Tourist Places in Tamil Nadu (Part -1)

Tamil Nadu is one of the Indian state, situated at the southern end of this country. It is a land of Temples. Its culture, coustoms and even costume are unique from other part of the country. Language is Tamil. Nice people and good locations are available here for a enjoyable tour. Please visit Tamil Nadu and find yourself about this great country and people.

Trichy is placed on the banks of the River Cauvery and it is about 300km from Chennai and about 150km from Madurai. Once This city was the Great Cholas' citadel from the Sangam age, and the Pandyas and Pallavas held control over this city for short periods. The Nayaks in Madurai had built the town and the historic Fort which played a very important role in Carnatic wars in the 18^th century. Today, Trichy is a intermingling of history and convention as well as a tourist hub, pilgrim centre, a blossoming mercantile and industrial city.

Sight seeing

The Rock Fort, which is in the centre of the old city and is the notorious landmark of Trichy. There is a Lord Ganesh Temple on the top of the rock and one more beautiful Thayumanavar Swamy Temple in the midway which is devoted to Lord Shiva. There are two wonderful caves in this Rockfort. Here you can find the unique architectural wonders.

Museum. Government of Tamil Nadu Museum, located on Big Bazaar, near Town Hall, contains a number of wonderful bronze and granite statues.

Srirangam. Just 10km from the Trichy Airport, is well known for its largest Vaishnavite Temple committed to Lord Ranganatha Swamy. The temple has 21 bravura towers, which were built around the 13^th and 14^th century A.D., and is enclosed by seven walls within which the town itself is situated. Many empires like the Vijayanagara Kings and the Madurai Nayaks modernized Srirangam the Temple. This temple is one of the famous tourist attractions in Trichy.

Thiruvanaikaval. Here, a place known as Jambukeeswarar temple is devoted to Lord Shiva. Jambu is the name of the holy tree under which Eswar (or Shiva) in the form of a Lingam is sunken in water. This temple is also known as Jambukeeswaram after the celebrated elephant that once worshipped this lingam. It is about 2km from the city.

There are other places like Kallanai, Mukkombu, Planatorium and Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram near Trichy worth to visiting.

Hotels

Hotel Sangam, Collector Office Road. Trichy.

Hotel Breeze Residency, 3-14, Mc Donald's Road. Trichy

Hotel Femina, 14-C Williams Road, cantonment, Trichy.

Hotel Royal Southern, Race course Road, Trichy.

Hotel Tamil Nadu, Unit I, Mc Donald's road, Trichy

Hotel Tamil Nadu, Unit II, Race course Road, Trichy

Transport

Air

The nearest airport is Trichy international airport, that has connections to Chennai, Bangalore, Thiruvanathapuram, Singapore, Dubai, Sharjah, Kuwait, Colombo, Malaysia.

Railways

Trichy is the hub of Southern Railway's operation to connect this central part of Tamil Nadu to various parts of India, notably regions in Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh. Trichy Railway Junction has five branches leading to Madurai, Rameswaram, Coimbatore, Tanjore and Chennai and currently there are 7 platforms. After the completion of electification of tracks between Villupuram-Trichy sector in Tamil Nadu, Trichy is set to become one of the busiest railway junctions. The Electrification between Villupuram and Trichy is nearing completion and expected to become operational around March 2009.The railway station code for Trichy Junction is TPJ.

Roadways

Trichy is well connected to various parts of Tamil Nadu, by private and public bus services. (1)The Chathram (Maingaurd Gate) bus station, near Rock Fort temple, runs local and mofussil (City-to-Town) bus services which connect people to nearby towns and villages such as Thurayur, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Karur so ans so..... Bus services are frequent, once every two to five minutes.

The central bus station runs long distance services to major cities adn states of South India such as Thanjavur,Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil, Tirupathi, Salem, Erode, Pudukkotai, Dindigul, Rameswaram, Theni,Hosur,Vellore also well-connected Karnataka, Andhra and Kerala through private charter and Luxery buses. One can get buses from Trichy to almost any part of the state, due to its geographical location in the center of Tamil Nadu

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Salem is well known for its steel plant. It is a significant commercial centre on this circuit. There are tourist spots like Kolli hills, Yercaud, Mattur Dam and Hohanekal nearby.

The nearest Airport is Trichy, 140km. An option is to use Bangalore; 205km is the next closest Airport. Frequent bus and train services for transfer from Trichy and Bangalore are exist.

The easier way however, is to take a train or bus from Chennai. Yercaud Express which runs daily is the most convenient train to this Steel City of the South India. Besides this, there are expedient train and bus acquaintances from many other cities and towns in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Sight seeing

The Salem Steel Plant is the main fascination here and can be visited by getting prior permission from the concerned authorities. Besides, one can visit the Suganeswar Temple, the Kurumbapatty Zoological Park, the Mariamman Temple, and the Government Museum from here.

Shopping

The main shopping areas are Agraharam I and II. Salem is known for its handlooms, silver and gold jewellery likes chains and anklets.

Hotels

National Hotel, Omalur Road. Salem

Hotel Apsara, 19, Car Street, 2^nd Agraharam, Salem

Woodlands Hotel, Five Road, Salem

Hotel Kalinga, 116, 1^st Agraharam, Salem

Apart from this there are hundreds of budget hotels available here for your comfortable stay.

Yercaud is positioned in the Servaroyan Hills of Salem District; it is a quiet hill station in Tamil Nadu. The Servaroyan Hills as a whole endow with many beautiful vistas and panoramic views. Besides, Yercaud possesses of a mild climate so that it can be visited throughout the year. An hours' drive from Salem, it is one of the most reasonably priced hill stations in India. Yercaud is on the rise in popularity as visitors stumble on that they can holiday here throughout the year without burning their pocket. The lake centered hamlet also offers view points of the surrounding plains.

Sight seeing

The outstanding feature of Yercaud is the Lake. It is a scenic place surrounded by green vegetation. Boating at the Lake is both energizing and enjoyable. Here, 4-seater and 2-seater pedal boats and 4-seater rowing boats are obtainable for an enjoyable half an hour lease on the waters of the cool lake. Nearby is Anna Park. To have a panoramic overview of the Ghats and the twinkling lights of the townships by night, there can be no better place than Lady's Seat, a point overlooking the winding Ghats road.

The Lady's Seat has a telescope house with a panorama of distant Salem and the winding road up. At dusk when Salem's lights twinkle, they look like jewels scattered on velvet. A top the Servaroyan Hill, the third highest in this range, is the Servaroyan Temple; a cave temple with a modern façade

Tours: Local taxis are available at reasonable charges.

Hotels

Hotel Shevaroys (P) Ltd., Hospital Road, Yercaud.

Hotel Tamil Nadu (TTDC), Yercaud Ghats Road, Yercaud.

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