Kumbakonam

The town is bounded by two rivers - " River Cauvery" on the north and "River Arasalar" on the south.
Kumbakonam gets its name from the deity Lord Aadhi Kumbeshwarar. A traditional representation of South Indian Culture, the town is known for its temples, intricately carved panchaloha idols, exquisite brass wares especially lamps and silks(kancheepuram and kumbakonam are the very well known silk producers). The place, like many other sacred places has a unique festival known as the Mahamaham festival. The festival celebrated once in twelve years coincides with the entry of Sun and Jupiter into constellation of Aquarius and Leo respectively. People from all walks of life have a dip in the Mahamaham tank along with the presiding deities of the town.
Kumbakonam is full of temples. Every street, road, locality has a prominent temple. Better read some litereture on them before your visit them. The Sankara Matam and associated institutions preserve and represent all that is great about the Hindu ancient scholarly tradition.
Some of India's world renowned scholars and intellectuals hail from Kumbakonam including the genius mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam. The Town High School and the Kumbakonam Arts College are the grand old centres of education with the latter built on the banks of River Cauvery (kaveri) sometimes referred to as the Cambridge of South India.
It has an excellent road link to all the navagraha temples (gods representing nine planets).
The town which was originally a religious town become an industrial center during last quarter of the 19th Century and early period of 20th century. Predominance was gained for Silk Industries and Metal manufacturing.
The major supplier of silk sarees to the Indian market is the Kumbakonam silk industry.
All the South Indian Brass Pooja articles and utensils are manufactured in Kumbakonam and these articles are manufactured nowhere in South India other than Kumbakonam. KuthuVilakku and Statues are the famous articles. Stainless Steel utensils are manufactured.
Betelnuts, Suparis are manufactured in Kumbakonam.
Brass ornamental Lamps (Kuthuvilakku) are also manufactured in Naachiyar Kovil. It is near by Kmbakonam just 8 km towards Tiruvarur.

By plane

The nearest airport is Tirchy Airport . Kumbakonam can be reached from Airport by Bus which will take 3 hours travel.

By bus

Kumbakonam is well connected to all the major towns and cities. Tamil Nadu and Karnataka State Transport Corporations operate buses to Kumbakonam. A highlight in Kumbakonam is its central bus stand, which is served with AC waiting halls and waiting shades. This is the first full AC bus stand in India.
From Chennai 6-8 hrs of travel by bus.There are excellent bus services provided by both government and private travel services. For more comfortable travel its better to choose a private travel service. From Tirchy it's about 90 km and about 40 km from Thanjavur.

By train

Kumbakonam is connected through the "Main Line" from Chennai Egmore to Tiruchirapalli , bifurcating at Villupuram and is one of the important stations on the section. Regular dailies are available to Chennai, Bangalore, Mysore, Madurai, Tirunelveli, Tiruchendur, Rameshwaram and Coimbatore. There are also direct tri-weekly trains from Tirpati and weekly trains from Bhubaneswar, Ayodhya and Varanasi.

By auto rickshaw

The cheapest mode of hired transport. Autos ply to small towns in and around Kumbakonam (less than 10 km). As with any other town in Tamil Nadu, negotiate the price before making the trip.
You can negotiate an auto for half-day or full day rates for the nearby places and temples within Kumbakonam. Charges range from 500/- to 750/- approximately for half-day, depending on the places you need to visit. For a 1.5 days I paid ~₹900/- in total.

By taxi

There are two prominent taxi stands in the town. One near the bus stand and the other near town hall. As with any tourist place, the prices are hiked up once they know you are from out of town. For the Navagraha trip, one can base the trip from Kumbakonam. It takes 1.5 days to cover the 9 temples. Taxis charge approximately ₹10 per km. For covering 250 km, one can pay ₹2,500, including driver charges
It's a good idea to check with locals on the average fare for autos and taxis.

There are several prominent temples in the town:

• Adi Kumbeshwarar Temple
• Airavatesvara Temple Darasuram (listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site)
• Ayyavadi Pratyankara Devi temple
• Chakrapani Temple
• Ganapathi Agraharam Vinayaka temple
• Kabistalam Gajendra Varada Vishu temple
• Kasi Viswanatha Temple
• Koothanur Saraswathy temple
• The Mahamaha Kulam intricately carved temple tank where the Mahamaham is held once in twelve years
• Nachiyar Koil Vishnu temple (one of the 108 Divyadesams of Srivaishnavites)
• Nageswara Temple
• ThiruNageswaram Shiva temple
• Oppilliappan Vishnu temple (one of the 108 Divyadesams of Srivaishnavites)
• Papanasam 108 Shiva linga temple
• Patteswaram Durga Temple
• Ragavendra Mutt at Kumbakonam city
• Ramaswamy Temple
• The Sarangapani Temple (one of the 108 Divyadesams of Srivaishnavites)
• Someswara Temple
• Srinivasa Ramanujan House/Museum
• Swamimalai Murugan Temple (ARU PADAI VEEDU)
• ThirudevanKudi Shiva temple
• Thiruvidaimarudhur Shiva temple
• Thirukarugavoor Shri Mullaivananathar Kovil (Garbharakshambikai Temple)
• Thiruvaiyaaru
• Tirubhvanam Kambahareshwarar Temple
• Tirucherai SaranathaSwamy Vishnu temple (one of the 108 Divyadesams of Srivaishnavites)
• Tirumangalakudi Shiva temple
• Tirupambupuram Shiva temple ( Dakshina Kalahasti)
• Tiruvalanchuzhi Swetha vinayagar Temple
• Uthukaadu Krishnar Temple (Kalinga Narthanam temple) (Famous for major Carnatic songs)
• Valangaimaan Mariamman Temple

Surrounding Kumbakonam are the popular Navagraha temples. Although the presiding deity in all these temples are various forms of Shiva, the Navagraha Sannidhis are quite popular.

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Go next