Madanapalle to Thanjavur via Vellore and Tiruvannamalai - 4th day of our 14 days long trip through east coast of India || Noida to Rameshwaram
On Day 4 of our Noida to Rameshwaram Road Trip via Eastern Ghats, we woke yup to a really cloudy morning. As we were not sure how much of Horsley Hills we would actually be able to explore in the clouds, we decided to head to our next destination, Thanjavur or Tanjore in Tamil Nadu. Upon searching for nearby attractions en route, we decided to make stops at Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.
The roads were okay and quite scenic at most places, with some exceptions where they got a little narrow and we had to watch out for the traffic coming from the opposite direction.
Upon reaching Vellore, we drove into the premises of Vellore Fort, and explored the CSI St John's Church, the Jalangandeeswarar Temple and Museums inside. We could not explore the palaces though because the way to them are blocked by the Police Training Academy that has come up there. They don't allow people to visit the palaces anymore. We are not sure if it is the right thing to do, because places of historical importance should be open to public ideally.
We then proceeded to Tiruvannamalai. Apart from the splendid Annamalaiyar temple, the town also has some really special ancient meditation caves that are still popular among those interested in exploring spirituality. It takes a bit of a trek, of which we were blissfully unaware at the time, to get to these meditation points.
From the main road next to the Annamalaiyar temple, there are several streets through the houses built on the hillside, all leading up to Virupakasha Caves. We took one of these streets and started our climb, which was quite gentle at first, before it suddenly becomes steep.
The first of these meditation points is the Virupaksha Caves. We saw several yogis deep in meditation here. There are signs politely requesting visitors to maintain silence and to turn off their mobile phones. The atmosphere of this place is amazing and so is the aura of the people who you find meditating here.
A short but steep trek from this place is Skandasramam, another meditation point where Bhagwan Ramana Maharshi lived from 1916 to 1922. This place is also silent and beautiful and a few 100 meters from here is the viewpoint from where you get a panoramic view of the Annamalaiyar temple.
On our way from Virupaksha Caves to Skandasramam, we came across a large troop of monkeys and seriously considered heading back down. But then we thought that we have come a long way from Virupaksha cave already and the fact that we have made it this far must mean something, so holding on to some faith (or madness) inside us, we stood rooted to our spot to let the monkeys pass. They did that and did not bother us in the process. It felt nothing short of a miracle.
By the time we were ready to head back down from Skandasramam, the rain finally caught up with us and it rained incessantly while we were trekking back to our car. We got badly drenched but came back happy.
Our drive on to Thanjavur was really pleasant after we managed to change into dry clothes. And we found a great family-run restaurant that served parotta and korma, and fried rice. It was tasty food.
We reached Thanjavur at around 7pm and found a decent hotel very close to the Brihadeeswara temple. After checking into the hotel, we went in search of food and didn't have to go too far. We found another family-run restaurant close by where we had hot dosa and idlis with chutney and sambhar. We also realized that the town sleeps early and as a result, we couldn't find our customary cup of coffee. However, we did not miss it much.
On this day, we drove for around 430kms and because of good roads at most places, driving wasn't too stressful.
%20to%20see%20the%20Danish%20fort%20in%20Tamilnadu%20state%20of%20India-3.jpg "Do you know about the 'Danish' Fort in India which is located at a beautiful location round the coast of Bay of Bengal?")
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