Kumbakonam – a temple town home to about 188 ancient Hindu temples
Kumbakonam is a beautiful little temple city in India. It is a part of Tamil Nadu and largely recognized for the temples, rich cultural heritage dominated by religion, and the genuine south Indian hospitality. Visit the town for a memorable vacation and pick from the best Kumbakonam hotels.
Although Kumbakonam has a mass of attractions and allures but the prime reason for tourists being attracted to it is the rich cultural heritage, the centuries old temples, the old schools, centres of learning established by the British, and the once in 12 years festival of
Mahamaham. Located in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu, Kumbakonam is one of the most popular places to visit in India. It is a special grade municipality bound by two mighty rivers, Kaveri and Arasalar and a historic place that was ruled by Cholas, Pallavas, Panadayas, Nayaks and Marathas of Madurai and Thanjavur. Being a proud owner of great cultural heritage with a display of large number of British schools and Hindu learning centres, the place is fondly referred as the “Cambridge of South India�.
It is a highly revered spiritual destination with thousands of pilgrims and backpackers visiting it on yearly basis. The good thing is that the place is well connected with rest of India via excellent rail and road network. It takes about 5 to 6 hours on a bus from Chennai and there are frequent sate owned and privately owned buses travelling to the spiritual town. Thanjavur, the district headquarter and nearest city is about 40 k.m. away whereas, Trichy is some 90 k.m. away. There is a small railhead that connects Kumbakonam to Chennai, Bangalore, Coimbatore, and Mysore. Train frequency is good and they are most popular modes to get into the town. Trichy also houses the nearest airport which is amongst the few good airports of the state. It generally takes 4 hours on road. There are many Kumbakonam hotels that offer airport pick-up and drop service. Plus, one can easily get taxis from the main market.
Kumbakonam, also known as Coombaconum is basically a temple town with agriculture as its backdrop. It has one of the most fertile lands that is sufficiently supported by Kaveri River and the tributaries of Arasalar River. This also explains the natural splendor of the region. The dense jungles are home to some of the rare and vulnerable species of animals and flora. Although the place has considerately large enough Christian and Muslim population, but it is largely recognized as a Hindu home to about 188 Hindu temples and shrines. Built in medieval era the temples exhibit the best Dravidian temple architectural style. Amongst the most popular temples and shrines, some are: Sankara Mutt, Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Airavateswarar Temple, Srinivasa Ramanujan House, Raghavendra Mutt, and Bramman temple. Most of the temples feature incredible constructions with many inscriptions and images of different
gods in different poses and are simply the work of art.
Visiting the Mahamaham Tank and taking a dip in it is one of the most popular activities amongst the tourists. The water inside the tank is considered to be more auspicious than Ganges River. It is a large tank and serves as the venue of Mahamaham Festival celebrated once in every 12 years. Located close to the tank are Sri Gowthameswarar Temple and Kasi Viswanathar Temple. Visiting them is a-must. The Sri Gowthameswarar Temple has the presiding idols of God Yagnobhaveetheswar and Goddess Sundaranayagi who are highly revered by the locals. Whereas, the Kasi Viswanathar Temple houses the idols of Kasi Viswanathar and Visalakshi.
There are a number of good hotels that one can stay in. Most of the
hotels are located close to the tourist attractions and temples. The 3 star hotels in Kumbakonam, in general are quite popular. Irrespective of the length one is going to stay in the town the 3 star hotels are known to offer above satisfactory stay at a reasonable price.
THANK YOU ******