Time travel on a 1600 kms solo bike ride to Thanjavur, Madurai and Kanyakumari
Spread over six days from Dec 24th to 30th 2023, I travelled across some of the most beautiful landscapes, beaches, forests and mountains. But what was more captivating for me was the ancient temples in cities of Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Kanyakumari and Madurai. Read more to find out, why these places are so interesting.
All pictures are shot on my phone. Feedback welcome at nashtupil@gmail.com
Day 1, Dec 24th, 2023
Bangalore > Salem > Trichy > Tanjore ride
This route was through misty roads and green forests between hosur and Krishnagiri. See the sign on the road for elephant crossing. A lovely start to a long motorbike trip !!
Gangai konda Cholapuram (GKC), 2nd UNESCO Heritage site, built by Rajendra Chola in 1035CE. He had the largest empire among any Indian emperor then. Whole of South India + Orrisa+ Bengal + Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia. Chola influence on sculptures is seen in Angor Wat temple.
The orange flag is at exact spot where 3 seas meet (Triveni Sangam) of Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
Dipping my foot where 3 seas meet at Triveni Sangam
Vivekananda memorial Kanyakumari
Poet Saint Thiruvalluar statue
My shot of red sunset, Indian ocean, Kanyakumari
Andal - incarnation of Lakshmi, the only female poet Saint Azhwar. The entire month of Margazhi starting mid December is dedicated to singing her songs in praise of Lord Krishna.
Day 6 - Solo bike trip - Madurai.
Tamil சாப்பாடு Sappadu (full meal)
Day 7 - Solo bike trip in TN final day.
Day 2. TANJORE and Kumbakonam
Was fortunate to visit all the three UNESCO heritage sites. 1. Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tanjore built by Raja Raja Chola. 2. Brihadeeswarar Temple, at Gangai konda Cholapuram built by his son Rajendra Chola. 3. Airavathesvara Temple, built by his grand son, Raja Raja Chola II. All these three are dedicated to Lord Shiva.
I saw 3 other historic temples of Lord Vishnu. 1. Oppiliappan temple (our kula devata). This Vishnu temple is small but so ancient, he is called the Anna (elder brother) of Lord Balaji in Tirumala Tirupati. 2. Sarangapani temple. It was once the tallest temple gopuram in India. Now it's Ranganathaswamy temple in Sri rangam. 3. Chakrapani temple dedicated to Sudarshan Chakra the discuss weapon of Vishnu
Later I visited the Maharaja palace Museum and saraswati Mahal library of Tanjore built by the Maratta kings
I was also lucky to see the exact house of birth of both my parents in Tanjore district. THE house is over 140 years old where my great grand father lived in both places!!
Morning mist in Tanjore roads
Brihadeeswarar Temple, Tanjore, 1st UNESCO Heritage site, built by Raja Raja Chola in 1010CE more than 1000 years back a 208 feet intricately sculptured structure which still stands strong without and lean, after surviving many earth quakes.
The world perhaps knows better, Leaning tower of Pisa, completed 350 years later in 1372 CE at shorter at 183 feet. I'm glad it's a UNESCO heritage site now atlast.
Rajendra chola imagined being crowned by Lord Shiva and Parvati at Gangai konda Cholapuram (GKC)
DARASURAM, near Kumbakonam, 3rd UNESCO Heritage site, built by Raja Raja Chola II (Son of Rajendra snd grand son of Raja Raja) in 1166CE.
Day 3 & 4: Solo bike trip
Kanyakumari
For the uninitiated, Kanyakumari is the southernmost point of peninsular India. It's also called Cape Comorin, where three seas meet. BAY of Bengal, Arabian Sea and Indian ocean. If you go south from there it's only Antarctica across Indian ocean.
I had the good fortune of...Seeing sunset on sea, sun rise on sea, dipping my foot at Triveni Sangam (Tri sea junction), visiting the kanya kumari amman Temple, visiting Vivekananda Rock memorial, thiruvalluar statue, the Ramayana house of painting built by Vivekananda Kendra and finally Suchindram.
Kanyakumari.
It's one of the 52 shakthi stala, and represents the spine. This temple is ancient mentioned in Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata. She is a adolescent (kanya) girl (kumari)- Devi Parvati avataar. Please read the above link, why she could not marry Lord Shiva and how she killed Banasura and restored world order. This is also a place you can do pind tharpan (ancestors worship ritual) apart from Gaya.
There is a 133 feet statue for Thiruvalluvar and a Vivekananda memorial at Kanyakumari. More about them for the uninitiated.
Thiruvalluvar, who lived around 50 BCE, was an Indian poet and philosopher, is best known as the author of the Tirukkuṟaḷ, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exceptional and widely cherished work of Tamil literature.
Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and the Father of modern Indian nationalism.
Suchindram
It's suchi (cleansing) of indram (Lord Indira). Indira got his diseases cured in this very place, praying to the trinity. The diety, Thanumalayan, is dattatreya a combination of thanu(siva)-mal(vishnu)- ayan(Brahma) and is sacred for both saivaites and vaishnavites. Also the suchindram Anjaneya Swamy is a powerful God. The temple car (rath) is quite famous like Puri Jagannath.
Goddess Kanyakumari
Long cherished dream fulfilled of, riding a motorcycle BOTH at ICY Himalayas AND near Indian ocean. Dec 2021 I did the Tawang Arunachal ICY motorcycle ride. This week I did the Indian ocean one. See snap below.
Day 5 - Solo bike ride in South TN.
Kanyakumari > Kovilpatti > Srivilliputhur > Virudhunagar > Madurai
Breakfast was in a small shack. They made all of 4 dishes, Appam (curved thick dosa), Idli, Vada and Poori. Some of these small road side restaurants serve the most healthy and delicious and freshly prepared food. This is a luxury only bikers enjoy.
Next stop Kovilpatti. I had boiling hot chikki (peanut cake) at Kovilpatti. This is a GI tagged product now. The Chef Michael was kind enough to show how peanuts are Mixed with boiling hot vellam (jaggery) and then elaichi (cardomom) is added, cut into cakes etc. There are more than 10 varieties including TILL (black sesame), sugar, cane jaggery, palm jaggery etc
Next I was planning to go to Virudhunagar for lunch at my friend's place. However enoute I saw a road sign for Srivilliputhur. It was Margazhi month. Looked like Andal and Rangamannar was beckoning me to come. And I obeyed! What is a 100km deviation when you felt the inner calling by God. GLAD I was able to have a Goddess darshan.
Srivilliputhur Andal Temple
This temple, dedicated to the revered Andal, the only female Azhwar, believed to be Goddess mahalakshmi incarnation. This is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Lord Vishnu, who is worshipped as Vadabadrasai, and his consort Goddess Lakshmi as Andal. It is believed to be the birthplace of two of the Alvars, namely Periyalvar and his foster daughter, Andal. The temple is a true marvel of architectural brilliance. Its towering gopuram, decorated with intricate carvings and paintings, serves as a testament to the skill and creativity of the ancient artisans who built it.The temple has inscriptions from Chola, Pandya, and Vijayanagara Nayakkar Kings, spanning various centuries from the 10th to the 16th centuries. The Andal temple and 194-foot Rajagopuram were built by Vijayanagara king Barathi Rayar. The temple itself is a masterful work of art, a stunning fusion of Dravidian and Vaishnavite styles of architecture. Some people say, the temple in Tamil Nadu state emblem is modeled after the Srivilliputhur Rajagopuram.
Next stop was at my friend Thiruselvan house in Virudhunagar. Had a nice lunch at his home. A funny thing happened when in Virudhunagar. A group of men, saw my kawasaki Versys bike, salt and pepper beard and thought I was Actor Ajith kumar, who also uses a similar adventure bike. They wanted a selfie photo with me. I told them I'm not Ajith, they were a bit disappointed, but still wanted a selfie with me 😉 It's amazing how people love huge bikes in small towns and ignore all Mercedes S class and Jaguar cars. They may be find bikes as macho.
Next stop was Madurai. I arrived late evening. Went to food street and had jigirthanda a sort of ice cream milk shake unique to Madurai area.
Windmills enroute Kanyakumari to Tirunelveli
GI tagged Kovilpatti Kadalamittai (chikki) peanut candy in many flavors
Emblem is modeled after Srivilliputhur
Tirunelveli Halwa, Srivilliputhur Palgoa and Kovilpatti Chikki all three are GI tagged.
Day 6 - Solo bike trip - Madurai.
Madurai has several epithets - Athens of the East, Temple city, Sleepless City
Madurai is perhaps among the oldest cities in the world and in India after Kasi, Varanasi with a recorded history a history of over 3000 years. Travellers in Ancient Greece, Rome, China have recorded Madurai for its wealth, spices, trading links. As early as the 3rd century BC, Greek traveller Megasthanes visited Madurai.
Madurai name - Etymology
Like Kashi this city has a Lord Shiva connection. Legend has it, Lord Indra worshipped God Shiva here. A farmer who saw this reported this to the king Kulasekara Pandian, who built a temple around the Lingam. On the day the city was to be named, Lord Shiva is said to have appeared and drops of nectar from his hair fell on the town. So, the place was named Madurai – mathuram meaning “sweetness” in Tamil. Further Lord Shiva himself performed sixty-four miracles called “Thiruvilaiyadals” here.
All the three Tamil Sangams, which were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets happened around here. The first sangam happened around 5000 years back, and Sage Agastya was chairman of the sangam. The last Sangam was 300 BC to 400 AD. It produced several Tamil works of sangam literature, comprising of oldest surviving Tamil grammar (Tolkappiyam), the Ettuttokai anthology (the "Eight Collections"), the Pathuppaattu anthology (the "Ten Songs"). Thirukkural is from that era.
The people are so cultured and polite here, that even road signs give respect to you. Example in Chennai (Nil, Gavani, Sell - stop, observe and go) in Madurai Tamil (Nirka, Gavanikka, Sellga - with respect and in classical Tamil the same is said)
Madurai is dotted with many beautiful temples, including the famous Meenakshi (Devi) temple, Azhagar koil (Vishnu) and Tiruparam kundram (Karthikeya) temples which have rush all year around. These temples have famous festivals every month which is a sight to behold.
It's also a City where you can get food even at 2 or 3am, a city which never sleeps "Thoonga Nagaram தூà®™்கா நகரம்" in Tamil.
My mom studied in the American college Madurai, both my sister and brother were born in Madurai. Many famous personalities are from Madurai - Director Mani Ratnam, Late Actor Vijayakanth, Vadivelu, Singers MS Subbulakshmi, TM Soundarajan to current world wide CEO of Alphabet/ Google Sundar Pichai.
Today, 29th Dec 2023, I attempted to visit 4 temples below, but could only see two of them.
1. Tiruparam kundram temple, dedicated to Lord Muruga (Karthikeya) son of Shiva and Parvati. Murugan killed demon Suryapadman and freed Indira and other devas. He married Devayani, daughter of Indira here. It's considered the first veedu (house) of his six (aaru padai veedu).
2. Koodal Azhagar temple, dedicated to Lord Maha Vishnu as Sundarrajan perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Mathuravalli Thayar. This temple is referenced in ancient texts of Paripadal and Silappadikaram. The presiding deity was praised and worshipped by the Sangam tamil Poets as the president and guardian deity of the Sangam as Koodal Alagar. Koodal refers to the assembly of Poets and scholars. Periyalwar (aka Vishnuchitta) composed the Thirupallandu hymn Sung in every vaishnava temple in this temple. The first verse is so beautiful I reproduce below.
பல்லாண்டு பல்லாண்டு, பல்லாயி ரத்தாண்டு, பலகோடி நூà®±ாயிà®°à®®்,
மல்லாண்ட திண்தோள், மணிவண்ணா, உன்செவ்வடி செவ்விதிà®°ுக் காப்பு
Translation: For several years, several more years , for several thousands of years and for crores of lakhs of years, The strong shouldered blue hued victor of wrestlers, May Your reddish sacred feet be well protected.
3. Madurai Meenakshi temple
It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Shakti, and her consort, Sundareshwarar, a form of Shiva.
The marriage of Meenakshi and Shiva was a grand event conducted here with all gods, goddesses and living beings gathered. Vishnu is believed to be the brother of Meenakshi, giving her away to Shiva at the wedding.
The temple is at the centre of the ancient temple city of Madurai mentioned in the Tamil Sangam literature.
In the early 14th century, the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by Muslim Commander Malik Kafur plundered the temple, looted it of its valuables and destroyed the Madurai temple town along with many other temple towns of South India. The contemporary temple is the result of rebuilding efforts started by the Vijayanagara Empire rulers who rebuilt the core and reopened the temple. In the 16th century, the temple complex was further expanded and fortified by the Nayak ruler Vishwanatha Nayakar and later others. The restored complex now houses 14 gopurams (gateway towers), and it's one of the most beautiful temples in the world.
I waited for 2 hours and the crowd was a lot, so I just prayed at the Gopuram and took leave of Goddess Meenakshi.
4. Kall Azhagar temple
It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshiped as Kallalagar, and his consort Lakshmi as Thirumagal. Kallalagar is believed to have appeared to redeem sage Suthapava off his curse from Sage Durvasa.
Every year during the Tamil month of Chithirai (April-May), Chithirai Thiruvila is celebrated. Chithirai Thiruvila is an yearly event of the marriage of Meenakshi, believed to be Alagar's sister.
Sadly by the time I went at 12 noon the temple was shut early due to marghazi functions and shall reopen only at 4.00pm. I had to leave after taking a few shots of the marvelous Raja Gopuram. I just realised for these ancient temples, you can go, only when the God wants you to come. That's why I could not have Darshan at these two temples. However, even though it was unplanned, I could see Srivilliputhur temple yesterday at very short notice, as Andaal and Rangamannar wanted me to come. The good part is I have visited both Meenakshi temple and Kall Azhagar temple many years back with my wife Priya.
To end the morning, I had a good Tamil sappadu சாப்பாடு (thali meal), at a nice restaurant. There were 4 varieties in Sambar alone !
I know my posts are long. The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. This travel is both space and time travel. It's a story of kings, queens, warriors, poets, saints all etched in landscapes close to you. All we need to do is just observe patiently and tell these stories to future generations.
The 12 Azhwars - Vaishnavite poet saints, who lived around 600CE.
Tamil சிà®±்à®±ுண்டி Sitrundi (light Tiffins)
Day 7 - Solo bike trip in TN final day.
Madurai > Dindugal > Karur > Salem > Krishnagiri > Hosur > Bangalore
Got up at 4.30am today, took bath, did some Yoga, packed up stuff, made hot tea in kettle had some biscuits and left the hotel Madurai at 6.15am. At 3.15pm after 450 kms and 9 hours in saddle I reached home safely.
Saw a glorious sun rise on the outskirts of Madurai. Had nice pongal and vada near dindugal. Saw many iyyappan devotees taking irumudi and walking hundreds of kilometers on bare foot in hot sun on tarmac. We have to learn discipline and devotion from these men.
Lord Iyyapa devotees walking barefoot as a penance pilgrimage for over 500 kms sometimes
Finally reached, home sweet home in Bangalore, after almost 1600 kms on the trip meter in 7 days.
Few things I learnt in this trip.
1. Everything looks impossible until it's done.
Can I do a solo ride of 1600 kms on motorcycle? Can I wake up every day 4.30am? Can I ride on saddle for 8 hours a day? What will happen if something breaks down? Have I packed all the necessary stuff? Hundreds of questions. There is only one answer - Stop thinking too much and just do it. Take life as it comes, as an adventure, do the stuff first.
2. Seek the perfect balance between planning and spontaneity.
We need to plan the route, book the rooms and pack needed stuff in advance. But I had enough room for spontaneity and could accommodate deviations, like Srivilliputhur and visiting my friends place, which was not planned in advance.
3. Know when to team up, when to go alone.
This trip demanded me to go slow, absorb things at my own pace - so going with a team of bikers is ruled out. Also, I'm not here to win any speed contests for biking. If I don't get like minded folks, I go alone, as I did now.
4. Read about the places before you go.
The story, history, geography, cultural, religious significance etc. You will then see the temple or stone sculptures in different light.
5. Keep time for your hobbies and passion.
I love photography, writing, motorcycle biking, history, culture etc. Glad I did these now, as we are not getting younger by the day. The time- energy- money triangle must be ideal to enjoy things in life.
Hope you enjoyed my travelogs. Please feel free to comment and drop email to nashtupil@gmail.com. I'm glad 2023 for me ended with this adventure travel. Take care and wish you a happy new year 2024.
Nash Narasimhan Tupil
30th December 2023
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