Disclaimer: Don't expect information like name of God, sthala puranam etc about divya desams in this blog post. My intention with regards to Diyadesam is to just give precise information about the route which is kind of not explained satisfactorily in other blog posts. To know the spirituality part of those temples, better refer to other web pages.
Our complete family ( My parents, 3 sisters, 3 brother-in-laws, 1 nephew and 3 nieces) went for a trip to Kerala from April 16 to April 19, 2011. Our plan was to see some divyadesams and a hill station. So we decided on Thirunaavai, Thiruvithuvakkodu, Thirumoozhikalam, Thirukaatkarai for divyadesams and Munnar for hill station.
We chose Thrissur as the starting place. A 12 seater A/C tempo traveller was already booked at the Rate of Rs. 2500 rent per day with max 100 Kms and Rs. 14/- for every extra Km. It is bit costlier than usual but the condition of vehicle and the behavior of driver were worth that money. It was an advantage that Guruvayoor can also be covered in our trip.
4 peoples started from Bangalore and rest all started from Chennai on Apr 15th night to Thrissur through train. Room was already booked in Hotel Elite international, Thrissur at the rent of Rs. 1350/- for AC room. The rooms were pretty decent and the best part about that hotel was that there was a restaurant named "Hotel Bharath" near Elite hotel which serves good vegetarian food.
Day 1 (Apr 16, 2011)
We started to Guruvayoor at 10AM and reached Guruvayoor at 11AM. Guruvayoor is just 30 kms away from Thrissur. Guruvayoor temple timings: 3AM to 1PM; 4:30PM to 8PM. Since being a weekend (saturday) I was expecting a heavy crowd. But the crowd wasn't too much on that day. We stood in the queue and some how managed to have dharshan by 1PM; well it seems 2 hrs is not a big time these days in Guruvayoor.
We had planned to see Thirunaavai and Thiruvithuvakkodu on the same day. But all the Kerala divyadesams will usually close by 11AM and will be opened only at 5PM. So we took rest for few hours in a accomodation maintained by Brahmin association near Guruvayoor temple.
We started from those rooms at 3PM and reached Thiruvithuvakkodu at 4:15PM. Thiruvithuvakkodu is near Pattambi and Shoranoor. Do a search for "
Tirumittacode Siva Temple" in google maps and you will know the exact location of temple. I was surprised how a Vaishnava divya desam was named as Siva temple.Actually there are 4 Vishnu idols in that temple believed to have been established and worshiped by Panja Paandavaas (one by Dharmar, one by Beema, one by Arjuna and one by Nakula and Sahadeva together) after Mahabaratha war out of which Arjuna's pradhishtamoorthy is considered to be an important moorthy and it is present behind Kaasi Viswanathar (Siva) idol and hence the temple might have been named as Siva temple in maps. This also explains the silliness of Veera Vaishnavites and Veera Shaivites who fight :)
Then we started to Thirunaavai at 5:45 PM and reached the temple at 7PM. Compared to other Malai naattu divya desams which we saw, Thirunavaai (Thirunavaya) is relatively famous and the temple won't be closed early. Search for "
Thirunnavaya Navamukunda Temple" in Google maps. Thiruvithuvakkodu and Thirunaavai are 40 Kms apart. After seeing Tirunavaya temple, we returned back to Thrissur Hotel.
Day 2 (Apr 17, 2011)
We checked out from Hotel Elite, Thrissur and started to Ernakulam at 8AM. Since we started early, we were able to see Thirumoozhikalam and Thirukatkarai before 11AM, the closing time of those temples.
Thirumoozhikalam is near Angamaly (Thrissur-Ernakulam route). While coming from Thrissur, one has to take a right near Karukutty (40Kms from Thrissur). To know the exact location of the temple, search for " Prakkadavu Panchayath Office, Kurumaseri, Kerala" in google maps. Actually the temple and Panchayath office are adjacent.
While coming from Thrissur to Ernakulam, one has to take left after Little flower Engineering institute, Ernakulam and travel for 3 Kms to reach Thirukatkarai temple. Search for "Thrikakkara temple" in Google maps
to know the exact location of temple.
After lunch, we went to Cochin beach with the intention to go for boating. But unfortunately, there was some strike on that day and boats were not operating. But it is also good in one sense that we could reach Munnar on time (7:30 PM) since Cochin boating got skipped. We started to Munnar at 3PM.
Cochin to Munnar is a 130 Km journey. The roads are kind of narrow and we can feel that the vehicle is gradually climbing up. Kothamangalam-Adimaly-Munnar (70 Km stretch) is a treat to watch with falls, tea estate etc on the way. I have already been thrice to Munnar but I had taken either Devikulam route or Chinnar route but I had never traveled through Kothamangalam route.
As far as I know, there are only 2 pure vegetarian restaurants Hotel Annapoorna and Hotel Saravana Bhavan (it is not a branch hotel of Chennai Saravana Bhavan) in Munnar. We had dinner on Apr 17 at Annapoorna and rest all of the time had food only at Saravana Bhavan. Saravana Bhavan is definitely the best Vegetarian restaurant in Munnar. Saravana Bhavan is present in proper Munnar town (M.G Road).
We stayed in Hotel Munnar inn. Rooms were pretty decent and the advantage was that it was in town; so we need not walk long to get something or have food. But it may not be advisable for people who would like to have a silent environment since you will be hearing some vehicle sound even during night times. We paid was Rs. 1900/- per day as rent.
Day 3 (Apr 18, 2011)
It was full day sight seeing at Munnar. We took Mattupetty route. We straight away went to Top station (the last point in that route which is around 30 kms from Munnar town), started our sight seeing from there and then saw spots like Echo point, Kundla lake, Mattupetty Dam, Speed boating, Elephant ride etc in return. While top station was an ultimate spot as usual, speed boating was another interesting thing on that day. Right from kids to my parents enjoyed it a lot.
We finished all the spots in Mattupetty route by 4PM. Then we thought of going to Aattukad falls. We have to take Cochin route and take left after Tea factory (few kms from Munnar town). Falls can be seen from distance but the road to falls was very narrow for our tempo traveller. So we returned back half way.
Day 4 (Apr 19, 2011)
We had our return tickets booked from Coimbatore. So the plan was to take Chinnar route, see Anaimudi/Rajamala/Eravikulam National Park, get down from hills, see Azhiyar dam and then catch train at Coimbatore. Things went as per plans. As I told earlier, I had already been to Munnar thrice and all the times, I had been to Anaimudi but I have never got an opportunity to see the rare animal Tahr close by. But this time we were lucky to have a Tahr walking along with us for some time. After enjoying a great climate at Munnar, it was a sweaty evening at Azhiyar dam. Still kids enjoyed playing in the park.
Next year, by the same time, I am hoping to write a blog post about our travel to rest 9 malai naattu divyadesams and any of the coastal Kerala place.
From Isha Yoga center we went to Perur Patteswarar temple (It was built by Karikala Chozhan) and finally we went to Marudamalai Murugar temple. We started from Coimbatore city at 3PM and returned back to city after seeing all those places by 8PM.
Next day, we started at 7AM and went to Eechanari Vinayagar temple and Mahalakshmi temple. Both the temples are present close-by in Coimbatore-Pollachi route. 
