Alappuzha (Alleppey) To Guruvayur

Cozy little ethereal place

Post by Srinivas | Bangalore | Mar 8, 2011

1. Local transportation: as per the current rates,( 8th march 2011), per km its fixed either by Auto or by Car at Rs.15. It takes Rs.50 to go to Elephant sanctuary and return another Rs.50. Similarly it takes about Rs.15 to visit Mammiyar Temple 2. Always insist on getting the trip sheet and bill from the cab agencies or from the hotel. No negotiations on this front. Its quite a dicey affair to deal with the drivers. 3. They dont even mind filing frivolous complaints to the local authorities based on their\' understanding\' of the deal that is supposed to have been made before the travel. After the travel is made, should you be making the payments they may refuse to take and create some drama....Best thing is to hire the cars from the hotel travel desk or reception and making them accountable for fulfilling the deal/understanding. 4. Try going to the main temple from the side entrance( not for the darshan of the main Moola Vigraham) but to avoid the crowds and yet catch the glimpse of the Deepalankara Seva at 6pm or the Sriveli in the evening at around 630pm. Its worth visiting the Sriveli seva as elephants circumbulate with Utsava Vigraha and then take rest at one of the pillars near to the prasada counter. 5. If you happen to visit the temple in the morning( not during Nirmalya darshsn) then you may book the prasadams: Adai, Appam so that it would be delivered in the evening. But you need to collect them in person 6. Normally there is huge rush to collect the Pal Payasam. Better to take the ticket at the Prasadam counter soon after the darshan either in the morning or in the evening latest by 5pm to ensure that you get some of it. 7. But for the lack of proper administration or professional maintenance, many a times, though the rush is absolutely negligible( when compared with shirnes such as Tirupati), one would end up with disquieting and avoidable experience due to the jostle( which in itself is unwarranted). But folks are completely unmindful of others sensitivities and are engrossed in the singleminded dedication in reaching out to the Lord ( no matter even it means distrubing others, trampling on others or just plain walking onto others or criss cross or break the ques merrily). Such is the devotion. Just plainly watch and relish this mindlessness. 8. In essence, there is complete pathetic piligrim support that is palpably present right across all the touchpoints: chappal stand, que, parasad counters. It gets aggravated due to the non-chalant attitude of the staff. 9. One must have Dhoti and Vesti( Uttariyam or cloth on the upper body) before entering the main entrance. Ensure that you dont carry any of the mobiles or handbags. 10. Just for the uninitiated or first time piligrim: size of the Lord\'s statue is very small. Hence one need to really focus on the Lord\'s statute and just look at the center of the frame to have an eyeful of glimpse. Lest am afraid that there is every likelihood that one may miss on the main purpose of the journey.... 11. Dont hire the cabs from Cochin or Thrissur airports throughout your stay at Guruvayoor. Just get dropped at the place and hire local autos. Cochin to Guruvayoor: its Rs.1650 Thrissur to Guruvayoor: its Rs.1300 Cochin to Thrissor: Rs.1000 approx Rs.10/km. But all the cabs and taxi services charge the passenger on to and fro basis. 12. Food at Ramakrishna Hotel is best amongst all the hotels. Happy Piligrimage.

Gods own hotel

Post by Snehal | Kolhapur | May 25, 2012

We can go by national highway,good roads all along, mostly undertake day journey as names of places, towns are odd and if its first time. We have to reach any place in Kerala before 10.30pm for food or else it will be a problem so begin early and reach early.