Temples of Kollimalai (Kolli Hills)

About the destination

Kollihills - Kollimalai is a very scenic and not-so-often visited hill-station in Tamilnadu. Kollimalai, 55 km from Namakkal, is fertile and serene hills and homes several spices, exotic tropical fruits, and medicinal vegetation. A weekend trip is idle to be planned for this destination.

Trip Route

Trip Route : Chennai - Ulundurpet - Attur - Mettala - Namagiripettai - Karavalli - Kollimalai (70 Hairpin bends) - Chennai

Kolli Hills is a part of Eastern ghats and well known for a road trip for the 70 hairpin bends it hosts! 

The 2 important temples to visit in Kolli are Etukkai Amman temple and Arapaleeshwar Temple.

Etukkai Amman temple

Once we reached Solakkadu, there are 2 routes - one on the right towards Semmedu and the other towards the Etukkai Amman temple. We took the left and go to Etukkai Amman temple.

Etukkai Amman temple is a 300 m walk from the parking area. Etukkai Amman is a local tribal God and popular in the locality. The locals have a tradition of writing the wish in a paper and tying the same to the temple pillar. We spent around 10 minutes around and tasted the local soup (Mudavattukal kilangu) and kuzhi paniyaram on the walk back.

 

Arapaleeshwar Temple

We next planned to visit Arapaleeshwar Temple. The temple is 17 km from the Solakkadu junction. This main deity of the temple is Lord Shiva. The temple is quite old with some history attached to it. The temple is said to be built by King Valvil Ori. The temple timings are 7 AM to 1 PM and 2:30 PM to 7 PM. There are a lot of eateries around the premises of the temple and all are pure vegetarian. Vegetarians, please ensure you have some food here, without which there are no pure veg restaurants anywhere in Kollimalai. The place has a lot of parking around the temple and shops to buy forest agro products like honey, pepper, and lots of condiments.

Agaya Gangai Waterfalls is 1 km walk down from the sides of the temple. The main attraction of Kolli Hills. One has to climb down (and back) 1302 steps to reach the falls. Definitely, a great place!

 

Shiva Temples enroute Thirumalpur

About the trip

The plan was to visit 4 - 5 ancient temples of Lord Shiva in half a day. The temples that were planned to visit were across the belt of Sriperumpudur to Thirumalpur. These temples are a part of 276 Padal Petra Sthalams of Lord Shiva.

Trip Plan

Trip : Chennai - Sriperumpudur (via) - Koovam - Thakkolam - Thirumalpur - Chennai
Trip Dates: 23 February 2020
Trip Mates: Karthik and family, Siva and family

Day started by 5:30 AM from home and the plan was to visit 4 of the Shiva's Padal Petra Sthalams Enroute Thirumalpur. We also planned to visit Sriperumpudur Adhi Kesava Perumal temple, however, skipped because of few dependencies.

TNT014 - Sri Thiripuranthakar Temple (Koovam Shivan Temple - Tiruvirkolam)

Deity: Thirupuranthakar (Lord Shiva), Goddess Thirupuranthaka Nayaki
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This is 14th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu.
Timing : 6:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 5 PM to 7 PM.
Parking: Available for a few vehicles
Route: This temple is around 20 km (45 mins drive) from Sriperumpudur. The roads are quite good. Can be located easily in Google maps.
History: This temple is a remote temple in the village of Koovam. Please do locate the water tank on the main road and the roads by its sides would take you to the temple main entrance. There is an injury scar on the Lingham and all abishekams are done without touching the Lingam. The Lingham is Theenda Thirumeni. The Lingam is said to change colour based on weather - rain and flood situations. The temple is absolutely serene and divine.

 

TNT013 - Sri Deivanaatheswarar Temple (Ilambayankottur Shivan Temple) 

Deity: Sri Arambeswarar (Lord Shiva), Goddess Kanaka Kujambikai
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This is 13th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu.
Timing : 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 4 PM to 7 PM.
Parking: Available for 2-3 cars
Route: This temple is around 9 km (20 mins drive) from Koovam Shivan temple. Interior Roads are village roads and quite bad. Can be located in Google maps - avoid any mud road the maps might show. Look for alternate paved roads and proceed.
History: This temple is looked upon as a temple where Lord Shiva was worshipped by other Gods. The Swayambu lingam is said to be in red colour for a few months and in white colour for a few months.

TNT012 - Sri Jalanatheeswarar / Gangadhareswarar Temple (Thakkolam Shivan Temple - Tiruvooral) 

Deity: Sri Jalanatheeswarar (Lord Shiva), Goddess Giriraja Kannikambhal
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This is 12th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu.
Timing : 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 4:30 PM to 7:30 PM.
Parking: Available for a few cars
Route: This temple is around 11 km (25 mins drive) from Ilambayankottur - Shivan temple. The temple is on a road inside the town of Thakkolam. Can be easily located in Google maps.
History: The Lingham is Theenda Thirumeni. It is believed this lingam was created by Goddess Parvathi and hugged by her. Lord Vishnu sits behind Lord Shiva sanctum instead of Lingothbahvar. The temple is also a Guru Parihara sthalam. Lord Dhakshinamoorthy sits in a different posture in this temple - legs crossed and Goddess Durga in dancing form.

We decided to have some breakfast in Thakkolam. We stopped by a small mess, probably, the most popular and biggest in Thakkolam! Pongal, vadai, idlies, and poori - all were good. The place was Prakash Bhavan.

TNT011 - Sri Manikandeswarar Temple (Tirumalpur Shivan Temple - Tirumarperu) 

Deity: Sri Manikandeswarar (Lord Shiva), Goddess Anchanatchi Amman
About: This is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams. This is 11th Shiva Sthalam in Thondai Nadu.
Timing : 7:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM.
Parking: Lots of space for cars
Route: This temple is around 20 km (30 mins drive) from Thakkolam and 8 km before entering Vellore Highway. From Arakonam road, one has to be through the underpass of the railway line coming closer to the Tirumalpur railway station. Can be easily located in Google maps.
History: The Lingham is said to be worshipped for Lord Vishnu. When Lord Vishnu offered 1000 flowers to Lord Vishnu, there was one short and Lord Vishnu offered his eye. Lord Vishu was then called Senthamarai Kannan and also he got Sudharashana Chakra here.

Sri Dakshinamoorthy temple (Govindavadi) 

Deity: Sri Dakshinamoorthy (Lord Shiva)
About: Exclusive temple for Lord Guru Dakshinamoorthy.
Timing : 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
Parking: Parking area available.
Route: This temple is around 8 km (20 mins drive) from the Tirumalpur Shiva temple. One needs to cross the railway gate and reach the temple. Can be located in Google maps with ease.
History: The temple hosts Guru Dakshinamoorthy as the main deity and Lord Kailashanathar sanctum separately. The deity sits over a pedestal and absolutely stunning. Great divinely feel.

Forts of Gingee

About the destination

Gingee is a hillfort destination in Tamilnadu - 134 km from Tambaram (Chennai). Gingee Fort is a popular tourist destination, to know about the history of the region as well as the architecture being practiced then to win wars and protect people.

One can take the GST (Grand Southern Trunk - NH) and drive all along till Tindivanam. Around 7 km before Tindivanam, take left and one can reach Gingee in around 35 km.

Trip Plan

Trip : Chennai - Acharapakkam - Gingee - Chennai
Trip Dates: 8 February 2020
Trip Mates: Karthik, Sathish Raja, Vijayan

A long-planned Day trip - delayed for years! Gingee is 134 km from Tambaram.

A Stop by Shiva Temple

Our first stop for the day was at Acharapakkam Shiva temple. The Google code of the location is TNT029. The temple is around 2-3 km after Melmaruvathur Adiparasakthi temple. One has to go through narrow lanes of Achirapakkam and reach Sri Atcheeswarar Temple. The main deity of the temple is Sri Atchipureeswarar (Lord Shiva) and Goddess Umayambigai. There are 2 sanctums for Lord Shiva in this temple. The temple timings are 6 AM to 11 AM; 4 PM to 8:30 PM.

We had breakfast at the 99km hotel. The Tiffen items made of siru dhaniyangal and varieties of water. A perfect place to relish food and relax on the highway. We, in fact, stopped again taking U-Turn when we were returning as well.

Ancient Jain Caves

Around 8:40 AM, we were closer to Gingee. We first stopped by Ancient Jain Caves and Jain Beds at  Uranithangal. Uranithangal is a small village on the base of this hill and is around 3 km before Gingee town. The haphazard placement of stones is the way to go. The natural saves had been used as Jain beds and shelters. We traced a few pathways randomly and reached the cave-like structure in 10 minutes. It was not an easy climb though through thorny bushes. We found several Jain beds and feet print of Tirthankaras and Dharma Chakra etched on the rocks. We spent around 20 minutes enjoying the views from the tops and the chillness at the shelters.

Gingee Fort

Gingee fort has 3 hillock forts - one for the king (Rajagiri), one for the queen (Krishnagiri), and one for soldiers (Chandrayandurg). Gingee Fort is well fortified and built by Anatha Kon of the Konar Dynasty. It was then passed on the Marathas, Bijapur Sultans, Moghuls, Nawabs, and British. The fortifications of Gingee are amazingly done and this has been a great asset of the fort - described by every ruler.

Firstly, we visited a Shiva temple before entering Rajagiri. The Shiva temple is on the left side of the road leading to Rajagiri. The Shiva temple was built in the period of Desingu Raja, who was a king of Gingee Fort for a period.

Rajagiri

The path leading to Rajagiri takes one through few monuments as well. The entry to the place is Rs.30 per person and the open timings are 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM. However, entry to climb the hill stops at 3:00 PM; the reason primarily is because it takes close to 3 hours to climb up and down the hill. The Rajagiri fort is a towering hill and climbs of 800 feet in elevation and not an easy climb.

Before we reach the steps to climb, there are few monuments to see around. This includes Belltower (Kalyana Mandapam), a few mandapams, Gymnasium, Elephant stable, Elephant pond, Granary, and Treasury. It takes around 30-60 minutes to go around and appreciate the grandeur of the place.

The hill climb to Rajagiri is around 1500 steps and definitely a difficult climb. Elders and people with physical challenges are suggested not to give a try. One needs to carry lots of water and snacks along with it. There is nothing available (absolutely nothing!) to eat or drink when you are on the way to the top or no reaching there. Please be prepared accordingly. One needs to plan up to 3 hours. There are shades of trees and mandapas en route to sit and relax, and one needs this several times through the climb. Do take time to click photographs en route so as to keep you engaged and amazed by the fortifications around.

Krishnagiri Fort - view from midway climbing Rajagiri

One last breath of a climb to reach the top of Rajagiri

Once you reach the top, we can get to see a bunch of mandapas, granary, and a couple of temples - one for Lord Ranganatha, a small cave pond with a natural source of water. We spent around 30 minutes at the top - to relax as well as go around the place and amaze at the structures constructed.

Ranganatha Swamy Temple - View from Top of Rajagiri

Temple at the top of Rajagiri

Absolute view from the top!

We started climbing down the hill and it was absolutely hot and hard even in February. A strict no-no in summers! We reached down and decided to see the Lord Ranganathaswamy temple at a distance. A km ride and we reached. The temple gopuram is stunning with the rocky hillocks all around. The whole place of Gingee resembles Hampi in many ways! We had darshan at the fairly sculpted temple and had some prasadam as well.

It was noon and we decided to have lunch in Gingee before climbing the Krishnagiri. I had lunch at Hotel Vasantha Bhavan (local restaurant) - the veg meals were ok; decent service and value of money. We prepared for the 3rd summit for the day ... hot day!

Krishnagiri

Krishnagiri - the fort is on the main road towards Thiruvannamalai on the right from Gingee. The fort is on a hillock that is smaller than Rajagiri. The hillock had 400 steps, however, it is absolutely steeper than Rajagiri. The menacing climb to the top was much more difficult because of uneven steps and the degree of steepness! Especially, post-lunch it became tougher and tougher to climb. We were mentally prepared to do it very slow and did so! We took almost 1 hour to make it to the top. There are 4 stone mandapas along the route for one to sit, relax, and start again!

Once we reached the top, we figured out that there are more monuments to go around than in Rajagiri. It was a bit of a surprise to know so. There are several mandapas around, a couple of big granary spaces, and 2 temples. There is also a throne chamber amidst all these elements. The 2 temples, one for Lord Ranganatha and the other for Lord Shiva are having sculptures and well-decorated gopurams.

The Ranganatha temple has ornamental sculptures and pillars too. It is a 2 tier temple and has nice views from the top. One can go around this temple structure and can reach the Shiva temple as well. One would need around 1 hour to go around and cherish the moments at Gingee Krishnagiri.

Our descent was also complicated, given the uneven steps, lack of supporting structures by the sides of the steps, and the steep nature of steps. We came down around 4 PM, had some sugarcane juice, and drove back to Chennai. A very satisfactory trip to Gingee - most importantly the place is full of amazing fortifications, history, successful reigns, and of all the above, great architecture!

• Tambaram – Gingee fort – 134 km
• Tindivanam – Gingee Fort – 29 km
• Uranithangal Jain Caves and Beds, Uranitangal – 7 km before Gingee fort