Trip to Thiruchirappalli

Made a trip to Thiruchirappalli (TPJ for railfans) on saturday. Took the Friday Rockfort and reached there an hour late due to a late running HWH-TPJ in front of us. Covered the following temples:
1. Brahadambal - Gokarneswarar - Pudukkottai: Amman is popularly known as araikkaasu amman. She is very powerful in retrieving lost / misplaced articles. The popular naivedhyam is jaggery (vellam). Very nice and calm rcok-cut temple on the outskirts of Pudukkottai. This is the official temple of the King and Queen of Pudukkottai palace.
2. Sathyamoorthy & Sathyagireeswarar temples - Thirumeyyam: Divyadesam for Sri Vaishnavas. Special mention required for the idol of Thirumeyyar (Ranganathar posture) - One must see His idol (moolavar) -- no words can explain the beauty...the fierce face of Madhu and Kaidaba, the face of an afraid Bhoomadevi, teeth of Adhisesha, the idol of Narada, Yama and Chithragupta, the wings of Garuda - Overall, an enthralling experience. Divyadesa Perumal Sri Sathyamoorthy has a prayoga chakra (like in Uraiyur, Thiruvellarai and Thirukannapuram)
3. Thiruvaramboor - Erumbiappar
4. Thiruvanaikkaval - We witnessed the Go-poojai at 12 Noon. The gurukkal wore a saree and performed pooja in front of Jambukeswarar sannidhi. The beauty of Goddess Sri Akilandeshwari in the natural ghee lamps is beyond words. Diamonds in the jewellery gifted by Sri Adhi Sankara to pacify the ugram of Amman were glittering like stars in the sky.
5. Srirangam - Will be covered in a separate post as a continuation to my Blog # 1.
6. Samayapuram - Very peaceful and excellent sevai of Sri Mariamman. The uniqueness of this Mariamman is that you will feel as if an elderly lady is sitting there and not that you are actually seeing an idol.
7. Anbil - Sundararaja Perumal - In my view, this body-builder Perumal is the most handsome of all Perumals. Visited a Sivan temple nearby (Anbilaalandhurai) - Sung by Sundarar. The idol of Sevisaaitha Vinayagar is worth seeing.
8. Maanthurai - Beautiful Siva temple - Nice place to spend an evening. Good place to do meditation.
9. Thiruvaasi - Fairly big temple on the Salem Road. Excellent one.
10. Uraiyur - Panchavarneswarar temple - Gives the palan of worshipping all the five panchabhootha sthalams.

Random notes:
1. No big difference in a year.
2. Good flow of water in both Kaveri and Kollidam - Kollidam bridge in the trunk road is closed!
3. Welcome showers in Srirangam and Samayapuram. The rain actually brought down the heat.
4. Lalgudi road is in a very bad shape. Salem Road has improved.
5. Lots of new shops in Thillai Nagar and Woriyur areas.
6. Woriyur still not changed to Uraiyur

Rail notes:
1. Rockfort got an ED WAP-4 upto VM and an orange liveried GOC WDP-2..probably 15503.
2. Return MS Rockfort got a single GOC WDM-2x all the way through.
3. Spotted the only GOC jumbo hauling Mangalore-TPJ Exp. Looks ugly - repaint required.
4. Spotted two GOC WDM-2xs MUed on their short-hoods on Road 2. Wonder why.
5. Heard a really melodious twin tone in the AJJ WAM-4 6P that hauled the HWH-TPJ from Pf4 on day 1.