- Chennai,
- Coimbatore and
- Madurai .
The City of Tiruchirapplli which is also called “Trichy” is situated at the heart of the State of Tamilnadu on the southern banks of the river “Cauvery”..
Tiruchirappalli is a City Corporation and the Administrative Headquarters of the Tiruchirappalli District.
Srirangam, a Vaishnavite temple and the biggest functioning Hindu temple in the world and Thiruvanaikovil, one of the five main abodes of Lord Shiva are in and around Tiruchirappalli.
The name of the town, “Tiruchirappalli”, originated as a tribute to a Jain monk called “Chira”.
There is also a belief that Tiruchirappalli was named after a three headed demon “Trishira”, the son of Ravana, who performed penance at the Siva temple here and obtained boons.
Tiruchirappalli City is one of the major tourist spots in Tamilnadu and it is well connected by roads and railways with all the major cities of the Tamilnadu state.
The famous “Rockfort Express” and “Pallavan Express” are connecting the Rock city with Chennai., the capital city of the state.
Also Government and Private buses are commuting from the city to all major cities.
Tiruchirappalli City is having many historic temples, monuments, churches and mosques.
The Capital City of the early Cholas-‘Woraiyur’ is now a part of Tiruchirappalli City.
Tiruchirappalli City was an important town in the days of the later Cholas, Nayaks as well as during the early days of the British East India Company.
The Madurai Nayak rulers changed their capital from Madurai to Tiruchirapalli and back several times.
The conquest of Tiruchirappalli by the British East India Company marked a major step in the British conquest of India.
The famous scientist Sir C.V.Raman was born in Thiruvanaikovil, a part of the Tiruchirappalli City and his house has been preserved as a museum.
“Mukkombu” and “Kallanai” dams across the Cauvery River are very good tourist locations situated near the Tiruchirappalli City,
Rock Fort – Temple in the City of Tiruchirappalli:
Tiruchirappalli city is also called “Rock City” because of its famous landmark, “Rock Fort”, a huge single rock of 83 metres /273 feet high, which is believed to be of more than 100 Crores of years, at the southern bank of the Cauvery river.
The oldest construction in the southern face of the rock of Tiruchirappalli is the “Pallava Caves” built by the Pallava Kings from the year 580 AD.
There is a temple called ‘Uchi Pillaiyar Kovil” built on the top of the rock fort dedicated to Lord Vinayaka/Pillaiyar, the son of the gods Lord Siva and Parvathi Amman of the Hindu Religion.
You can reach the rock temple on the top of the rock from the bottom of the rock by climbing 344 stone steps carved inside the rock from the entrance and over the rock near the top.
The Rock Fort Temple had been used as a military fort by the ‘Nayak-Kings for some time.
On to the eastern side is ‘Sri Nandrudayan Vinayakar’ Temple, with the powerful Lord Ganesha as the main deity.
A big sized Ganesha and other rare deities can be seen in this temple,which hosts festivals every year during the Vinayaka Chathurthi.
Many carnatic musicians and stalwarts have been giving musical concerts since over 70 years in this famous shrine of Tiruchirappalli.
The “Cauvery River” Flowing through Tiruchirappalli City:
The Cauvery River is one of the major rivers flowing from the western ghats through the southern states of India, entering into the ocean-‘The Bay of Bengal’.
There are many bridges built across the Cauvery River on its way from its point of origin at “Kodagu Hills” situated in the Karnataka State till the river’s entry into the Bay of Bengal.
The long and broad bridge across the Cauvery River at Tiruchirappalli, which is an added attraction to the rock-city.
The oldest man- made dam ‘Grand Dam’/Kallanai was built by the King-Karikala Cholan, across the river Cauvery at about 10 miles from Woraiyur.
The residents of the city and the tourists enjoy cold breeze from the beautiful bridge in the evenings.
