Trip to Guruvayur, Thrissur and Athirapilly Falls, Kerala

1) Guruvayur:

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car from Calicut (around 120 kms)

Places visited:

Visited the following temples:

• Guruvayurappan Temple: The one temple that most pilgrims visit Guruvayur for. More details on the temple, timings, customs etc can be found at http://guruvayurdevaswom.nic.in/index.html
• Mammiyur Sri Mahadeva Temple: Not very far off from the Guruvayurappan temple. Details available at http://www.mammiyurdevaswom.com/devaswom.html
• Sri Parthasarathy Temple: http://www.parthasarathytemple.net/
• Venkitachalapathy Temple: This temple run by TTD is located across the railway line, again not very far from the Guruvayurappan temple
• Chamundeswari Temple

Stay:

We stayed at Kanoos Residency, which is about 5 min from the main temple by walk . I think this has got to be one of the best hotels in Guruvayur at its price point.

Clear positives were:

• Clean, large rooms and bathrooms
• Helpful staff (reservation, reception, service etc)

Food:

Found it difficult to get really good food, though there is no dearth of restaurants.

2) Thrissur:

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car

Places visited:

Visited the famous Vadakkumnathan Temple. It is a very beautiful, huge Shiva temple, located in the center of Thrissur. More details about the temple can be found at http://www.vadakkumnathantemple.com/

3) Athirapilly:

Time of visit: November 2011

Mode of travel: Car

Places visited:

Athirapilly Falls – Located about 60 kms from Thrissur, these falls are a sight to behold! No wonder, they are frequented by Indian movie makers. They are located in a forest area known for its bio-diversity. There were sign boards that said that a variety of species birds can be spotted in this area. The best time to visit these falls is during the monsoon (June to September), when the flow is at its peak.

A few things to note:

• While driving towards the falls, there will be a checkpost like structure with signboards indicating a place to purchase the entry tickets to the falls. It is easy to miss this while driving. This place is I think about 0.5 km or so before the actual entry point to the falls. If you miss buying the tickets here, you will have to come back and get them. So keep a watch for the ticket counters to your left when you near the falls
• The path from the entry point leads you to the top of the falls. There is a separate route (stone path) to the bottom of the falls and I would highly recommend this short trek as it gives you a nice view of the entire falls up close
• While I visited Athirapilly only for a few hours and didn’t stay in any hotels here, there is a resort called Rainforest that is located bang opposite to the falls. My friends had recommended this place highly. The rooms here, though priced on the higher side, are supposed to offer a full view of the falls
• There are a few other falls nearby that can also be visited – Charpa and Vazhachal, if I remember correctly.