Well. Trichy is geograhically located on the heart of Tamilnadu. It is well connected by Bus,Train,Flights with the other parts of the country. But, when I am talking with the people from different cities,states and countries, I came to know that people use Trichy as the transit place only and most of them are not knowing the potent of Trichy as a Tourist Spot.
Trichy, located by gift, has lots of natural and built in spots of touristic attraction. I am compiling(copy and paste) some of the places within trichy for the reader’s kind knowledge.
Rock Fort:
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At the top of the rock is the Uchipillaiyar Koil, a temple dedicated to Lord Vinayaka from where one can enjoy a panoramic view of Tiruchirappalli. A flight of steps leads to the Mathrubutheswarar of Thayumanaswami temple, dedicated to Lord Siva where the lingam is a projection of the rock itself. Below the Siva temple are the two Pallava cave temples that have beautiful sculptures of the 6th and 7th centuries. At the foot of the Rock Fort are a tank and a pavilion which are used during the float festival of the temples. Near the tank is the house where Robert Clive lived when he was in Tiruchirappalli and there is an 18th century Church built by Reverend Schwartz of Denmark. The Rock fort Hillock is said to be 230 crore years old. The materials like Quartz used in glass making and felspar used in ceramic are found in this Rock formation.
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St.Lourde’s Church:
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The Church of Our Lady of Lourd, a hundred years old, is built within the St.Joseph’s College complex, in gothic architectural style (it is said that a maistry from Tirunelveli, one Savarimuthu, was given intensive training in such construction by the missionaries so that he could supervise the building), the Church’s 200 ft tall spire is visible from a radius of 8 kms around it. The Church has not been a repainted outside as the administrators wish to preserve its antiquity. The stained glass panels depicting stories from the Bible are truly beautiful. Some 6000 people attend mass at the church on Sundays. The Church, our Lady of Lourd is 100 years old. |
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| Tourists of every faith visit the church right through the year. Local citizens, of all faiths, never fail to pause and fold their hands in prayer when they pass the gates of the church.Church of our Lady of Lourdes is the replica of the Basilica of Lourdes, the World famous place of pilgrimage in southern France .It is a remarkable feat of Indian craftsmanship and stained glass drawings. |
Museum
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It is located in Rani Mangammal Mahal near Super bazaar ,Trichy. The museum will be open on all days except Fridays .Time 10.00 Hrs to 17 Hrs. Entrance fee for Indians Adult Rs.5 Children Rs. 3 Students Rs.2 Foreigners Rs.100.1 There are so many sculpures like Mahavirar, Buddha, Vishnu etc. It has fossil, pre history megalithic, Paleolithic and Neolithic tools, Earthern moulds for metals, ;Inscriptions and palm leaf manuscripts, insects, reptiles, birds, mammals. Ancient sculptures like thirumal crawling krishna, thirumal with consorts, devi, durga, saint manickavasagar, Nataraja and chandra sekar are here. Tribal model of pachamalai hills, Thanjavur painting , Coins of India etc are also here. |
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Natharvally Darga
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Baba Natharvali has occupied a unique position in the ranks of the Islamic saints of the world. He was named as Muthaharudeen at first. He was in Hijiri 347 in one of the idle Eastern countries. Even though he was the sultan, he was having no attachment to pleasures of royal life of pomp and splendor right from his early age. He descended from his throne crowing his brother, Syed Jalaudeen and undertook holy pilgrimage for propagation of Allah’s glory according to Islamic tenets. |
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During this time, he had wrought a lot of miracles to the astonishment of the people, who came into contact with him. This a part with his 900 kalandars, he set foot in Tiruchirapuram, which s now known as Tiruchirappalli. He led a pious saintly life with his kalandars in a flower garden in Tiruchirappalli.Saint Baba Natharvali’s body was laid to rest in a place where it was once a Easwaran temple in a room. Constructed with four doors according to Vedic sastras and seppulingam is a witness to ghee lamp burning near the grave of Baba.The saint breathed his last on the 15th of the month of Ramzan in Hijiri 417 and with a view to remember this day, the first 17days in the month of Ramzan every year kanduri Urs is celebrated in a highly grand scale it is a unique feature to see Muslims, Hindus and Christians assemble to pay their homage and warm respects to Baba Natharvali on the eve of the kanduri festival and seek his graceful blessings . |
Srirangam
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The district’s most important pilgrim centre is located in an island just 7 kms from Tiruchi. Srirangam, surrounded by the waters of river Cauveri on one side and its tributary kollidam on the other, is a 600 acre island-town enclosed within the seven walls of the gigantic Sriranganathaswami Temple.Most of it dates from the 14th to 17th centuries, and many people have had a hand in its construction, including the Cheras, Pandyas, Cholas, Hoysalas and rulers from Vijayanagar. The largest gopuram in the first wall on the southern side was completed as recently as 1987, and now measures 73m. |
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| The main temple is dedicated to Vishnu. Even muslims are said to have prayed here after the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire. Non-Hindus are not allowed into the gold – topped sanctum, but they are allowed into the sixth wall. The whole place is fascinating. Bazaars and Brahmins’ houses fill the space between the outer four walls, and you don’t have to take your shoes off or deposit your bicycle until you get to the fourth wall. Just past the shoe deposit is an information centre, where you buy the ticket to climb the wall for a panoramic view of the entire complex. A temple guide will unlock the gates and tell you what’s what. It’s worth engaging one of these guides as there is much to see and you could easily spend all day wandering around the complex. There’s also a small museum containing sculptures. An annual Car Festival is held here in January during which a decorated wooden chariot is pulled through the streets between various walls. In mid-December, the Vaikunda Ekadasi, or Paradise Festival will be celebrated in the Vishnu Temple. Ivory sculptures of Lord Vishnu in various poses and the images of Nayak Kings with consorts donated by Nayak kings who ruled Madurai during the 17th century are available here. Pavai lamps of Marati period who ruled Thanjavur, the rest of the period, made the Nataraja image in a pearl made screen. Coins of British, Dutch, Tiruvanquor, Hyderabad, Gowalior, princely states are available. Firm leaves inscriptions, stone sculptures, very big temple lamps, copper plates of Vijayanagara Kings are available .Temple Museum Opening Hours : 8.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. 2.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. Entry Fee : Re.1.00 for all |
Thiruvanaikaval
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This is one of the most revered temples to Shiva; it is one of the Panchabhoota Stalams signifying the 5 elements of wind (Kalahasti), water (Tiruvanaikka), fire (Tiruvannamalai), earth (Kanchipuram) and space (Chidambaram). The primordial element water, is represented by an undying natural spring in the sanctum. There is said to have been a forest of Jambu trees near the Chandrateertha tank (filled with the water of the Kaveri) here and Shiva is said to have appeared under one of the trees as a Shiva Lingam. Legend has it that two devotees of Shiva were born under the influence of a curse as a white elephant and a spider. The elephant worshipped Shiva with flowers and water brought in its trunk (hence the name Tiru Aanaikka). |
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The spider worshipped the Lingam by spinning a web on top, to protect it from falling leaves. The elephants worship would destroy the spiders web, and the spiders web amounted to desecration in the eyes of the elephant leading to animosity between the two, of such proportion that a fight between them resulted in the death of both. The spider was born again in the royal Chola family (in Uraiyur – during the Sangam period). An interesting tale is associated with his birth. His parents Subhadeva and Kamalavati prayed to Nataraja of Chidambaram for a male successor. The royal astrologer is said to have predicted an auspicious time for the birth of a successor who would be a ruler of great fame. The hour of birth approached sooner though and the royal queen bade her attendants to tie her legs and hang her upside down, with the aim of delaying the birth of the child. She achieved her objective although the royal offspring was born with reddened eyes, earning for himself the name ‘Chenkannan’ – the red eyed one. In his life time Ko Chenkannan is said to have been built several elevated temples – out of reach of elephants, keeping with the legend of his animosity with an elephant in his previous birth.
The stala vriksham is said to have grown out of a munivar, who offered his worship to Shiva.Akhilandeswari (Parvati) is said to have meditated upon Shiva here, and her shrine here, is considered to be of great significance. It is believed that Akhilandeswari was originally an Ugra Devata of great fury, and Adi Sankaracharyar is said to have converted the fiery energy of the deity into a manifestation of peace. Shrines to Vinayaka and Subramanya face Akhilandeswari. This temple has records of patronage from the Chola Pandya, Hoysala and the Madurai Naik kings. The temple is said to have been built by the Chola King Ko Chenkannan and it was of special significance to the Chola kings. Ko Chenkannan is praised by tamil literature for having built more than seventy temples – and he is historically placed in the Sangam period (the very early years of the Christian era). Inscriptions from the tenth century AD testify to later Chola patronage. The Hoysalas who had a base near Samayapuram (near Tiruchi) built four temples in Northern Tiruvanaikkaval (Vallaleeswaram, Padmaleswaram, Narasimheswaram and Somaleswaram). The Pandyas and the Hoysalas contributed to the Eastern tower. Adi Sankara is said to have visited the Akhilandeswari shrine. He is said to have adorned her with ear-rings bearing the symbol of the chakram. There is a shrine to Adi Sankara in this temple. This is a vast temple (18 acres) with lofty gopurams, 5 prakarams and ornate mandapams. The second and third prakarams date back to the 13th century. The dwajasthampa mandapam has grand sculptural work. There is an image of Ekapada Trimurthy representing the unity of Bhrama Vishnu and Shiva in this temple. The Akhilandeswari shrine is located in the fourth prakaram. The Eastern tower with seven levels has fine sculptural specimen of musical scenes, while the Western tower has nine levels. The first prakaram has been renovated in this century. Festivals: Annual festivals here include the Pankuni Bhrammotsavam, Vasanta Utsavam, the float festival in Thai (Capricorn) , Aadi Pooram (Cancer) and the Pancha Prakara festival. For more information please see the Templenet Special Feature on Tiruvanaikka. |
SamayaPuram
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Samayapuram Mariamman Temple is situated on Tiruchirappalli Chennai NH 45, just 20 kms north of Tiruchirappalli town.The Maariamman Temple here, is one of the well visited shrines in Tamilnadu, dedicated to Maariamman, a manifestation of the primeval energy Shakti as the mother Goddess all sundays, tuesdays and fridays hundreds of devotees throng the temple and perform Poojas. The offerings are in various forms.The most common offering is the Mavilakku Mavu made of jagery, riceflour,dhal and ghee. Mariamman is a form of Shakti worshipped in Tamilnadu, and is associated with prosperity and health. Local beliefs associate this deity with cures for diseases such as small pox and chicken pox. |
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Legend has it that Shiva created Kali, out of the poison that he had swallowed, and decreed that he kill Daarukaasuran. Having originated from the Kaalakoota poison, she assumed the name Kaali. Mariamman is believed to be a form of Kaali, and is also known as Mahamaayi or Seethala Gowri.Dasaratha, father of Rama is said to have worshipped here. It is believed that the processional image of Mariamman was in the possession of the Vijayanagar monarchs and that as their empire neared destruction, this image was brought down to Tamilnadu in an ivory palanquin. It is believed that the palanquin bearers placed image on the ground and paused for rest, and then found themselves to be unable to lift it off the ground. A temple was then established in the vicinity of Tiruchirappalli, which was later expanded by Vijayaranga Chokkanatha Nayak of Madurai of the 18th century. Samayapuram was the local capital of Vijayanagar rulers and was known as Vikramapuram. Annual festivals are celebrated during Thai Poosam, and in the tamil months of Pankuni and Chittirai. The last Sunday of Pankuni marks the commencement of the festival, while the chariot festival is celebrated on the first Tuesday in the month of Chittirai, and the float festival is celebrated a week later. |
Kallanai:Not far from the island is one of the greatest engineering marvels of India. The Grand Anaicut built by Karikalan Chola in the 2nd century A.D. to harness the waters of the Kaveri. Made of stone, the dam is 329 m long and 20m wide and still very much in use. Additions have been made in the form of a road bridge on top of the dam. This is a good picnic spot. 
Mukkombu:
Mukkombu is a beautiful excursion centre, just 18 kms from Tiruchirappalli on the river banks of Cauvery and Kollidam. This place is called upper dam. It is an attraction for the tourists and also for the people of all ages by its park, greenish garden scince park,toy train,merry go round, fishing facility, and boating facility.
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Apart from these places, the following are some of the highlights of Trichy.* The city is well connected by frequent public bus system at the very least charges.* The cost of living at the city is one of the least compared to any of the other Cities in the state.* You can rent out a flat for 3000 rupees per month and visit all the places in and around.…. Then what are you waiting for , catch a flight or bus or train and land in Trichy.
