Madurai - Day 03 | Srivilliputhur

I Continue From Here: Madurai - Day 02

Early in the morning, I took a rapid to MGR bus stand. The bus to Srivilliputhur starts from platform 6. The journey took me around 2 hours. I directly walked to Kathiravan veg mess to have my breakfast. The idli and pongal I had there were descent. I then walked to the temple. The Gopura could be seen from any part of this small town. This intricately created Rajagopura design is used as the emblem of Tamil Nadu government. 

Inside the temple, I was impressed by the beautiful idols of Narasimha and Ranganatha swamy with Andal (Poet-saint). The idols were painted in green colour; much like the colour scheme I use. However, I use blue for body colour of deities. 

I also visited the temple dedicated to Andal. It was here that she was found by her foster parent Periyalvar. Andal is one of the 12 Alvar-saints, a devotee of lord Vishnu. Her work Tiruppavai: A collection of 30 hymns is recited daily during the holy month of Margazhi(December–January).

Outside the temple and on the main street there were hundreds of stores selling palkova - a speciality of this area. I was confused where to buy it as there are so many shops. I walked to Shri Vaidyanathan Swamy temple which is about a kilometre outside of town centre. 

During my return I searched on the Internet and found out that Sri Venakteshwara Vilas is the shop which first made and sold palkova here. I walked to their shop in town and bought a pack of palkova. I could not resist tasting it right then and I must say it was absolutely delicious. By the time I reached the bus stop half of the pack was empty. 

I took a bus back to Madurai MGR bus stand. After my lunch at a restaurant near by, I took a local bus (#700) to Simmakal. I wanted to visit the Meenakshi temple but since it was closed till 4PM, I walked back to the hotel. 

After taking a few online classes, I walked back to Meenakshi temple. I did not take the queue to view the goddess but entered the courtyard to visit the thousand pillars that is inside the museum. The museum is near the east entrance. However, due to some construction work, I had to reach it via north entrance. 

This place was absolutely brilliant. The sculptures inside are humongous and beautiful. Unfortunately, they do not allow cellphones and camera inside. But one must not miss visiting this place. The huge sculptures of Karthikeya on his peacock and the idol of Ganesh were amazing. 

I walked back to town centre and visited Murugan idli place. It is famous for its soft idlis. They were absolutely delicious - I tried their podi idli, plain idli and uttapam. Everything was delicious. That ended my day well. Next morning, I was planning on leaving Madurai and head towards Rameswaram.