Any input on road conditions

Hello fellow IMers.

I will be driving from Bangalore to Vythisweran Koil tomorrow via Krishnagiri, Tiruvannamalai and Chidambaram. I plan to stop at Tiruvannamalai in the morning for Darshan and hopefully have time in the evening for darshan at Chidambaram as well.

Can you please let me know current road conditions from Krishnagiri to Tiruvannamalai and then from Tiruvannamalai till Chidambaram (via Tirukoilur, Panruti, Senthiathope).

Any help is highly appreciated.

-Siva

Hi, We are back from our 2 Day trip from Bangalore to Myladuthurai. Route taken was: Bangalore-Krishnagiri-Tiruvannamalai-Tirukoilur-Panruti-Chidambaram-Vytheeswaran Koil.

Road conditions: Krishnagiri-Tiruvannamalai is one of the worst stretches of road I have travelled in recent years. Its a joke for a national highway. The road is an undivided 2 lane road. The road 10 Kms from Krishnagiri right upto 24 Kms from TVM is pathetic with craters, potholes and washed out roads every 100-200 mts. It took us close to 3 hours to travel this stretch.

Tiruvannamalai-Panruti - Roads are in good condition, though expect a lot of rural traffic such as tractors, kids on cycles, and domestic animals. It is a nice pleasant drive though.

Panruti-Neyveli-Chidambaram - Again, mostly good roads. Traffic is a little heavier, especially the state owned buses can scare the s*&t out of you for their tailgating. Roads inside Panruti town itself is not good and very narrow, so anticipate some delays.

Chidambaram-Vytheeswaran Koil - This is the Chennai-Thanjavur highway. Roads are good, traffic is moderate to heavy depending on the time of travel. Winding 2 lane undivided road though with little shoulder in some places, so got to be extra careful.

Where to eat:
Breakfast - We had breakfast at the A2B after Krishnagiri. Place opens at around 6.30 AM. Standard A2B fare.
Lunch - Lunch was at Arunai Anantha in Tiruvannamalai. Costs 130 per thali and was a little disappointing as all the dishes were based on the local "keerai" (spinach kind). Hospitable place though.
Snack/coffee time - Chidambaram was a disappointment as the coffee at Ishwarya Cafe was not good and we couldnt locate any other decent place.
Dinner - Hotel Sadabishegam at V.Kovil. Decent fare.

Stay at Hotel Sadabishegam. The Double AC room was spacious enough, clean and hygenic. I will definetely stay there if I travel there once again.

Return trip:
Breakfast - Hotel Sadabishegam. We went looking for the old ThayalNayaki Mess, which we were told had opened up in a new house in a lane. When we went there, only Dosai was available, and was told it could take upto 30 minutes. Since we couldnt wait, we went back to the hotel feeling a little disappointed though.
Lunch - Was at Hotel Archanas near Neyveli. This place is close to the NLC township arch. Clean, hygenic place. Good Highway food. Place seemed to be very popular amongst the local school and college kids! Thali costs Rs. 70. Other north indian options availabe as well.
Dinner - A new place just after the Krishnagiri junction. Standard highway fare of Dosai, Idli etc. Nothing exceptional about the place.

Temple Darshan experience: Tiruvannamalai temple was just amazing! It was my first visit to the temple and the beauty and the spirituality present just took my breath away. Since it was the middle of the week, there was literally no one in the temple and we could spent upto 5 minutes in the Sanctum praying and that too on the free darshan. We found it very peaceful and definetely wanted to go back. The Girivalam was done in the car, so nothing to write about it. We did visited the Adi Annamalai temple which apparently was the temple predating the popular temple just around noon closing time. Ancient temple. There were many parakeets on the temple walls which made our kids all excited.

Chidambaram - The temple's grandeur and size left us spellbound as always, but the Darshan was little too commercial. It seemed as if the Priests were all after money with their constant requests to give you money and your address for their monthly pujas. Also, crowd management was absent with the little crowd that was present that day.

Sirkazhi - Beautiful beautiful temple. I just wish we had spent more time at Sirkazhi than Chidambaram. What with no crowds, the evening breeze and the Tevaram playing in the backround, it was truly a moving experience. I definetely want to go back there.

V.Kovil - The visit was the next day morning for tonsuring my 2 yr. old. It was an auspicious day for marriages as well, so there was a fair amount of crowd. Darshan was good though all the pujas were complete in an hour's time!

Tirukoilur - The Vishnu ( Ulag-alantha Perumal or the Perumal who measured the world) temple is unique here as the 12 feet large idol has one leg stretched out on its side as if jumping. It is to represent when the lord stepped out to cross the skies in his vamana avatar. Since there was no crowd, the priest showed us Brahma at the top of the sanctum as if worshipping from the clouds and Mahabali's son under the pedestal worshipping the other (standing leg).

The cleanliness of the approach to the temple left a lot to be desired though the temple itself was fairly clean if a little derelict in some places.

All in all, the entire trip was refreshing.

Take the Krishnagiri-Karimangalam-Morappur-Harur-Thanipadi-Thiruvannamalai and is 40 KM more but better than the regular Pondy road. IT IS HELL ON EARTH.

Dont expect much. I flew to Trivandrum airport in Kerela and took an taxi the 95km to Kanya Kumari. It took my taxi 3 hours, average speed 30 km/h both ways. Most of the National "Highway" road was city with city traffic. Roads are single lane and either the engines are very week or more likely, the drivers does not change gear, so getting up hills is slow. So a truck, bus or even an autorickshaw can quickly slow you down.