During Kumbakonam Masi Magam festival we have visited 24 temples in 3 days by bike, thanks to my friend who rented out the bike to us. We reached Kumbakonam from Bangalore by train, stayed in Poppy’s SET Hotel for 3 days, roamed all around Kumbakonam mercilessly in motorbike for 3 days.
Kumbakonam Masi Magam Festival 2017
Here are the list of temples we did darshan in Kumbakonam Masi Magam festival 2017.
I am straight away giving the list of all the temples names under each day we spent in Kumbakonam. Not going into details of the temples, or too many pics nor its history.
Here goes the list of temples we visited in Kumbakonam Masi Magam in the year 2017 – one of the memorable trip in our travel history.
Day 1 : 11 Mar 2017A Day Before Kumbakonam Masi MagamFestival
The Masimaham is an annual event that occurs in Kumbakonam in the Tamil month of Masi (February–March) in the star of Magam.
Vast crowds of Hindu devotees gather at Kumbakonam to have a dip in the tank a.k.a Mahamaham tank.
All the rivers of India are believed to meet at the tank on this day and a purificatory bath at this tank on this day is considered equal to the combined dips in all the holy rivers of India.
Festival deities from all the temples in Kumbakonam arrive at the tank and at noon, all the deities bathe along with the devotees – it is called “Theerthavari“.
The purificatory bath is believed to remove sins and after the dip, pilgrims offer charitable gifts in the hope of being rewarded in the current life and subsequent lives.
The temple cars of major temples in Kumbakonam come around the city on the festival night. During the Mahamaham of 1992, the number of devotees were estimated to be one million. (Source – Wikipedia).
Our Story -Travelduo From Bangalore
We were able to darshan 24 temples continuously for 3 days because we planned everything beforehand, and our energy level matched to roam the temples back to back, non stop in bike.
Otherwise would have not been possible travelling by car and with the group or with more family members. It was the most memorable trip where we did crazy riding to temples in Kumbakonam Masi Magam Festival in the year 2017.
In the 3 days of roaming, we fell in Love with this beautiful temple town Kumbakonam, so in the same year and the next year we went road trip of 11 days to Kumbakonam. Just for the love of most majestic and historically important temples in Kumbakonam.
If you are looking for places to visit in Papanasam, surprisingly there are so many picnic spots you could go to. Papanasam is a small village located 60 kms from Tirunelveli city, falls under Ambasamudram taluk.
Papanasam is a must visit place once in your life time because it is a house for waterfalls, rivers, dams, green fields and historical temples. And all the goodnesses surrounded by hills and forests is a sight to sore eyes.
(Note: there is another place called “Papanasam” near Kumbakonam, also a famous place in Tamilnadu, mostly for temples).
Places to Visit in Papanasam with Distances
Here is a quick look at the sightseeing places to visit in and around Papanasam, Tirunelveli district:
In Papanasam – Ancient LordShiva temple at the foot of Agasthiyar Falls
Papanasam to Manimuthar (waterfalls and dam) – 14 kms
Papanasam to Manjolai (Tea estates) – 65 kms (via Manimutharu)
Papanasam to Courtallam – 34 kms
Papanasam to Tirumalai kovil, Panpoli – 50 kms (via Ilanji and Tenkasi)
Papanasam to Ilanji Kumarar Temple – 37 kms
Papanasam to Tenkasi Ancient Ulagamman and Kasi Vishwanathar temple- 34 kms
Tenkasi to Courtallam – 5.5 kms
Papanasam to Tirunelveli – 60 kms
I know it is not practically possible to look at all places in Papanasam, here are some popular places to visit in Papanasam in one or two days.
Take a dip in Agasthiyar Waterfalls and Visit Papanasanathar Sivan Temple
This famous Hindu temple is located at the foot of Agasthiyar Forest and Waterfalls at the distance of 2.7kms.
All the vehicles are allowed up to the foothill of waterfalls. There is toilet and dress change facilities near the parking.
No entry fee to enter the forest but a nominal fee for the waterfalls entry. No special fee for cameras.
Forest and waterfalls entry is restricted after 5 PM.
The famous Lord Siva temple is called as Papanasanathar or Mukkalanathar, lingam in the main sanctum is believed to be one of the 9 planetary deities – Lord Suriya.
This temple is one of the nava kailasam temples on the banks of Thamirabarani river and thus famously called Suriyan temple.
The best places to visit in Papanasam Tirunelveli – Agasthiyar fallsThe Best places to visit in Papanasam Tirunelveli – Sivan Temple entrance view
Places to Visit near Papanasam – Courtallam Main falls, Courtallam Five falls and Tenkasi
Courtallam ranks top in the places to visit in Papanasam Tirunelveli.
Not much intro is required for this famous place in Tirunelveli district, the locals call it as Kuttalam, otherwise called Courtallam, is house for many rivers and waterfalls.
Since the Nickname “Spa of South India”.
Distance from Papanasam to Courtallam is 34 kms.
This place is said to be the origin of rivers namely – Chittar river, Manimuthar river, Pachaiyar river, Thamirabarani river.
Most people visit Courtallam mainly for taking a dip in the main falls and pray to lord Siva.
You have toilet and dress change facilities here near the car parking area.
You could also visit courtallam five falls – Series of 5 small river cascades above a shallow pond, with separate bathing areas for men & women.
June to September are the best months to visit courtallam, later the entry is closed to waterfalls due to heavy rain and floods.
The famous Lord Kutralanathar temple (Lord Siva) is located at the foot of the main falls – Peraruvi.
This temple is one of the Pancha Sabhai Sthalangal, refer to the places where Lord Nataraja performed his cosmic dance.
Courtallam Main falls (Periya aruvi) Travelduo images in January MonthCourtallam Sivan Temple – Entrance viewCourtallam Sivan Temple at the foot of Courtallam main falls
Tenkasi is just 5.5 kms From Courtallam- house for one of the biggest temples in Tamilnadu
Tenkasi is the 34th district in Tamilnadu since 2019. This small town is built around the very famous, majestic dravidian style of architecture – Kasi Vishwanathar Ulagamman temple.
It is firmly believed that worshipping lord Siva in this temple would bring in as much benefits to the devotees as praying in Kasi – Varanasi.
This temple is notably famous for the swayambhu murti of Lord Siva, 180 feet artistic – majestic gopuram and exquisite beauty of the temple sculptures are world known.
The majestic 180 feet Gopuram View of Tenkasi Kaasi VishwanatharTemple
If you are travelling from Tirunelveli, Manjolai is another tourist place to stop before heading to Manimuthar and Papanasam.
Located on top of the Manimuthar dam is Manjolai, about 23 kms from Manimuthar and about 63 km from Tirunelveli, is famous for tea plantations -Manjolai Estate, Manimutharu Estate & Oothu Estate.
Famous Temples in and around Papanasam with distances
Papanasanathar Sivan Temple, Papanasam
Kutralanathar Sivan Temple, Courtallam, 34 kms
Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Tenkasi, 34 kms
Shri Ilanji Kumarar Koil – Ilanji ,37 kms
Tirumala Koil -Panpoli, 50 kms
Thooranamalai Sri Murugan Koil – Perumpattu, 25 kms
Sri Nithya Kalyani Amman Temple, Kilakadayam, 19 kms
Ponmalai Murugan Temple, Pulavanoor, 20 kms
Summary
Here is how you can plan one day trip from Tirunelveli to Papanasam –
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.
Kumbakonam famous food items – the list of famous food items and the names of restaurants.
“Where to eat?” is the first thought comes to our mind if we are travelling to new places.
Kumbakonam is like our second home, we have been to this famous temple city many times in the past couple of years. A small vibrant city decorated with equal number of temples and lily ponds – a unique sight to see in any place.
Here is the list of famous food items and where to eat in Kumbakonam.
What is Kumbakonam Famous for?
Kumbakonam is famous for numerous Ancient temples and Navagraha temples across the town. Every year lacs of devotees visit Kumbakonam during Mahamaham festival and during the Margazhi festival season.
So, mainly Kumbakonam is famous for its yearly Masi magam festival (during march), all year around Navagraha temple visits and Margazhi festival (during December).
For such a small town, Kumbakonam is busy all year around with tourists.
It is hard to decide where to eat in Kumbakonam, especially with fake ratings and reviews for restaurants these days.
Myself and my hubby have spent the majority of our vacation in Kumbakonam in our 11 days long bike trip in 2017 and 2018.
During our stay, we have explored all the major eateries – both vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants in Kumbakonam.
I am suggesting the following places to eat in Kumbakonam based on the quality of food, ambiance, fast service and value for money.
Famous food items (with images) in Kumbakonam with best places to eat is detailed below.
Also, I am suggesting the best ginger tea shop at the end of this article for tea lovers in the coffee famous town.
Most Famous Pure Veg Restaurant – Mangalambiga Coffee and Tiffin Center
Where – Behind Adi kumbeshwarar Temple, Kumbakonam
If you are a pure vegetarian, your search for good food in Kumbakonam ends here. This restaurant and cafe serves all south Indian tiffin items – Pongal, Vada, All varieties of dosa, Poori sabji, upma etc.,
My personal favourite – Poori and tomato Uttapam
Open on all days from 6.30 am to 10.00 pm, this restaurant serves best veg food in Kumbakonam throughout the day. Even with all the popularity, this restaurant remains humble with limited seats and food served only by senior citizens till date.
The Best place to try all Kumbakonam Famous Food items and Snacks -“Only Coffee” Restaurant.
I am an early riser, and a Coffee lover.
Almost everyday we used to travel 10kms from center Kumbakonam town to “Only Coffee” restaurant for steaming cup of coffee. If we had no long travel plans to any temples, we used to hangout there until we finish our breakfast. Sometimes we roam around near by agri field, chill out, take some pics and come back to the same restaurant for Lunch.
Even Though they have another branch in centre town, a restaurant facing Holy Mahamaham tank, we always loved going to this place for the scenic ride and friendly staffs
The name says “Only Coffee” so obviously anyone would think of it as a coffee shop.
We did too.
When we stayed in Aditya Resorts for 2 days where we had no option for dining, we came out of the resort in a mindset to ride to the nearby coffee shop.
We found “Only Coffee” in the immediate neighborhood, with the display of clay toys and some interesting books.
The friendly hotel staff asked us whether we wanted to have some snacks to go with coffee, we said yes, and we chose “kolukattai” from the choice of salad and sandwich.
This is the best restaurant that serves snacks, healthy options suited for all the ages.
Famous Snacks in Only Coffee restaurant: They had “today’s special” green salads, sandwiches, south indian special pidi kolukattai, kuli paniyaram, etc.,
Since then, our entire two days stay in Aditya Resort, we never had to roam searching for food and snacks in Kumbakonam. Even after we moved to different accommodation in the city, we came back almost everyday, sometimes twice in a day for their dosa varieties and coffee.
They serve all kinds of typical Tamil Nadu breakfast items.
They also serve unlimited and limited meals for lunch, the only time rice item was available, we chose limited meals because we preferred light food for lunch.
Not only their food is healthy (they use only less oil for food items, so they don’t serve any deep fried snacks) but also they have a variety of healthy snacks and pickles for sale. They also sell wood pressed cooking oil (Marachekku oil), some children books and wooden play toys. According to me, this place is the best vegetarian restaurant in Kumbakonam.
We absolutely enjoyed eating every time in “Only Coffee”.
Its definitely a best place for healthy, vegetarian food choices to eat with family and friends.
Only Coffee Restaurant, TiruvidaimaruthurKumbakonam famous food item images
Only coffee Restaurant – The best hangout place for all kinds of TamilNadu food and snacks 3x a day.
You will absolutely love its peaceful ambiance with the healthy variety of vegetarian tiffin and meals, packed organic snack, pickles, evening salads and Sandwiches served all time with hot coffee/tea/milk.
Alert
“Only coffee” Restaurant is operating only at centre town kumbakonam, opposite to holy mahamaham tank. Call up and check for “Only Coffee” Thiruvidaimaruthur branch, as it was closed for renovation when we visited last time in Dec 2018
Small Shop Serving Quality Food items and Snacks all the time In Kumbakonam- “Ayya Kadai“
Initially, we thought of it as a tea stall, because hardly 15 people can sit inside this shop. Later we came to know they serve food 2 times a day apart from coffee/tea with snacks.
We found this shop when we stayed in “Poppy’s SET hotel” for 3 days Mahamaham festival in Kumbakonam.
Famous food list in Ayya Kadai: Poori masala, pongal, idli, dosa varieties for breakfast and dinner, variety rice and parotta for lunch.
Famous Snacks List in Ayya Kadai: Methu vada (Urad dhal vada), Paruppu Vada (Channa dal vada), Valalikkai Bajji (Banana Besan Fry) are must try here. They are available in the morning and noon timings, different dishes at different times throughout the day.
Almost all the prices were less than or equal to Rs. 20/- including the variety rice(like tomato rice, puliyogare, lemon rice and curd rice), so it is obvious to doubt the quality of food.
But it is a super clean small eatery shop run by 3 elderly guys, and they promise to deliver the quality food and they live up to their words. And from my experience, it is the super clean place in Kumbakonam serving good quality food and snack items.
Ayya Kadai, Kumbakonam centre town
Ayya Kadai – is the best choice in Kumbakonam town for anyone looking to eat light (and healthy) without hurting the pocket. Also, it is a must try place for an evening snack – masala vada and other oil fried snacks with coffee or tea.
Try Pandian Hotel For Famous Non veg Food items when in Kumbakonam
I love to eat Non-Veg for dinner, if not daily at least twice in a week is a must for me. Rajesh does not like non-veg as much as I like it, but he too loves to indulge in it, if it catches his eye.
After asking few people in the busy street, we were guided to a hotel across “Sarangapani temple”. We very much liked the variety of food they had in the menu, in fact, we had a hard time picking orders from the menu.
Pandian Hotel MenuIdiyappam With Chicken gravyMuttai Lappa with Prawn MasalaEgg Kothu Parotta with Fish Fry
Food was served in Banana leaf, calm place to enjoy the feast. We had enjoyed two varieties of parottas, Kothu parotta, chicken masala and prawn masala with butter milk.
No chinese items were available.
We loved going back for the crispy Kothu Parotta and the Idiyappam. (Note: You need to be little early in the evening for idiyappam, since there is a huge demand).
We were also suggested to go Hotel Shanmuga, which is also a famous non-veg serving restaurant. The other day we tried some chinese there, but we didn’t enjoy it as much as we did in all other restaurants in Kumbakonam. Eventhough Hotel Shanmuga is popular among localities, we personaly did not like it much because of noisy ambiance and poor quality food.
Pandian Hotel in Kumbakonam – Pure authentic restaurant serves all kinds of Non-Veg items with a wide variety of parottas, dosa items, idiyappam, and meals.
You could also try the famous sweet shop in Kumbakonam town named Murari sweets. Their famous ajmeet cake, dry jamun are must try sweets. Buy only from a shop near to Ramar temple, as there are many fake brands all over the town.
In general, Kumbakonam famous food items are usual south indian dishes apart from degree coffee.
Since we are not a foodie we did not attempt to eat in all the restaurants in Kumbakonam. Instead, we went and explored which was convenient for us and repeatedly went to same places for comfort.
Oh yeah, while you are there, try Kumbakonam famous degree coffee in any of the restaurants. Happy Sightseeing !!.
Tiruttani temple is one of the famous tourist temples in Tamil Nadu. You will find a detailed info on sightseeing tiruttani nearby temples here from our recent one day trip from Bangalore to Tiruttani.
Instead of usual bike trips, for a change, we have decided to go on a one day trip from Bangalore by train to Tiruttani.
Image credit – Justdial.
How to Explore Tiruttani Nearby temples
For those who do not know us, we are ardent Bike riders. Feel free to explore all our bike ride trips within Karnataka and other states (yep :)) in the categories section.
We decided to go on a one day trip from Bangalore by Train after a successful trip by train trip to Tiruvallur (near Chennai).
After considering our peaceful train journey to Tiruvallur, I looked for a similar experience on this trip as well.
Tiruttani
A famous place known for one of the Six abodes of Lord Murugan, otherwise also famously called Thiruthani Murugan Temple. A famous tourist place, well connected by road and railways and even hotels for the long distance travelers.
So, we decided on Tiruttani.
Today, 4th of February 2017, we boarded an early morning train from Bangalore central KSR railway station to Arakkonam junction, to see Tiruttani and nearby temples.
From Arakkonam Junction we hired an auto to reach Tiruttani Murugan temple located 15 kms north.
Expecting a long que on this auspicious day – Karthigai Star, the birth star of Lord Murugan, we didn’t waste any time before reaching the temple.
After a long que and a wonderful darshan Arulmigu Subramanya Swamy at Tiruttani temple, we returned back to Arakkonam for lunch.
I didn’t bother to look for Tiruttani temple darshan timings as I knew it would be open till night since it was an auspicious day.
Except on auspicious days, the temple remains closed for lunch and after 9pm.
Meantime, the auto driver made a deal with us that he will show around Tiruttani and Arakkonam for 2000 rupees till late evening.
We liked the deal, and decided to explore the Tiruttani nearby temples as there were no other interesting choices planned for rest of the afternoon.
There are many famous tiruttani surrounding temples.
While we were in Thiruvalangadu, we missed visiting the yet another famous, padal petra shiva sthalam, called Sri Tazuvikuzandheswarar Temple situated just 3kms away.
Thanks to the auto driver from the local area, he took us to the above temples situated in different directions (the last two temples are situated a little closer).
He dropped us back at Arakkonam around 9 pm.
After having dinner in a nearby restaurant, we then boarded the 10.20 pm Kaveri Express train to return to Bangalore.
Hope this will help all those seeking a trip to Tiruttani nearby temples.
