The
third Ranga is in Srirangam and it is called Antya Ranga. The road diastance
from Srirangapatna via Shivanasamudra to Srirangam is about 360 kilometers and
the travelling time is around seven hours.
If
you leave Srirangapatna around 7-30 a.m., you will be able to pray at
Shivanasamudra and touch Srirangam by 5-30 p.m.
Some of the routes to take are
Srirangapatna-Shivanasamudra- Kollegal - Chamrajnagar - Hanur - Dimbam -
Banneri - Sathymangalam - Athani - Anthiyur - Bhavani - Tiruchengode - Nammakal
and Trichy.
Other routes are Shivanasamudra-Kollegal-Hanur-MM
Hills-Kolathur-Mettur-Mecheri-Omalur-Salem-Namakkal-Srirangam. The distance on
this route would be 323 Kms.
Another route is Shivanasamudra-Kollegal-Hanur-Muthuchettiyur-Bargur-Bhavani-Namakkal-Srirangam and this is 292 Kms long.
Another route is Shivanasamudra-Kollegal-Hanur-Muthuchettiyur-Bargur-Bhavani-Namakkal-Srirangam and this is 292 Kms long.
If you are not comfortable
with the Sathy-Bhavani road, go from Sathy to Annur and join NH 47 at Avinashi
and travel via Erode to Tiruchengode and Namkkal. Do not take the Namakkal-Musiri
route but opt for Thuraiyur instead.
Besides, the Hanur-Kolathur-Mettur
route is a jungle road with forest check posts. This was once the haunt of the
dreaed forest brigand Veerappan.
Once in Srirangam, halt
either there or at Trichy. There are scores of temples in both the places. Some
of the other places are as follows:
Gunaseelam
This is a famous temple town
with Lord Venkateshwara believed to have powers to cure mentally ill and
physically challenged people.
This is a famous Vaishnavite
centre and it is situated on the Trichy-Salem
Road . It is 18 kms from Trichy.
Thiruvellarai
This is another Vaishnava
centre and one among the 108 Divya desams of Vaishnavites. It is situated on
the Trichy- Thuraiyur road. It is 15 kms from Trichy.
The temple is dedicated to Lord
Vishnu and he is called Pundarikasha Perumal.
Uthmar
koil
Here, we can find the Holy
Trinity of Vishnu, Brahma and Maheshwara. Devotees believe that any of their
wish will be fulfilled if they pray sincerely to the pious trinity.
The temple is north of Trichy
Fort Railway station and it is located on the Salem- Trichy road. This is also
one of the 108 Vaishnavite sthalams.
Samayapuram
This is a Shaivite centre and
it is 16 kms from Trichy. It is an important Sakthi centre and it is located on
the Trichy-Chennai highway.
The main temple is dedicated
to Mariamman. This temple is about 10 kms from Trichy.
Makalikudi
This is just a kilometre
south east of Samayapuram. The temple
here is called Ujjaini
Kali Amma
Temple .
According to legend, Emperor Vikramadhitya
of Ujjaini, took bath here and worshipped the Kali idol. The Kali is a small
brass deity with eight hands.
The Shakthi Theertha here is said
to have curative powers.
Kodumbalur
This is also called as Moovar
Kovil and it is located 42 kms from Trichy. It is on the Trichy-Madurai National Highway .
There are two temples here
built during the Irukkuvelar dynasty when they ruled these areas. The temples
were constructed by Boodhi Vikramakesari in the 10th century A.D. The sculptures
of Kalarimurthi, Gajasamharamurthi, Ardhanariswara and Gangadaramurthi are
masterpieces of art.
Another temple nearby is that
of Muchukumdeswarar but tsi is dated to
the period of the Early Cholas.
Puliancholai
Puliancholai
This is a beautiful picnic
spot. It is located 70 kms from Trichy and it is located at the foothills of Kolli
Hill ranges. The Agaya Gangai falls on top of the Koli Hills is believed to
have medicinal value. The trek to reach Agaya Gangai
Falls (Hill top) takes
close to five hours. The falls are located on age-old rock structures, dolmens
and the Pithukkuli caves.
Tiruvanikaval
This is a Shaivite temple and
it is located 6 kms from Trichy. Shiva here is named as Jambukeshwara and the Goddess
as Akilandeswari. This is among the jyotirlinga stalams (temples) of India .
Shiva here is in the form of
water called Appulingam (water). The linga is partly submerged in water which
keeps on coming up from a spring.
Viralimalai
This is a small town located
at about 30 km from Trichy. It is famous for the Murugan temple and a Peacock park.
The wild peacocks roam around
the Murugan temple. The Peacock is said to be the Vahana or vehicle of Murugan.
Sittannavasal
Sittannavasal
This is a small village 30
kms from Trichy.
There are remains of Jain cave temples dating back to 2nd century
B.C. The fresco paintings here remind us of the paintings of Ajanta near Aurangabad
in Maharashtra . Many of the paintings belong
to 9th century Pandyan period.
There are also inscriptions
dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries. Fresco painting from the 7th century
can be seen on the ceiling of the Dhamandapam. There are many pre-historic
burial sites around Sittannavasal and several relics such as burial urns, cists
have been unearthed from here and at Kurangupatarai.
Thirukokarnam
Thirukokarnam
This has a Government Museum
located at Pudukkottai. This is 40 kms from Trichy. The museum has rare
collections and artifacts on covering geology, zoology, art and painting, anthropology,
epigraphy and historical records.
The museum is open on all
days except Mondays.
Kudumiyanmalai
This is 25 kms from Trichy.
This has a temple dedicated to Shiva. The deity here is called Kuduminatha or Shikhagirinatha
as alock of hair or Kudumi was noticed on the idol.
The sanctum was built by the
Cholas in 9th century.
Tirumayam
This is 79 kms from Trichy.
It is located near Pudukkottai.
There are rock cut cave temples and an old fort. The cave temples are dedicated
to Siva and he is called Sathyagireeswarar: and Vishnu (Sathyamoorthy)
and they were built by Mahendra Verma and Narasimha Varma, both Pallava Emperors.
On top of the hills is an old
fort Oomaiyan Kottai.
It was in this fort that the
British imprisoned rebels captured by them. The fort was built in 1687 by
King Sethupathi of Ramanathapuram. The Siva temple has some inscriptions
related to music. There are two shrines
in the Vishnu temple. The first is where Vishnu is seen reclining. This is the
largest reclining statue of its kind in the country. On the walls behind the
idol are beautiful carvings depicting Vishnu and the serpent Adisesha chasing
away rakshasas by spewing fire and poison
Panchamalai
This is a beautiful hill
range 80 km away from Trichy. The best
route is through Thuraiyur. It is a picnic spot to enjoy nature. Pachai in
Tamil means green and the area is covered in green. The tribals here have their
own unique culture.
The altitude of the hills is from
500 metres to 1000 meters. This hills have a number of scenic spots like Thenparanadu,
kombainadu , Athi Nadu and Vannadu. This is good for trekking, Nature walk and observing
wildlife.
Vayaloor
This is just 12 kms from
Trichy. It has a Subramaniya
Temple . It is called Arulmigu Subramaniyaswamy Temple
and it is located at Kumara Vayaloor near Kuzhumani.
It is well connected by road from
Trichy.
Srinivasanallur
This is famous for the Koranganatha Temple , which is situated on the banks
of Cauvery. It is 50 kms from Trichy. It is located on the Tiruchy - Salem highway. This is
not a living temple and it has some of the finest Chola sculptures.
Tirupattur
This is the location of the
famed Brahmapureeswara temple and it is
30 kms from Trichy.
It is located on the Trichy-Chennai
route at Siruganur village. The main deity here is Swayambu Linga and it is
worshipped as Brahmapureeswara.
Devotees believe that it is
only at this place that one’s fate can be changed. There is a Samadhi of Sage
Patanjali opposite the idol of Brahma.
Poovalur
The temple here is of Shiva.
It is here that Rathi Devi got back Manmatha, the God of Love, by praying to
Shiva.
Shiva had burnt Manmatha to
ashes after he tried to divert his attention by aiming arrows of love at him. A
grief struck Rathi Devi prays to Shiva to restore her husband back to life.
Shiva here is also called as Jnanapureswara as the Sapta Rishis worshipped him
here for obtaining knowledge.
The temple is called Thirumoola
nadha Shiva temple. It is located 20 kms from Trichy and 3 kms north of Lalgudi.
It is located on the Trichy-Ariyalur road.
Lalgudi
In earlier days, Lalgudi was
called Thiruthavathuri. It is 20 kms from Trichy and it is on the banks of Coleroon.
Lalgudi is well known for the
temple of Saptharisheeswara
or the seven saints or rishis- Atri, Brigu, Pulsitha, Vasishta, Gautha,
Angeerasa and Marichi. These rishis prayed to Saptharisheeswara here to rid
them of the curse of Lord Murugan.
Thirupalaithurai
This temple town is just 12
kms from Trichy. It is also called as Panayapuram.
This is famous as one of the
275 sacred Shiva temples.The temple is called
Thirumoolanadhar Thevar.
The linga is a self manifested
one. The Sun God and Sage Markandya worshipped Shiva here.
Pettaivaithalai
This is located 23 kms from
Trichy and it is on the road to Karur.
There is a Shiva temple here
and the deity is called Madhyarjuneswara. This is an ancient temple and a large
number of women come here to get rid of
their problems.
Apart from these places,
there are plenty of temples in and around Lalgudi such as the Asta Bhuja Durga,
Alandurai and Nambi temples at Anbil; the Samavedeeswara temple at
Thirumangalam
(2 kms from Anbil); the Ambravaneswara Temple at Thirumandhurai (5 kms from Anbil); the Adi Lakshmi
Temple at Natham (12 kms
from Anbil).
We have alist of more than
two hundred temples and a hundred towns and villages in and around
Trichy-Srirangam area. But to detail all that information here would be
impossible. I hope the information provided here is sufficient. By the way, in case you stay for more days, head for Thanjavur and Kumbakonam from Trichy. Thajnavur is famous for the Big temple and Kumbakonam has hundreds of temples. The most important temples here are the Sarangapani and Chakrapani temples and the Kumbeshwara. Of course, there is the Vijendra Theertha Matah where Raghavendra Swamy lived for several years and preached. The Brindavana of Vijendra Thertha, the Parama Guru of Raghavendra Swamy, is here.
You can also take a trip to the Navagraha temples in and around Kumbakonam.
You can also take a trip to the Navagraha temples in and around Kumbakonam.
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