Famous Temples of Tamil Nadu, My BucketList After Moving To Coimbatore

I write these bucketlist posts simply to list out the places I want to visit in future. So, I don’t forget them and can plan a trip or detour whenever the opportunity presents itself. When I shifted to Coimbatore, it brought a lot of places very close to me. Ooty is just a few hours from here so is Kodaikanal and Kochi. In fact, Goa, Bangalore, Chennai are all just one overnight train away. And so on. You get the gist.

However, since COVID hit us for last two years, I haven’t really managed to explore as I had earlier thought I would. So, here goes a fairly long bucketlist post with many famous and some not-so famous temples of Tamil Nadu I want to visit. (Refer to this post on some of the best Tamil Nadu temples that I have visited already!)

Palani, of the 9 poisons temple & more

Literally two hours from Coimbatore, is the nav-pashaana (9 poisons) temple of Palani. This temple itself is an intrigue, but more than that there are a few samadhi spots here. Palani swami, named after the place itself has taken samadhi here. So I guess there will be some spot of his samadhi. Sadhguru Sribrahma sat in jal samadhi here and a small shrine for him is there. His disciple Guruvel swami’s samadhi is also here. I am sure there are more siddhars and yogis who have been in samadhi here. Plus, few more ancient temples etc… So, a place with lots to explore.

Madurai, Meenakshi Temple

Despite visiting Kodaikanal a couple of times, I have not visited the very famous Meenakshi temple of Madurai. So definitely on my bucketlist, but I have also been wondering what other ancient temples might be there in Madurai. Often these very famous temple, over-shadow some equally amazing temples which are not famous.

Talking about famous temples, here’s a temple in Kanyakumari located amid the ocean waters on an island rock,

Trichy, Water temple, Oldest Rock & Sarguru Sribrahma ashram

The next one is Trichy, about 4 hours from Coimbatore. It has the water element temple. Of all the 5 element temples, I have only been to Arunachaleshwarar Fire temple. And a special mention for the Coimbatore Perur temple which is considered part of the Nataraja temples so might be associated with Space element. Though the main Space element temple is Chidambaram.

There is another ancient temple in Trichy, the Ucchi Pillayar Rockfort Temple which sits on one of the oldest rocks in the world – approx 3800 million years old rock. Very intriguing.

And, of course, Sadhguru SriBrahma Trichy ashram.

Here is Arunachaleswarar Temple gopuram rising tall. Heart – skip – beat? ;)

Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temples

Have seen their pics and heard a lot of these wonderful temples. But when shall I visit? Ideally, I would like to do a temple trail in the region including these Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temples along with Trichy, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur and Chidambaram temples.

Thanjavur, Brihadeeshwarar Temple

Curious about this temple, even though I won’t enter inside it. Here’s an interesting talk from Sadhguru regarding the Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram temples: https://isha.sadhguru.org/us/en/wisdom/video/thanjavur-brihadeeswara-temple

Kumbakonam, Acclaimed Temple Town

I have again heard a lot about this place as a temple town holding much importance for various religious groups. However, in terms of specific temple I have so far only saved the Airavateswar Temple on my map. It looks stunning from photos. But I am sure there will be more temples in the vicinity to also explore. Let me know if you would like to add any temples names to this list :)

Chidambaram, Nataraja temple & Space Element

The Chidambaram temple has been on my list for ages. When will this also happen, Shiva?

O Nataraja, I already visited your shrine in Perur, so please to be calling me to Chidambaram also. :)

This is the most famous Nataraja temple and also the Space element temple. It’s said to be located on magnetic equator.

The other 4 Nataraja temples are considered to be: Thiruvalangadu temple where Shiva danced to appease a furious Kali, Kutralam where he danced to show Agastya Rishi his marriage with Parvati, Madurai’s Meenakshi temple which has a 1000 pillared Nataraja mandapam where the deity stands on his left foot and raises his right foot since a king devotee pleaded him to rest his right foot for a change (aah, these devotees!) and Tirunelveli, where the story remains unclear for me.

Subbalapuram, Naduvapatty & Velanur – Sadguru SriBrahma Temples

Apart from Palani & Trichy which have Sadguru SriBrahma shrines, there are 3 more smaller towns in the area I have marked on the map. These are Subbalapuram, Naduvapatty & Velanur. Let’s see how they can happen when I am in the area.

These are so far on my bucketlist for temple trailing through Tamil Nadu. There are more temples that I eventually hope to visit – Tenkasi Kashi Vishwanath, Rameshwaram and more. But for the recent future I have marked out the above. To visit when I can. Once I visit some of these, more temple names will get added to the list :) After all, the list of TN temples is unending. And one can only visit a few that one is inclined towards or comes across on natural course of life.