Trichy: A Stairway to Heaven

The Rock Temple

We arrive from Kumbakonam with the Janshatbdi train of the 1.15pm. What a train !!! I thought indian trains weren’t as comfy as ours but a CC chair in this train (although the horrible booking process) easily beat our pretty European trains. The train station of Tricky is very busy; many people loading their stuff on the next about-to-leave train, others standing there just to say goodbye to loved ones, some people are shouting, crossing the railway to get onto the other platform, some selling & some buying: you can find everything. If I was to chose two words to describe it I would say, chaotically organized.

Amazing art on a door in the temple

While looking for an affordable (and cheap) tuk-tuk to our hotel, the afternoon heat starts to make its way through our layer of train AC. Sweating, here we come ! Finally, after some casual negotiation, we jump on the Ferrari and start our ride toward the Sri Hayagriva Hotel. The city seems busier than Kumbakonam but at the same time less packed; roads are wider, people don’t drive as random and passing next to some green areas its something ordinary. From the station, it takes us around 30-40min to get to the area of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple (located just a 5min walk from our hotel). As the tuk-tuk finally drop us on the door of our hotel, only in that moment we realize the size of that monstrous temple complex. The entrance towers, biggest being the south gate, are seriously enormous. In comparison, the temple we visited in Kumbakonam were at least half of the size ! Still speechless from this fascinating architectural masterpiece, we decide to leave the relax for later and after a quick check-in, we throw ourselves on the streets.

Man vs. nature inside the Jambukeswarar Temple

It’s nearly 5pm now and a soft evening dark is starting to cover the city. Streetlights are being switched on, shops display their shiniest best and candles can be seen around and about. The magical contrast of colors of the day has left its place for a mysterious game of lights and shadows. Visiting this temple at night has no equals. Whilst during the day you get to see only the temple with its amazing architecture (rated 10/10), in the evening you get to see the temple being alive. The atmosphere created by the people is unique. Although full of contradictions, since you can find some people praying and giving blessing next to others trying to offer you the best deal ever, you sense will be quickly overwhelmed. After an hour or so of exploring (and tired of the long day) we head back to the hotel where a refreshing shower is awaiting for us ! Luckily enough, the hotel has also a small (but super tasty and cheap) restaurant inside. We agree that for tonight, a quick dinner and an early sleep is the best option. Tomorrow the long walk !

View from the top of the Rock Temple

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Quoting our lovely 6.00am alarm ! Today the plan is to visit both the Rock Fort and the Jambukeswarar Temple before our midday train to Madurai. After a quick brekky featuring idly (a boiled rice ball), masala (spicy gravy with veggies) and happiness, we hop on the first relatively cheap tuk-tuk we find. The tuk-tuk drops us at the bottom of the Rock Fort Temple and here starts our journey uphill. Like other temples we visited before, shoes are not admitted within the temple area and have to be left at the entrance in a shoe stand. Well… there was no shoe stand there. We try to ask around to some locals and finally a really nice guy tell us that the several flowering blessing shops act as shoe holders ! You just need to make an “offer” to any shop or in other words buy something (we bought a gift for Ganesh for 100INR) and they will keep your shoes safe will you get back from the visit.

Main entrance to the Jambukeswarar Temple

We follow the suggestion and hoping for the best we continue our walk. Well, I must say we made the right choice to get there that early (7am). To climb to the top us of the Rock Fort it takes 30min walking at a normal pace but with no stops in between. During the walk, the air is still kinda fresh as the morning breeze and the incoming heat even out each other. Minutes later and we would have been playing the part of the fried-europeans ! Once on the top though, we realize that the walk was well worth. The landscape in front of us is ethereal. The words “A Stairway to Heaven” are finally a thing ! On the last tip of the huge hill we just climbed, there it is: a small but majestic temple dedicated to Ganesh. From the top, no buildings can obstruct the 360° view of the city landscape of Trichy. Walking up the last steps leading to the temple we even realize that a few meters away even eagles are flying with us. Then the surprise ! By leaving the gift for Ganesh at the temple, the priests bless us by painting on our foreheads the bindi (white dot) which symbolize kindness. Amazing experience ! Enjoyed the last few minutes on top of the world, we head back to the flower shop where we left our shoes. Then, after several no to buying other blessings, we take the first (cheapest) tuk-tuk to the Jambukeswarar Temple. After all, although the flower-shop method might seem questionable, it definitely works ! We still have our shoes !

Us on top of the Rock Temple

After another 20 min of a 50INR-tuk-tuk, we finally reach the temple as the afternoon heat starts to rise up. Seconds later, we are barefoot inside the temple visiting the place. Simply marvelous ! The beauty of this temple easily beats the previous temples. The outstanding carved pillars, the small yet elegant shrines, the inner patios and the amazing bas-reliefs ! Simply wow ! And last but not least, we were even blessed by an elephant ! Everything turns out to be awesome here. With a smile on our faces and photos in our cameras we leave the temple feeling different. The tuk-tuk who brought us here was still in the front of the temple and for price-sake we decide to go back with him.

“Sir, ma’am ! I’m also a singer ! A very good singer ” he shouts while starting to sing a song.

“We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and…”

Laughing loudly both me and Marta, we see the temple disappearing behind us. But hey, how could you not enjoy this last weird moment with an indian tuk-tuk driver singing Christmas songs in the middle of September ?

A LITTLE POCKET GUIDE

Where we slept

Hotel Sri Hayagriva: Nice, clean, cheap and super close to the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. Definitely suggested ! The restaurant in the hotel is also very nice, worth to be tried.

What we visited

• Jambukeswarar Temple: Amazing temple ! Not far from the Sri Rangam complex ! Definitely suggested to go, we enjoyed all the time spent there ! Don’t miss the small and further away parts of the temple ! Those are the best gems !

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple: Huge ! The temple complex itself its very big ! Although some areas can be visited only if hindus, the complex will need at least 2hrs to be visited fully ! If visited at night you can see the whole complex alive and the temperature its more bearable !

Rock Fort Temple: Stairway to Heaven ! The temple itself has to be reached by walking uphill for around 30min. The walk can become enjoyable if done with the fresh breeze of the early morning. Avoid going at noon or early afternoon because while walking barefoot uphill you’re feet are gone literally burn ! If planning a visit to Trichy for a single, definitely put this as first stop in the morning !

How we moved

• Tuk-tuk: We visited Trichy using only tuk-tuk as they were the cheapest and easier way to do it. As we said in the blog post “Have you tuk-tuk ?“, the fair amount to pay to a driver would be around 20INR /km. Though, here some quick infos on how much we paid:

• FROM Sri Rangam TO Rock Fort Temple —-> 100INR
• FROM Rock Fort Temple TO Jambukeswarar Temple —-> 100INR
• FROM Jambukeswarar Temple TO Sri Rangam —-> 50INR
• FROM Sri Rangam TO Train Station —-> 180INR

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