Travel | Tiruchirappalli - A strong urge to reconnect with history

A vacation with your loved ones is a perfect way to give your mind and body a much needed break when work pressure creeps on, making you unfocused.
And that is what we did during our year-end winter holidays. As always, this vacation was also unplanned and we could not book tickets for our trip timely.

My hubby suggested we drive down by road and explore something different this vacation.

A close family friend of hubby who hails Kanadukathan suggested we make a trip to this lesser known town of South India.

He also ensured that the rich heritage of Chettinadu palaces, simplicity of rural villages and many ancient temples surrounding the town will mesmerize us.  

So, with the strong urge to reconnect with history and explore the grandeur of South India, we started our trip on a weekend.

We planned to visit Kanadukathan and near by places with a one day halt at Tiruchirappalli or Trichy.

To avoid the traffic on the high way, we packed and placed our luggage in the car at night and started as early as 5 am the next day.

And as we planned to take our car, we had the luxury of traveling at our own pace and I stocked as much as edibles as I could, much to the chagrin of my hubby.

I baked a wholewheat banana bread, 20 Oats granola bars and some mini Date ring-cakes for the trip.

Early morning drive was quite peaceful. Few vehicle zip passing and breaking the silence on the pitch dark roads village side.

 
Getting a room in Trichy was not a problem as there are many options available. We stayed in hotel Breeze, which is centrally located and is quite comfortable with a swimming pool and a large in-house restaurant.
We reached Trichy by 11 am, had a simple lunch, a power afternoon nap and headed to Rock fort around 4 pm.
Rock fort temple is located on a hilltop and was built in 7th century. The temple has steep steps carved out of large rocks and is dedicated to lord Ganesha.

 

From the hilltop we could spot the famous Srirangam temple, located on an island and is connected with bridges from Trichy.


401..474...humf....climbing these steep, never-ending rock-cut steps gave me nightmares...

and finally reached the hilltop....signals of getting old?



It was such a wonderful feeling to touch, feel and walk alongside these historical monument carved centuries ago.


Some of the benefits of travelling in your own vehicle is that you can stop at remote places and be with nature whenever you wish. Children wanted to watch the herds of goats grazing happily on the other side of road.



We stopped for a tea break and to stretch ourselves, when a herd of goats came near us searching for food, scaring my daughter away.


I could not stop myself clicking the serene surroundings on the other side of the high way drive.



Me posing...err...can you make out something from my ear to ear smile?
Yes, I collected a few naturally weathered wood planks form here.



The next morning we visited Srirangam temple and headed straight to Kanadukathan.
Read more about this ancient magnificent temple here.
If you are in a mood to explore offbeat rural destinations of India, continue reading here.

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