Coimbatore and Nearby Places

112 feet Shiva statue that is in Guinness Book of records, Do you know that Rolls Royce was used for Garbage collection? A temple where Lord Hanuman worshipped Lord Subramanya for water and this temple existed since Ramayana period... 

Among other cities, we found Coimbatore city very clean with wide roads, plenty of parking places elsewhere, no potholes on roads... clean lakes... Really appreciate people of Coimbatore and corporation who maintains it well.

There are many places in Coimbatore which I guess not many aware of. Here I am listing all the places in and around Coimbatore with planning tips, shopping places...etc. Hope this helps to plan and guide your trip.

Note: All the places listed below have the link to Google Map for your quick reference and for easy map usage.

Let me start with the photo of the most beautiful place ....

Amazing.... Just keep mediating

For more details, tips, planning, photos and other details, scroll down....

Places Inside Coimbatore (5 places)

• GD Naidu Car Museum and Science Museum
• Koniamman Temple
• Sri Saradambal Temple, Racecourse Road
• Sri Ramar Kovil
• VOC Park Zoo

On the way to Isha foundation (6 places)

• Perur Patteeswarar Temple
• Kovai Kondattam Amusement Park
• Isha Foundation - Adi Yogi Statue, Dhyana Lingam, Linga Bhairavi
• Velliangiri Hills - Velliangiri Temple - Starting point
• Kovai Kutralam Waterfalls
• Siruvani Waterfalls

On the way to Marudhamalai (7 places)

• Gass Forest Museum
• TNAU Botanical Garden
• Panchamuga Anjaneya Temple
• Marudhamalai Murugan Temple
• Anuvavi Subramanyaswamy Temple
• Sri Lalithambikai Temple, Anuvavi Foothills
• Sri Anuvavi Anjaneyar Nandhavanam

On the way to Ooty, Gundlupet and Mettupalayam Road (4 places)

• Ramayana Theme Park
• Ramakrishna Math, Coimbatore
• Palamalai Ranganathar Temple
• Black Thunder Water Theme Park

On the way to Pollachi (2 places)

• Eachaneri Vinayagar Temple
• Mahalakshmi Temple

On the way to Salem-Erode (2 places)

• Avinashi Lingeshwarar Temple
• Tex Valley - Huge shopping mall for dresses and dress materials - 1600 shops on 12 zones.

Some of the Famous Shops, Restaurants inside Coimbatore (7 places)

• [Silk Sarees] PSR Silks - For Silk Sarees
• [Silk Sarees] Ganapathy Silks
• [Chips] A1 Chips - For the famous crispy Banana chips (right opposite to PSR Silks)
• [Sweet Shop] Shree Anandhas Vegetarian Hotel for Sweets
• [Restaurant] Sree Annapoorna People's Park Restaurant for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
• [Restaurant - Lunch] Annalakshmi Restaurant - Traditional Tamil Nadu style Lunch
• [Govt.Handicrafts Shop] ]Poombuhar Handicrafts Shop

Places Near Coimbatore

• [Visit my Exclusive Blog] Pollachi and Valparai - Covers Monkey Falls, Thirumoorthy Temple, Falls and Reservoir, Aliyar Dam, Sholiar Dam and Valparai places

• Parambikulam Tiger Reserve - We have not visited this yet, in future shall share blog.

• [Visit my Exclusive Blog] Topslip Indira Gandhi Tiger Reserve

• [Visit my Exclusive Blog] Thattekad Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary

• Coonoor - This is on the way to Ooty and the Train from Mettupalayam to Ooty via Coonoor is the major attraction here. We have not visited this place yet, will share blog in future. 

• [Visit my Exclusive Blog] Ooty and Redhills

• [65 Kms from Coimbatore] Kotagiri - This is another small hill station close to Coimbatore, We have not visited this place yet, will share blog in future. 

• [145 Kms from Coimbatore] Munnar and Thekkadi, We have not visited this place yet, will share blog in future. 

• Thrissur, Guruvayur - Are in the state of Kerala and temples here are very famous. We have not visited this place yet, will share blog in future. 

• [64 Kms from Coimbatore] Silent Valley National Park, We have not visited this place yet, will share blog in future. 

• [Visit my Exclusive Blog] Kodaikanal and Nearby places

Some Tips

• Pick the free copy of "Travel and Guide - Coimbatore City Guide" from the hotel you stay. 
• Weather here is very good with Max.34.7 Celsius in summer and Minimum 21.1 Celsius. 
• You get parking place in almost all the places, look for "No parking" signs though. 
• To cover all the places listed in this blog (except for the nearby places list) you need 2 night stay and 3 days. 
• All the places listed above have Google map links, just click them to start your directions. 
• Season: Any time of the year. April, May till Mid-June are summer months. 
• Ramayana theme park which is listed is for kids only and for just an entertainment and dont have too much expectations
• If you don't want to visit temples, then you just need 1 day to see other places in Coimbatore. 
• Opposite to Koniamman Temple there is a big car parking space and you can use that and visit the temple and Poombuhar handicrafts shop, nearby old book shops..etc. 

Let us move onto the details of each places with their photos....

Isha Center or Isha Foundation ( https://www.ishafoundation.org )

You would have heard about this a lot. A beautiful place. Visit to Linga Bhairavi and Dhyana Linga is must apart from Adi Yogi statue. Visit Dhyana Linga during Nadha Aaradhana time i.e. 11:50AM and 5:50AM which is really very special and you get to experience it, feel the vibration, words cannot explain. Also be part of Aum Meditation. One can spend the whole day here and even continue to stay here as well. Check their site for stay options and availability. Everything is free here, only for car parking you may need to pay. See below the photos that have lots of details about the events here.

Listen to Nadha Aradhana - Sounds of Isha here.... 

This was found enroute to Isha Center, very beautiful house

This was found enroute to Isha Center, very beautiful house

Velliangiri Hills

When you see the Isha foundation on your right side of the road, on left side you will see a board that indicates 3 Kms to base of Velliangiri Hills. Trekking is permitted by Government only during February to May. During the Chithirai Pournami (Full moon day on Tamil month Chithirai i.e. around April-Mid) this place will be heavily crowded. Lakhs of devotees trek to the peak starting mid-night. This is a very holy hill and one need to perform "One Mandala Viradham" 41 days of Viradham to trek here and visit the Velliangiri Aandavar (Lord Shiva) on peak. The height of this hills are ranging from 520m to 1840m. On the peak there is a small cave with Panchalingas. Women from 10 to 50 are not allowed. The fifth hill is called Thiruneer malai due to the white color of the sand like Ash, devotees wear this on their forehead. ("Thiruneer - Sacred ash").

If you take a right here you will reach Isha Centre and if you continue straight you reach Velliangiri Hills

Perur Pateeswarar Temple

Built by Karikala Chola during his period, the Lingam is self emerged ("Swayambhu") and have the footprint of Kamadhenu(Cow). During 7th century, the famous tamil poet Sundarar sang Thevaram here. There is a Kanaka Sabha where Lord Nataraja is present and you can see intricate sculpture work on pillars. During milk abhishekam one could witness the footprint of cow on Shivalingam here.

The divine cow Kamadhenu performed a severe penance seeking for the post of Lord Brahma who is the creator.  It poured milk over the Shivlingam hidden inside an anthill. The playful calf by mistake stepped over the anthill and demolished it. Kamadhenu pleaded Shiva for pardon. Lord Shiva was pleased with the calf and mentioned this is the first among the salvation sthalas for his devotees.

Also there is a Tamarind tree in front of the temple known as "Pirava Puli" meaning the seeds of the Tamarind tree will never germinate. Also the devotees who worship here will not have rebirth and attain Mukthi.

There is also a Palm tree which is 2000 years old and has no death known as "Irava Panai". Adhi Sankarar worshiped here for her Mother to attain Mukthi. Also devotees who worship here will get long lasting name and fame.

Another natural wonder is that, the cow dung in this area will never have worms known as "Puzhukadha Saanam".

The famous Gorakkar Siddhar attained Jeeva Samadhi here.

Another miracle is that this temple is on the Noyyal River banks. And when the bones of dead is placed in this river, it turns out as white stones.

Temple Chariot 

Siruvani Waterfalls

Famous for its taste and mineral properties. The sweetness comes as the river comes through dense vegetation and rocks. View from falls and the Siruvani dam are major tourist attractions here.

Marudhamalai Murugan Temple

This is Dhandayuthapani Temple, praised by famous Tamil poet Arunagiri Nadhar in Tirupugazh. Lord Muruga and Vinayaga are swayambhu murthy (self emerged). This is a 12th century temple on a small hill which has around 800+ steps. One can also drive up to hill.

There is a Pancha Virutcham - Cluster of 5 trees - Ala Maram (Banyan), Arasa Maram (peepal), Vembu (Neem), Vakkanai (Mountain persimmon), Nuna (Indian Mulberry or Noni). There is a Panchamuga vinayagar at the bottom of the tree and everyone to worship him first. It is believed that the breeze here is curing diseases. Also this is believed to be very old tree and very rare.

On the left side of the tree there is a small path that lead you down to a small cave where Pambatti Siddhar is living even now. The image of the snake on the rock is natural which is amazing. It is also believed that the snake comes everyday and drink the milk and feed on the fruits. The Siddhar performed meditation here.

Anuvavi Subramanyaswamy Temple

The lord Subramanya swamy is a Swayambumurthi (Self emerged). There are close to 500 steps. Also note that, this is exact other side of Marudhamalai Murugan temple. I heard that one can trek up and reach or go around and reach Marudhamalai temple.

Lord Anjaneya was carrying the Sanjeevini mountain on his hands and he was thirsty on his way. He prayed to Lord Muruga for water. Lord Subramanya with his Vel punched the earth and from there the water emerged and flowed as a river. Also note that this temple was existing even during the Ramayana period. At the base of the hills one can see a huge colorful statue of Lord Anjaneya.
Also on the other side there is a small temple for Goddess Lalithambika.

Palamalai Ranganathar Temple

Looks like many misspell the name "Palamalai", Pala should be infact pronounced as in "Paala". This is very beautiful place inside the forest. One need to drive up the small hill. Not so narrow. Also roads are in good condition now. 3 to 4 hairpin bends. Recently in Febraruary 2019, Maha Kumbabishekam happened here in this Temple. Hence the roads are patched and in good condition. At the base of the hills there is a checkpost. Looks like if they notice any animal movements, they might stop vehicles here itself. So no need to worry.

Eechaneri Vinayagar Temple

The 6 feet high and 3 feet width Vinayagar was mainly for the Perur Patteeswarar temple it seems, but it got stuck here in Eechaneri for some reasons and the temple was built. They believe this was built around 1500 AD.

GD Naidu Museum

One of the Must visit places in Coimbatore. You get to see all high end and classic collection here. There are lots of details shared about each car here. One interesting story is about the Jaipur King - Maharaja Jai Singh mentioned here in this Museum. It seems he went to Rolls Royce showroom and inquired about the top end model. Looking at him, the showroom people laughed and questioned about his capacity, insulted him. After returning back with wounded pride, he then ordered 6 top end Rolls Royce cars. The company was completely surprised and delivered them all. Once they reach, he ordered these cars for garbage collection in city and gave to municipality. Hearing this news, the company people sent a personal telegram apologizing their mistake and their act. Also they sent six new cars in exchange for the six garbage cars. You get to see such details here. All the cars in display are real cool. Photographs allowed. In the famous old Tamil movie "Padaiyappa" (actor Rajinikanth) there was a car used by Ramyakrishnan and that car is on display here.

Other places inside City

Opposite to Koniamman Temple there is a big parking space. From Koniamman temple, Poombuhar Handicrafts emporium is just 200 hundred meters away. Also there is a old book shops nearby.

In Race course road, there is a walking track and early morning walks are wonderful.

We have not been to the Tex valley, but heard you get to see lots of shops. 

Temple Tower - Koniamman Temple

Koniamman Temple Coimbatore

Sri Sharadmaba Temple at Race course road, Coimbatore

Sri Ramar Temple Coimbatore

Read my other recent blogs on 

1. Chennai and Nearby Places - In and Out of Chennai with lots of photos and details:

2. Chidambaram and Nearby Places: 

3. Kodaikanal and Nearby Places:

Hope you liked this blog, share with friends and relatives.