East Coast Diaries: Making it to Pondicherry

Day: November 14 2008, Time: 630am

We had early morning darshan at Thiruvannamalai. You can also read my other blog about my earlier visit to Thiruvannamalai here. You will be able to recognize Thiruvannamalai temple by the large gopurams on each direction of the temple. The gopurams over here are the tallest next only to the main Gopuram in Srirangam temple. The majestic Arunachala hills at a distance adds glory to this wonderful pilgrimage center. The annual Karthika festival attracts lots of devotees here who go barefoot to the top of the arunachala hills and light the lamps ending the 10 day festival.

Giant Corridors inside Thiruvannamalai Temple

We had breakfast at Hotel Ramakrishna, which is one of the popular vegetarian restaurants around here. At around 830 am we started towards Pondicherry with a small pit-stop in Gingee Fort. Gingee town is about 30kms from Thiruvannamalai. It was the bastion of Tippu Sultan, and the fort built is spread across 3 hills. The fort is absolutely very large and it would almost take a day to hike it.

Gingee Fort spread across 3 hills

Gingee Fort

It was a comfortable 2 hours drive from here to the coastal town of Pondicherry.