A road trip along NH45 & NH7

In the wake of the massive response to Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan teaser, this write up indeed is akin to the journey taken by Vandhiyadhevan through the historical spots of Tamil Nadu. The journey begins from the state's capital through the iconic capital cities of the Medeival Cholas, the Pandyan kingdom and finally to the tip of Indian peninsula with five interesting & unknown facts at each of the halting stations !!

Starting Point : Madrasapattinam

The state's largest and well developed city (rightfully the capital) is geographically placed along the coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city underwent numerous iterations to get it's recognition by name - from Madrasapattinam (capital of Madras State) to Madras and finally to Chennai.

1. This place was largely under the influence of Pallava rule - who built the Mahabalipuram and Pallavaram areas. Stone age implements found in these areas show a megalithic cultural establishment. Present day Kanchipuram (~60 km from Chennai city) was the capital of the Pallavas. The majestic Kailasanathar temple and the Vaikuntaperumal temple (both in Kanchipuram) are a big testament to the Pallava art - the former temple in dedication to Lord Shiva and the latter in dedication to Lord Vishnu (Earliest signs of belief that states that Hari and Shiva are the one & the same !)

2. Notably, Chennai has settlers not only from different parts of Tamil Nadu, but from different parts of the country - Vandhaarai Vaazhavaikkum Chennai

3. During World War I, Chennai was the only one city in India to be attacked by the Germans - referred to as the 'Bombardment of Madras by the cruiser Emden'. Interestingly the word 'Emden' entered the Tamil dictionary and is used to describe someone powerful with a wicked intent

4. Marina Beach in Chennai runs along the Bay of Bengal. It happens to be the longest natural beach in India and second longest in the World !

5. India is the 5th largest producer of automobiles in the globe w.r.t annual volumes and Chennai is a significant contributor to this cause - housing renowned manufacturers such as Royal Enfield, Yamaha, BMW, Daimler, Mitsubishi, Ashok Leyland, Renault-Nissan, Hyundai etc.

A travel along the NH45 towards down south, one would definitely stop and appreciate the construction of the flood banks along the river Kaveri - Kallanai dam. A move on from Arya's 'Madrasapattinam' to Karthi's 'Aayirathil Oruvan' !!

Halt # 1

The main architect of this Kallanai Dam was a great from the early Cholas - Karikala Cholan - minnal vaal veesum Karigala (one who wields the sword and strikes like a lightning flash) ! Our first stop is at the citadel or center of this Chola king's empire - "Uraiyur", which means 'Residence' (Residence of the Cholas)

Uraiyur was the ancient name of Tiruchchirappalli (the two 'ch' on the spelling is intentional !). The town is one of the major Tier-II locations in Tamil Nadu. Thiru-Chira-Palli loosely translates as 'holy rock town' in Tamil (colloquially referred now as 'Malaikottai')

1. The city houses large ancient & historical monuments such as the Rock Fort, Ranganathaswamy temple at Srirangam - the reclining form of Lord Vishnu & Tiruvanaikoil which is one the Pancha Bootha Sthalam of Lord Shiva that represents the element - water.

2. The rocks from which the Rock Fort temple was carved out is more than a billion years old (older than the Himalayas !). It is believed that a secret tunnel exists leading from the Rock Fort Temple to the Brihadeeshwara Temple in Thanjavur (a majestic architecture by Raja Raja Cholan, the greatest Emperor of his dynasty)

3. Despite it's limited infrastructure and a reasonably short runway, the airport in Trichy is ranked 10th in India w.r.t. busiest International Airports in the nation

4. The Kallanai dam, also known as 'The Grand Anicut' splits the Kaveri river into four streams. This diversion of the river water is to feed the fertile alluvial soils in the delta regions for irrigation (appreciation to our ancestors who definitely seem to be better Engineers !)

5. Tiruchchirappalli is a confluence of two major national highways (interjection of NH45 from Chennai (north to south) and NH67 from Coimbatore (west to east)). The average transport trucks passing through Trichy is ~10,000 each night !

About 100 km down south to this place, there's blissful aroma of jasmines. The 'Madura Malli' is exported world wide to countries like Germany, Italy and America which inturn are used for making expensive perfumes, soaps, oils and shampoos etc. Its time for kabbadi and 'Ghilli' (Muthupandi oda kotta da) with a touch of 'Thimiru'

Halt #2

Madurai was the capital of the Pandya Empire - long standing arch rivals to the Chola Empire

1. History believes that the nectar from Lord Shiva's matted locks fell on this town - so, the place was named after "Madhuram" which means sweetness in Tamil.

2. The city exudes the best cultural places of South India - Meenakshi Amman temple, Koodal Azhagar Temple, Gandhi Museum and Thirumalai Nayakar Palace (Ragasiya Kanavugal...) etc. - to name a few. It is also called as the 'City of Temples' or 'Athens in the East'. The Meenakshi Amman temple is believed to be the centre of the town and the surrounding streets appear like the petals of a lotus

3. Madurai has the second largest bus terminal in Tamil Nadu and is also the second busiest moffusil bus terminus (only the capital City precedes it). Major areas of the city ar well knit and the quality of bus connectivity is quite commendable. Further, Madurai is among the top 100 booking railway stations in India & there are direct trains from here to major places in India

4. Speaking of Madurai, one cannot miss the bull taming sport (or) Jallikkattu. The sport involves the taming of a special breed of humped cattle called as 'Kangeyam' (Bos Indicus) as a display of might

5. Madurai is the only place where one gets to taste the authentic 'Jigarthanda' (a falooda variant) which is accepted as the city's own drink. Truly a confluence of culture and taste mixed together in a glass tumbler

With that "Naanum Madurakkaaran daan da" feel, we head to a mouth-watering break at about 150 km further down-south along NH7. This place is famous for the 'Halwas' which have a unique & exotic taste. Its time to witness Aaru 'Saamy' roar like 'Singam' 🚔 along the 'Thamirabharani' river. Rivers never go reverse - punch dialogue thaana varudhu moment !! 🤣😂 

Halt #3

The sounds of "Yela" (dude), "Annachi" (calling someone out of respect), "Vaaren" (I'm coming) welcomes us all to an altogether different Tamil dialect. We set our foot to the Then Pandya Naadu (or) Then Pandya Seemai

1. This place is surrounded extensively by paddy fields - agriculture plays an important role in the district's economy. After the British rule, this place was called as "Tirunelveli" derived from 3 Tamil words - thiru, nel and veli meaning sacred paddy hedge. The place is now fondly called as "Nellai" by the locals

2. The city lies along the 128 km long 'Thamirabharani' river that originates from the Agastyarkoodam peak of the Pothigai Hills - also called as Pothigai river. The water is believed to have a trace content of Copper - 'Thamiram' in Tamil (that explains the river's name)

3. Nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli is believed to have been built initially by the Pandyas with addition of masonry and outer walls by the later medeival Chola kings - Kulasekara Pandyan & Kulothunga Cholan being the notable contributors to the temple's development during their reign (as evidenced by the stone inscriptions in and around the temple)

4. The word Tirunelveli is synonymous with 'Halwa' - for those who have visited this place and relished this sweet. Main ingredients of this dish are wheat, sugar and ghee - a heavenly taste & 'the tongue wants more' !

5. Renowned entrepreneurs TV Sundaram Iyengar (founder of TVS Group), Shiv Nadar (founder of HCL), Rajagopal (founder of Hotel Saravana Bhavan chain of foods):& N Srinivasan (Managing director of India Cements & former president of ICC as well as BCCI) hail from this place. Other notable names include actor / director SJ Suryah and Indian all-round cricketer Vijay Shankar (he represented India in the 2019 ODI World Cup)

~80 km further down-south, we come to the beautiful land mass close to the tip of the Indian peninsula. The language transitions from "Yelae" to "Makkale". Also, we shift from the Bay of Bengal to a spot that's closer to the Arabian Sea. Opening scenes of 'Arinthum Ariyamalum' - Knowingly and Unknowingly

Destination : Kottar (or) Nagercoil

The town came into prominence after the reign of Maharaja Marthanda Varman who had his capital in a place called Padmanabhapuram (~20 km from Nagercoil) for a brief bedore moving out to Thiruvananthapuram (modern day Trivandrum). Nagercoil was the most important town in his rule after Thiruvananthapuram. That explains on the nickname 'Little Kerala' being conferred to this town

1. Initially the town was known as Nanjil Naadu (plough land) owing to the fertile land masses. It is notable that Cheras, Cholas & Pandya kingdoms had fought over for the control of these fertile lands. Later, growth of this town was in and around a place called as Kottar which was a trade hub for the later Pandyas and Cheras. The entire town was referred to by this name (Kottar) a couple of centuries ago. In modern day, Kottar is a part of Nagercoil - the main railway station for this town is still at Kottar though ! The present name - Nagercoil is a derivative of a famous serpent temple (Nagar : Serpent; Kovil : Temple) which still exists in the central part of the town

2. The literacy rate in Nagercoil is ~97% which is signgficantly higher than the national average (~74%) as well as state's average (~80%). Also, the only Government Ayurveda Medical College in Tamil Nadu is situated in Kottar, Nagercoil

3. Few kilometers from Nagercoil, there's a marvellous temple in Suchindram which is rich in architecture and scuplture. Suchindram temple houses the diety of Thanumalayan (the trinities Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are together and at the same place) !! Speciality of this temple is the 22 feet high statue of Lord Hanuman which is carved out of a single granite block

4. The flower market of Thovalai exports hundreds of tons of flowers to Kerala, Europe and Middle East generating an annual revenue of INR 250 crore. Also, an interesting fact to note is that the per capita income of Nagercoil makes it the richest among smallest cities in India

5. Clock tower is a prominent landmark in Nagercoil (the pendulum of this clock was made in Derbyshire). The salient feature of the clock is a 60 feet long rope chain with weights operated through pulleys & force of gravity.

As a bonus, one gets to enjoy the Nendiran (a type or banana) chips which has a unique taste - thanks to the abundant use of natural coconut oil. The other special delicacy of this region is 'Rasa Vada' that simply melts in your mouth - the 'Vada' batter has Channa Dal as well as Urad Dal and when soaked in Rasam gives a taste to relish !

Tender coconuts, red bananas and jackfruit are quite famous here. Nagercoil cloves come with a distinct quality noted for their aroma and medicinal value.

Apart from the above, honey from Marthandam; handloom from Vadasery, 'Household Utensils' from Kottar & flowers from Thovalai are definitely in the 'list of must buy'

Hope the ride was enjoyable !! 😉