Chola Nadu Divya Desam Yatra - Travelogue

With Sri Maha Periyava & Sri Mukkur Lakshmi Narasimhacharyars and Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhan krupai, we(17 bakthas) had blessings of Sri Mangalambigai Thayar and Kumbeshwarar to cover all 40 Chola Nadu Divya Desam (in and around Kumbakonam, Trichy, Seerkazhi, Tanjavoor).

Plus other temples like - Mannarkudi Rajagopalan, Vaduvur Ramar, Uthukadu Kalinga Narthanar, and Siva Stalangal - Thittai, Chidambaram Natarajar, Pateeshwaram Durgai Amman, Thanjai Periya Kovil, Melatur - Unathapureeshwarar Siva Priyambal, ThiruKarugavoor - Garba Rakshambigai, Thiruvanai kaval -Agiladeshwari Jambukeswara.

Jai Sri Lakshmi Nrusimhaya namaha.
Sarvam Sri Lakshmi Narasimharpanam.

·       Cholanadu Divya Desam Trip - 6 days Trip. For small group you can easily cover all 40 divyadesam in 5 days.  I prefer taking more time in temple so stretched 5 days to 6 days trip.

·       Stay We stayed in Kumbakonam home stay and covered all 40 divyadesam. But ideally 5^th day night, its better to stay in Trichy so that you can save some time.

Kumbakonam Homestay

Address - Anna nagar (Near Kasiraman Street), Kumbakonam - 612001.

Phone - 0435-2424271, +91-9003743432,  +91-9003743043,  +91-9443132271 Email - mail@kumbakonamhomestay.com.

Very nice, big clean rooms. We booked double bed rooms - Cost 2250Rs - 2 double beds for 5 people.

Another advantage is you will get coffee starting from 5 am. Worth the money.

·       Breakfast During our 6 days stay in Kumbakonam we ate mostly in Mangalambigai mess and twice in Venkatramana Mess. I strongly advise you to try Mangalambigai mess. The looks of the mess will not be good, but the quality and taste of the food is very good.

·       Tulasi / Lotus / Flower for Perumal Thayar

After breakfast, you can buy bags and bags of flowers & tulasi for low cost at nearby market.(Market near mangalambigai temple) We bought lot of lotuses. I have never seen such beautiful, big lotuses anywhere else. We carried a koodai to keep thulasi malai / lotus etc fresh. 

·       Lunch. We ate only home made vegitarian food.  Phone number given along with day wise plan. Most of us are above 65 years old and none of us had any stomach problem due to this one good decision.

S.N	Lunch we ate at	Address
1	Mangalambikai Vilas, Kumbakonam	Adi Kumbeswarar Temple Complex, Kumbakonam 612001. 9344301418/ 0435 2400228. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Crowded place. The best tiffen centre in Kumbakonam
2	Sri Lakshmi Mess, Tanjore	Jowli Chetty street, South Main street. Lunch.  Prior booking is must.  Waiting time may be longer.  9500483627
3	Sri Lakshmi Mess, Nagapattinam	Opposite to Soundararaja Perumal Temple (near a tea stall). Lunch.
4	Sri Ragavendra Mess, Sri Rangam	Raghavendra Swamy Mutt Rd, Sriramapuram, Srirangam, (91)-431-2432001, (91)-9442040606. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Walkable distance from Ranga gopuram
5	Murali Café, Sri Rangam	Gandhi Rd, Srirangam - Infront of Vamana Lodge near Ranga Gopuram. Good place to have Coffee
6	Food @ Thirunangoor	Food @ Thirunangoor. Arranged by Guide Mr. Suresh. Suresh can come as guide for ThiruNangoor DivyaDesam. 9994621065 / 9750728645

·       Guide for Thirunangoor. Guide is must for ThiruNangoor Divyadesam. Suresh was our guide for Thirunangoor divyadesam 9994621065 / 9750728645 (Approx 800 – 1000rs per day for the guide). He also arranged for food in thiruNangoor.

·       Travel Agent:  We booked Bus (Mini Van) through Mr. Saravanan - +91 99945 46416.

·       Bus driver was tallented – Mr. AlagarSwamy 9442559416 / 9894489416

·       Read about each temple. My humble suggestion is, spend some time to know about each of the 40 chola nadu divya desams. If not, you might get bored or wont be able to enjoy the Karunyam of Perumal. I used to wakeup 4am daily to read about each of the 40 divyadesam.  

Day Wise Plan for Chola Nadu Divya Desam Yatra

Divyadesams are numbered 1 till 40. the one without numbers are abimana stalam in that area.

The AC Mini bus we used.