiful old temple situated at the foothills of the Brahmagiri Hills in Wayanad, which forms a natural border between Kerala and Karnataka. The temple has documented literature evidence to prove its 1000-year-old history - and is situated in a beautiful natural setting with the Brahmagiri hill as the backdrop and the river Papanashini to one side. Although some renovation activities have changed the old charm of this temple, it still feels like a place from an older timeframe and beliefs.

Problem of choices - he initially wanted to bring his Honda CB500X due to better practicality, but then I volunteered to carry a larger tail bag to include some of his luggage as well - making him ditch the 500X in favour of his newer and more exciting Triumph Street Triple 765 RS.

Started from home by 5AM and made it to his place by 5:30 AM. Had a nice tea prepared by his mom and was on the road by around 6AM. Carried the Rynox 42L Expedition Trail Bag so that some of his luggage can also be accommodated.

Reached MTR Bellur by around 7:30 AM for a small coffee / vada stop:

The little Tiger Sport 660 finds the company of its elder brothers - the 800s and the 900s! Lol!

"Drop a lakh on the table, let's discuss!" His Shoei GT Air III with my GT Air II

Me realizing I have no skills in clicking food pictures, before giving up. I clicked his sambar vada when it arrived, but when my own curd vada arrived - I just dived right in. This trend would repeat a bit later in the day as well - and then you would see no more food pictures for this photolog!

Next stop - a small restaurant before entering the Nagarhole tiger reserve. This place is one of the few decent options available before entering the forest range, hence a good stop. Indianoil XP95 bunk is available within a kilometer as well - so the machines can be filled up too!

Same trend as earlier - where I clicked the picture when his Idli arrived and completely forgot my Ghee Roast and coffee.

A beautiful view of the valley with the Kabini reservoir in the background stopped us:

Yours truly on the Tiger Sport 660:

My friend with his Street Triple 765RS:

Both the machines together:

The sky!!! Beautiful roads till you enter the reserve, but then the road conditions significantly deteriorate:

The next 45 minutes would be hard work - navigating broken patches and potholes - the Tiger Sport didn't break into a sweat, but I had to be slow anyways because the RS had relatively harder suspension. Once in the buffer zone - these fields and the beautiful blue skies were wallpaper-like and we decided to take another photo break:

Not sure from where his iPhone captured so much of gloss, but I ain't complaining!

Onset of afternoon clouds made the sky even more dramatic, but it also signalled us to make a move. Rain wasn't predicted for the day, but you could sense that the predictions would be proven wrong as usual.