Namakkal

20-Oct-2025

While driving back from Srirangam once, I had stopped at Namakkal for lunch. During the drive through the town, I had crossed the fort. I was told that there is a famous Anajanaya temple there. So, this trip to explore Namakkal was long pending.

Preethi and I left home at around 5:30AM. We stopped for breakfast at Krishna inn, my favourite restaurant near Shoolagiri. We reached Namakkal at around 10:30AM. I parked my car on a road next to Sree Anjaneyar temple and walked to the place. The temple was not very crowded. As it was Deepavali, only locals were in town. Everyone celebrates this festival at home and therefore it would be rare to see tourists on this day. 18 feet tall granite idol of Lord Hanuman stood without much decoration. 

We learnt that there is another famous temple by the fort - Arulmigu Sri Narasimhaswamy temple. This rock cut temple was built in the 8th century by Adiyaman chieftains. Ramagiri Thayer temple is located next to it.

It is a beautiful temple carved on to the huge monolith on which the fort stands. The idols in the main shrine are magnificent. Gigantic carvings of Narasimha, Varaha and Vamana took me by surprise. We can enter the Garbhagudi and view it up close. It was like visiting a museum. I could not get enough of this sight. The artwork was simply breath-taking. 

The main sanctum houses the image of Narasimha in sitting posture, called Asanamurthi with Sanaka, Sanata, Surya, Chandra, Shiva, and Brahma around him. He is sported with two hands holding the conch and the Chakra.

There is a panel depicting the narrative of Vamana, who takes water from the Asura King Mahabali and later grows as Trivikrama to crush Mahabali under his feet as per the Skanda Purana. Other panels depict Vaikunta Narayana accompanied by Brahma and Shiva. The temple tank, Kamalalayam, is located outside the temple.

It is also believed that Kannada poet (Hari dasa) Purandara Dasa visited the temple in 1500 and composed his famous song "Simha Rupanada Sri Hari, Namagirishane" here. 

On the information board I read that there is a Ranganatha swamy temple on the other side of the rock. We had to walk about a kilometre, around the fort, to reach the steps leading up to Sri Ranganatha Perumal temple. Here again, we could enter the main shrine and see the beautiful Ranganatha swamy idol resting in Ananthashayana pose. The panels show high architecture which has Thrivikrama, Bala or Kevala Narasimha and Hari Hara. The idols in these temples are coated with thick layer of oil. I wonder if it is required. The natural appearance of the sculpture is far more impressive. Also, they make them highly inflammable. 

Next, we walked back to town and took the flight of stairs to the fort. It is an easy climb and must not take you more than 30 mins to reach the top. Many locals were doing the climb with us. There were also a lot of migrant workers from the North of India. I wondered if this could be due to the industries around the town. The views from the top were impressive. 

The fort was built during the reign of Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai in the 17th century. It was under the dominion of Tipu Sultan and then switched hands to the British East India. The fort is located on the top of a hillock made of a single rock, 75 m (246ft) tall. The hillock is known as Namagiri and also as Saligramam, the image of Vishnu in a divine stone.

Back in town, I visited a sweet shop. An adige bhatta (Cook) had prepared lots of sweets for Deepavali. We packed a few of them and they were absolutely delicious. 

When we were heading back to the car, the Anjanaya idol was decorated with gold plated armor and flowers. It looked impressive. 

We then headed in search of the Sarvana Bhavan restaurant that I had been to last time. We had loved the meals there which is served on a plantain leaf. But on this day, since it was a festival, most of the staff were on leave and they had limited options. But we were happy to have Sambhar Sadham and Thairsaaar. They were absolutely delicious. The servers and cleaners happily accepted the tips I gave them. I strongly believe that we must tip servers and cleaners in an Indian restaurant. They work really hard but do not get paid enough.

Looking at the time in hand, Preethi wanted to explore other places. But I insisted on staying in Namakkal and observing the place. The flâneur in me was kicking in.  I hate rushing to different places and checking boxes. I walked to the nearby park where the locals had setup a fair. Slowly, families walked in and started to enjoy the rides. With a heavy lunch still waiting to digest in my stomach, I hesitated to sit on a ride.

We then took a long walk to the market area in search of Ponni rice. Many grocery shops were closed on this festival day. The locals helped us find a Malige store finally. We had some rose milk and bananas before returning. By now, we had gone around the whole town and knew it very well. 

Around 4PM, we left Namakkal and headed back to Bangalore. We stopped at Aahhaa sweets near Krishnagiri. They have a huge farm and an outlet attached to the farm compound. They sell milk, milk products such as curd, butter etc. They also make and sell a variety of milk based sweets. The paal kova here is very popular. It was delicious. We also had some local snacks like - Raja vada, Kuzhi Paniyaram and Parapu vada. The coffee with thick milk from the farm was creamy and extremely delicious. 

We reached home before 10PM. It was a perfect day outing. Like Tiruvannamlai, I would like to revisit Namakkal often. It is a peaceful place, full of rich history and a perfect place for a mental detox. I hope this place stays the same - small, neat and simple. 

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