A visit to the engineering marvel of Rockfort Temple, Tiruchirappalli
If you get a chance to visit Tiruchirappalli, don't miss a visit to Rockfort, which is a landmark as well as an icon of the place famous for its rock-architecture. It has been an engineering marvel since the olden days itself as well as has been a pilgrimage place.
This article is all about my visit to the Rockfort temple in Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu, which is unique in the sense that the hills are considered only for Murugan Temples whereas this is the only temple for Shri Vinayaka.
Whoever visit Trichy can easily find this as a landmark in the city and the entire complex is built on the hill and is perched on an 83m high rock.
Your first visit should be to the temple of Manikka Vinayagar on NSB road, which is on the foothills and from where you should climb to the top.
As the name suggests, it has a good fort complex to visit and you shall see the beauty of the architecture of both Pallavas and Nayaks who served here in different times.
Climbing 180 steps, I reached the famous temple, the temple of Shiva (Thayumanavar Samy) the name being the saint of Nayak era along with Goddess Mattuvarkulali.
Also check out: Unique temples of Tamil Nadu
After exiting the two sanctums, there are a few more steps ahead, which will show you the panoramic view of the city alongside the River Cauvery and good views of all the churches around. Earlier, there was a telescope kept for the people at the top, but now its not maintained since all are having their own cameras and other gadgets.
After enjoying the panoramic view, one has to climb steep steps to reach the top, which is a temple of Vinayak and the name in Tamil is Uchi (top) Pillayar Koil. There are two more rock-architecture temples to visit: the Upper Cave Temple and the Lower cave temple.
Recommended: A pilgrimage trip in the plains around Courtallam
From there, climbing another 180 steps, we reached the entrance of the top temple. It is really a bird's eye view to see all the sides of temple, the entire city around the rock like Cauvery, Kollidam, Srirangam. It left us stunned.
As the temple is very small, it takes only a few minutes for darshan but we really enjoyed the beauty of circling the rock temple. Climbing down is easier and as soon as we reached the foothill, we saw the elephants. It felt as if it thanked everyone by moving its head.
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Tamilnadu has a lot of famous temples which people should once in their lifetime. Trichy in particular has Srirangam and many other small and ancient temples spread across the state. We can find Jyotishis (Fortune Tellers) and priests who offer to solve your sins by penance and redemption across the state.
I am again visiting Trichy this year and the biggest problem is travelling. Is there any direct trains from Khammam to Trichy?