It's true journeys help in creating a man from a boy... It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends.. Nothing is yours except the essential things..
This is my journey through KUMILY-THENI-Madurai-TENKASI in 13hrs.
| ROUTE MAP |
And yes Madurai - Athens of the east. its been at the top of my list since my mom told stories of her visit to Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple when she was young and finally i received the opportunity to discover this holy land and the glorious Meenakshi Temple..which i don’t have any words to describe .. let the pictures speak for themselves...Madurai gave me a lot of memories to last a lifetime…I wish i had more time to spend so that i could try some of the foods which Madurai is famous for…nevertheless its been an awesome day with my friend @jithin...
We started our ride in the early morning since we had only one day for the whole trip and Madurai was some 570+ km's with a travelling time of 12hrs according to Google map.(which was proved wrong when we returned back ) :D
we started at 5 in the morning and the only thing on my mind was to reach the temple..since I've heard so much about Madurai and it was like a dream come true moment for me ..
we started at 5 in the morning and the only thing on my mind was to reach the temple..since I've heard so much about Madurai and it was like a dream come true moment for me ..
The first pit stop was at cumbum ..i must say the roads are Mirror Smooth and feels like a drag strip..;p the route we took was perfect for bikes..it had so much twisties where you can push to the limit and make the ride fun !!..
Finally by 1 p.m we had reached our destination and found a place to park the bike and went straight to the temple..but bad luck struck again and we had to wait because for some unknown reason the temple was closed and entry was restricted.
The temple is huge and there are just too many things to see! Every pillar has something interesting, and in every corner there is a beautiful sculpture telling us a story. I don't have many pics of the inside of the temple, since cams are not allowed inside, There is so much to see! Here are just a couple more photos from the temple....so if you get the chance to visit it don't miss the opportunity..
we rode some 6 hrs continuously under hard sun.. but when we were inside the temple it was a different feeling altogether, its so serene & heavenly inside the temple..there's a subtle smell of incense sticks and mantras in the background,no words could describe that feeling..you have to experience it to understand it..
| NANDI -gate keeper of Shiva and Parvati, according to Hindu mythology. |
The architectural work will leave you awestruck and speechless..it was better than i ever imagined..since we were on a tight schedule we had to leave and head back home ..but believe me it was one of those rare experience that i will cherish forever in my life..
We left Madurai by 4.pm and then the fun part began .."asking directions!!!.." even GPS cannot find the correct way out of the city..it was so congested and if you are planning a visit go by taxi or use a bike because its so hard to find a parking spot near the temple..So after learning few basic tamil lingos we were out of the city and back on the highways..
On the way back we had some fun too when we reached Tenkasi there was huge thunderstorms, it was raining cats and dogs..and we were running late and a huge distance had to be covered so we couldn't wait it out and decided to ride in the rain..with near zero visibility and freezing climate we headed back home ..
By night we were back inside kerala borders.
| TENKASI |
Drive through heavy rain …maxing out on the highways …enjoying the twisties of Kumily and the mirror smooth roads of Theni ….
I remember someone once said to me ‘there are angels behind our shoulders which keeps us out of harm’s way’..guess what ?? we were back home in one piece ..
learned a lot from the journey…
thank you God for keeping us safe ..and kudos to the machine that made it possible...a machine that bends the time and distance barrier..
thank you God for keeping us safe ..and kudos to the machine that made it possible...a machine that bends the time and distance barrier..
my ##orangemadness …
Bye thx for reading ..:)
SIJIN SAMUEL
