2 days trip from Bangalore Archives

Vaikunta Ekadasi Experience in Trichy Srirangam Temple

Renu on October 28, 2020

I remember the time we went to Trichy in Jan 2017 for Vaikunta Ekadasi darshan at Ranganathar temple.

Here is our experience on what to expect when you are planning a trip to Trichy for Vaikunda Ekadasi, and list of other important temples to visit in the city.

Overwhelmed by the Crowd at Srirangam For Vaikunta Ekadasi

Having gone to the temple at 4am on the day of Vaikunta ekadasi, we were standing in a queue that would take about 5 to 6 hrs to come across Vaikunta vasal (golden door – the destination).

Looked like as if the whole world had lined up around all the doors of this huge temple for celebrating the auspicious day. After seeing such a mass crowd as early as 4 am, and after a long dilemma, we decided to drop the plan. We exited the queue, then headed to the two other famous temples in Trichy for Vaikunda Ekadasi darshan.

Srirangam Vaikunta ekadasi — Police force and temple crowd at the temple entrance

Temple trip from bangalore to Trichy — View from Inside of Ranganathar temple- Srirangam

temple architecture of Srirangam temple — Wall inscriptions on Srirangam temple – inside view

Both are renowned 108 Divya Desams namely Kamalavalli Nachiyar temple and Uthammar kovil. Not only were we able to enter the golden door but also had good darshan at both of these temples.

Temple trip from bangalore to Trichy, uthamar kovil images — Uthmar kovil View – Trichy

And swore to ourselves that when we come back to Trichy next time for Vaikunda Ekadasi, we would never return back without a darshan at the Ranganathar Temple.

We were happy that atleast we could darshan Lord Ranganathar just before the day of Vaikunda Ekadasi. That too after waiting in the 200 rupees VIP queue for almost 3 hrs. Glad we did that darshan one day before, to count the effort we had put in for that trip.

Not always we fail to predict the crowd in the temple. In the year 2017, for Athi Varadar raise after 40 yrs from the temple in Kanchipuram – we planned the trip well, and did darshan on 21st July 2019. That too after long wait of 3.30 hrs (yet nothing compared to the predicted time wait in Srirangam for Vaikunda Ekadasi darshan) and walking for 8 kms in total.

Read – Athi Varadar raise once in 40 years and how we did darshan on 21st July 2019.

Bangalore to Trichy Travel

This was the time we were about to become ardent travellers.

We travelled many destinations by bike since then. This year was the stepping stone for making everlasting memories in our married life. We travelled back to back on all weekends, challenging ourselves to the longer distances as we grew confident.

From Bangalore to Trichy, we travelled by Volvo bus booked in Madiwala, Bangalore. This was a planned trip for 2 days, falling on 7th and 8th Jan 2017. 8th Jan 2017 being the auspicious Vaikunda Ekadasi.

Apart from memories from the Srirangam temple, we have also visited the very famous, ancient (padal petra stalam) Lord Shiva – The Jambukeshwar temple. We went late evening to this temple, waited till the last pooja rituals (see pic below) before retiring for the day.

Here goes our 2 days Itinerary.

2 Days trip From Bangalore to Trichy For Vaikunta Ekadasi Darshan:

We travelled by bus, so we would have 2 full days in our hands to roam around the Trichy city. Like the same way we did for 3 days train trip to Kumbakonam and yet another 3 days train trip to Madurai, many trips to Goa – where we have rented a bike to roam the destinations.

But, here in Trichy, we hired an auto to see around the places. Like how we did in our Tiruttani trip.

Nothing beats the comfort of riding your own vehicle, in any destination.

Day 01 – 7th July 2017 – List of temples Visited:

Ranganathar Temple, SRIRANGAM
Uthamar Kovil / Picchandar Kovil
Sri Sameevaneswarar (Mattrurai Varadeswarar) sametha Balambikai temple at TIRUVASI
Arulmigu Jambukeswarar Akhilandeswari Temple, THIRUVANAIKAVAL

Day 02 – 8th July 2017 – Vaikunta Ekadasi – List of Temples:

Ranganathar Temple, SRIRANGAM (left in 1 hr without entering Golden door )
Uraiyoor Kamalavalli Nachiyar Temple
Uraiyur Panchavarneswarar Temple
Thayumanaswami Temple, Rockfort
Uchi Pillaiyaar Kovil

We returned to Bangalore on second day night by train.

Now that we know to anticipate the crowd at Srirangam for Vaikunta Ekadasi, we are sure to go back with a proper plan.

You Know Athi Varadar Perumal Raise Once in 40 yrs Only? – We did Darshan on 21 July 2019

Renu on July 25, 2019

Athi varadar perumal darshan road trip to Vellore, Kanchipuram

Athi Varadar – Lord Vishnu made of Fig tree, has raised from the temple pond on July 1st 2019 after 40 long years.

Athi Varada Perumal, 9 feet tall fig wooden idol is kept immersed in “Kanchipuram Varadaraja temple” Pushkarini (the temple’s pond) for 350 yrs, he raises out of pond once in 40 yrs.

Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple’s pond water was cleared to bring out the idol and placed in the temple mandapam for 48 days for devotees darshan.

There were footfall of lakhs of devotees every single day since day 1, to darshan Lord in the Sayana Kolam / Ranganathar Kolam (Lying posture). News is that the Lord will be placed in Nindra Kolam (Sri Venkatesa Perumal Kolam) in the last 10 days.

We were blessed to see him on Sunday 21st July 2019 in Sayana kolam, around 7pm, after waiting in que for 3.30 hrs, walked about 8kms from car parking to darshan.

We had planned for 2 days road trip from Bangalore to Vellore. On the first day we traveled from Bangalore, stayed in Vellore, traveled to Kanchipuram from Vellore for Athi Varadar Darshan. On the second day we visited Vellore Golden temple before we left to Bangalore.

Image Courtesy – Social Media

For Athi Varadar Darshan: How We Reached Kanchipuram From Bangalore

Bangalore to Vellore

We started on 21st July Sunday Morning by 5.45 am from our home by car. We had breakfast at our all time favourite Krishna Inn in Shoolagiri (Right next to McDonald’s in Bangalore to Salem highways).
Reached Vellore by 11am, had wonderful darshan in Vellore Shiva Temple – Jalakandeswarar Temple located inside the Vellore Fort.
We checked in at the hotel Khanna Fiesta around 12 noon, took a much needed break from long drive before we got ready to leave to Kanchipuram.
Then had a light lunch in the ground floor khanna Veg restaurant, before we started our travel to Kanchipuram.

Drive to Kancheepuram – Athi Varadar Darshan

We reached Kanchipuram before 4pm, parked our vehicle 1 km away from the Sri Varadaraja temple East gopuram. Left our footwears in the nearest shop, headed towards the gopuram entrance. We somehow had hope of getting special entrance for a fee, but we were told that there are no paid entrance, except for general que for all the devotees.
Joined the general que at 4.05 pm, walked among the flood of devotees, with the free biscuit pack and mini water bottle provided by the government service. There were lots of people running among the crowd testing our patience.
And some were pushing and elbowing the people for a quick getaway, some lost temper and got into fist fights. But we stood in queue calmly to save energy for a long walk.
We reached the darshan mandap in 3.5 hrs time, had wonderful darshan of Lord Athi Varadar in the Sayana Kolam.
There was also a special que from the temple entrance for family with elders and kids. Also there was a special que for devotees with VIP tickets, god knows how we couldn’t get one. For all of them it only took 45 mins to reach Darshan mandap.
There was a live telecast of the pooja being performed to the Lord AthiVaradar. It kept the audience engaged for those long hrs of painful queue.
There was also a team of doctors camp for first – aid just in case.

Returning back to Vellore – The Reason for stay in Vellore

After Lord Athi Varadar darshan, we got back energy all the energy we lost standing /slow walking in the que. We came out of the temple (don’t know exactly which side of temple), walked for about 3 kms to reach the east gopuram to collect our shoes. Then again walked for about 1km to reach our vehicle parking.

We have book marked the vehicle parking area in google maps, so it was no trouble getting to the vehicle in the pitch dark.

Started the car and headed straight to Vellore, reached the stay by 9.30, with the rumbling stomach. Soon after reaching the hotel, we had dinner in the in-house Veg restaurant Called Khanna Veg Restaurant.

We didn’t want to eat in Kancheepuram from our previous trip experience. Wonder where people eat in this most visited pilgrimage place with footfall of lakhs of devotees all year round.

This was one of the reason for not choosing to book room in Kancheepuram, but even if we had tried we would not have got it in these 48 days.

Kanchipuram town is world wide famous for its unique traditional silk sarees. Kanchipuram is house for hundreds of handlooms for authentic and exquisite silk sarees manufacturing and retail sales.

Well, in both the visits in the past we have bought silk sarees from a famous shop. This time we didn’t plan for any shopping, our only intention was to get at least the glimpse of Lord Athi Varadar.

We were more than blessed to visit him on 21st july 2019, Sunday 7pm, a moment of glory with Lord Athi Varada Perumal.

7 Articles on Trekking in Coorg I found Useful for Travelers

Renu on November 15, 2018

I have found 7 articles from famous bloggers on Trekking in Coorg which are useful for Travelers.

We are just back from 4 days bike trip to Coorg from Bangalore, starting from 1st November to 4th November 2018.

Travelling to any new destinations, we both invest some time to know the places, temple histories, places to see around, good restaurants and good accommodations.

So, I have compiled all the blog articles that I read which talk about Coorg travel, Trekking in Coorg, Homestays, Coffee plantation experiences and much more.

And I shared my travel experience in Madikeri Coorg, at the end of this article.

About Coorg – Kodagu, also known as Coorg, is a rural district in the southwest Indian state of Karnataka. In the area’s north, Madikeri Fort has 2 life-size elephant statues at its entrance, plus a Gothic-style church with a museum on its grounds. Nearby, the Hindu Omkareshwara Temple dates back to the 19th century. Farther north are the domed Raja’s Tomb, a burial place of Kodava kings, and cascading Abbi Falls. (Source Wikipedia)

Part I: 7 Real life Traveler’s experience on Trekking in Coorg

Travel Highway Blog

This is an interesting travel article where every bit of trek to Tadiandamol, Coorg is explained. I loved the way the author narrated her story from start to end of the trekking at Coorg with a group of 15 members. She narrated that how she had a difficult time trekking without proper shoes, lack of water and food supply and unforgettable experience when the team saw a snake in the trails. It was quite an article with many pics.

But, no much information on where she camped (if any), transportation and accommodation details. All I learnt from her article is I would need good supportive shoes, food and water supply and team coordination as I might get split up on the way up.

So, overall this article is helpful for travellers interested in Coorg one day trip and trekking in Coorg.

Thinking Particle Blog

This article caught my interest because the author traveled by bike to Coorg from Bangalore, and shared his both bike ride and trek experience to Mandalapatti. Our extensive Bike ride experiences have taught us many lessons – one of them is “be prepared for any sudden deviation in the plan at any point in time”.

I was not surprised when the author mentioned that they could not go trek on the planned day due to bike ride delay. I could very well relate to our bike ride experiences, where many things went wrong in our bike travel, one of them is in Dubare Elephant Camp.

It is an interesting article to see his pics of his bike ride, trekking and camping in Coorg.

Suramya Blog

This is another useful and descriptive article on one-day trekking in Coorg from Bangalore. If you are looking for a guide on one-day trek guide to tadiandamol from Bangalore, this article explains it all. From her trek experience I understood, they returned on the same day to Bangalore – accommodation details also provided. She has carried her food and water supply, so no complaints on those. Overall it seems to be a pleasant experience. Pics say it all.

Escape To Explore Blog

Yet another descriptive article on one day trek to Tadiandamol, Coorg from Bangalore. I liked the way the author first experienced trekking in rain and kayaking. And her trip ended at Golden temple in Nisargadama. In her words, it is “soul-satisfying experience”. If you are looking for a one-day trek in Coorg or planning to book one-day trekking in Coorg via Thrillophilia, this article would be useful. And useful for travelers looking for Coorg one day trip from Bangalore, especially for trekking plans.

My Recent Trips Blog

Even though the author has not gone any trekking in Coorg trip she went, I listed this article for the information, “do’s and dont’s” from her 3 days and 2 nights travel plan.

She has covered Mysore and Coorg in 3 days, spending 12k on budget. Overall, this is a very useful article for someone who is planning to couple 2 places (Mysore and Coorg) in one trip and how you can make maximum out of the trip sightseeing many places.

Like her, we too did stay in Mysore on day-1, roamed around the cleanest city in the evening, headed to Coorg on day-2. If you are looking for one day trip to Coorg from Mysore, I would suggest following this article, pick the places from her article which would fit your plan (Just saying 🙂 )

Maptia Blog

This is the best Nishani Motte trek (Coorg) blog article I have come across. Author has captured some breathtaking pics in his Nishani Motte Trek, Coorg and shared his 2 days homestay and trekking in Coorg.

You can follow his article if you are planning to go trek to Nishani Motte, I would too in future inspired his very own words in the article,

“If you want to experience wilderness in its rawest form, trails which are crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, fulfilling, leading to the most amazing views and experiences, Nishani Motte gives you that Thrilling Experience ! !”

Am sure you would fall in love with his words and photography. Also you will know all details like Nishani motte from coorg, best place to stay in Coorg etc.,

EvolveBack Blog

This author has written general guidance about –1. Tadiandamol trek 2. Bramagiri Trek 3. Galibeedu Trek and the best season to travel and trekking in Coorg. Wish he had written more about the trekking places in Coorg and added few more pics to narrate the experience. Not much you can learn from his article, but it was in my research list, so sharing with the readers here.

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