Our wanderings and perceptions

 After having been to Raja Raja Cholan and his Grandson built marvels, it would be unfair to ignore his Son built temple. So on the third and last day in Kumakonam we made it to Gangaikonda Cholapuram right after having our breakfast and check out from the hotel. We need to take the same by-pass from the hotel but in the opposite direction to reach Gangaikonda Cholapuram in 50 mins via Anaikarai and Thirupananthaal. After having crossed 3/4 th of the distance we need to drive through the Anaikkarai bridge which is on the Kollidam river. This bridge is one way only, so police personnel ask one side traffic to wait through while the other side drives through and vice-versa. Due to recent rains, we could see water brimming on both sides of the bridge. Unlike Airavateeswarar temple, this temple had lot of tourists visiting. Another Brahadeeswarar temple replica but the Lord here in the form of Lingam, is a foot bigger than in the Brahadeeshwarar temple. Even the Nandi is similar to big tem

 As suggested by the staff at the hotel where we stayed, we went to two more temple in the evening of the second day in Kumbakonam Thiruvidaimarudhur This is a small town in Kumbakonam housing the Mahalingeswarar Temple. Lod Mahalingeswaraswamy was having his pooja and abhishegam at that time. We had to wait for 30 mins to get this darshan which was worth all the wait. We saw all the arti's. Next to this is a separate temple for the Lords's consort. Goddess Pirguchuntarakujambigai gave us an immediate darshan. From there we tried to get back to the Mahalingeswarar temple but were told to go out through the Pirguchuntarakujambigai temple only after seeing Goddess Moogambigai at its exit as this is a Brammahathi dosham removing temple. So we walked back and then left Thiruvidaimarudhur too. Both the temples were huge ones. Thirubuvanam This is another small town in Kumbakonam just around 2 kms from the above place. By the time we reached the Kampahareshwara temple, the sun was do

  Thirunageswaram temple Right after the breakfast we went to seek the blessings of Naganatha Swami. This is one of the planet temples for Raghu. It was crowded, managed to park the vehicle and set foot on the temple pond first. We saw color fishes here. From here we went to the inner sanctum but it was over flowing with devotees so had to be content with the long distance glimpse. But the Goddess Girigujambigai could be worshipped. Raghu is here with both his wives. Uppiliappan Temple Our next trip was to the Uppiliappan temple. This is the first time we are worshipping Perumal in this whole trip. Here too due to huge number of devotees, the roads were jam packed. The big tourist buses were trying to make turns in the small streets of Kumbakonam creating much chaos. After patiently wading through traffic for more than half an hour we successfully parked the vehicle and went to the temple. Took special darshan ticket for Rs. 50 each to get an easier darshan. It was worth all the effort

 Airavateeswarar temple On our second day in Kumbalonam ,  we set out to Airavateeswarar temple by 8 am in the morning. This place  is  called Darasuram  and  was  within  10 kms from our hotel. We had to take the  by-pass route. This road is still under construction.  Number  of  fly-overs are also b e ing built in between to connect the arterial roads. Once all this work is completed, our travels would become easier. This temple is built by Raja Raja Cholan's grandson (his daughter's son). He had tried to replicate the Brahadeeshwarar temple architecture here with lots of detailing given to the artwork in the temple. We saw temple nearly empty, very few interested in the temple architecture where seen around taking picture and appreciating the art. This is also under the Archaeological Survey of India and this also declares as a UNESCO's heritage site. At the entrance of the temple is the 7 music steps. Each of them will produce the sound of each of the 7 notes when you t