Dec 22, 2004 05:13 PM
5562 Views
(Updated Dec 22, 2004 05:27 PM)
The Rock City
Tiruchirappalli, aka Trichy sometimes spelt as Tiruchi also, is one of the biggest cities of Tamil Nadu. And like almost every other interior city / town in TN this city is also famous for the temples!
At this point let me make it clear that I have read Krithika’s review and am trying to write whatever she hasn’t written. There shouldn’t be a repetition otherwise my review will be a waste of time for those who have read her review. Actually, it was Krithika’s review that inspired me to write about Trichy with which I have an emotional bond.
Krithika has written about the following places and I would advise the people reading this review to read hers’ to know more about these places:
Rock Fort
Lourdes Church
Sri Rangam
Tiruvaanaikaaval
Mukkombu
Gunaseelam
Samayapuram
The Strategic advantage of Trichy
Trichy is strategically located at the center of the state of Tamil Nadu. The extreme ends of TN are at a distance of 8 hrs journey by bus from Trichy. It is extremely convenient to travel to Tanjore, Kumbakonam and Madurai from Trichy. Add the excellent infrastructure available, and it could serve as the base to carry out a temple pilgrimage of Tamil Nadu. The hotels are affordable and the service is decent. There are a few hotels like Hotel Anand, Mathura and Abirami near the bus-stand which would serve at the economy segment. Hotel Sangam, Jenny’s, Femina, Royal Inn are into the premium segment. For example, a double a/c room in Abirami or Mathura would cost you around Rs. 600 – Rs. 750.
Like betterlife has been asking, nobody seems to mention about the industrial development of Trichy. The reason for missing it out in a review could be that there is little development on that front in this city. I would go to the extent of saying that Trichy is seldom considered a city. It is merely a collection of hamlets that makes it the fourth biggest city in the state. The reasons for this are mentioned below:
1. Climate
If you mention Trichy to any person who knows about it, he or she will first ask you to be wary of the horrible climate that the city is endowed with. This could be one of the reasons why you don’t find much investment in the city towards industrial development. People just don’t want to stay there.
And hence it becomes the Government’s responsibility to do something. And they have done it really well. BHEL has a huge self-sufficient township 16 kms from the city, which might have a population of around 30,000. The township has a school, two shopping complexes, a railway reservation counter, a 1500 seat capacity auditorium, a bus-stand, and a sports complex. BHEL manufactures its boilers in a plant that is located in this township.
2. The laidback attitude
Trichy’s people are extremely talented and this shows when you look into the background of most corporate bigwigs. Also, The presence of one of the best engineering colleges: National Institute of Technology (erstwhile Regional Engg colleges), one of the best management institutes: Bharathidasan Institute of Management ( http://www.bim.edu) and one of the best under graduate colleges: St. Josephs. The talent being honed at these institutes finds more acceptance at more industrially developed cities like Bangalore and Chennai. The placement statistics of these institutes speak tales about the point I am trying to make.
The people of Trichy are used to a comfortable life. I know that such generalizations are always wrong, but I hope my point is taken in the right spirit as the industry in and around Trichy is developing at a pace that’s not very encouraging. Only the BHEL ancillary units are getting some business otherwise most of them are going sick. A case in point is the leather tanneries which closed down en masse owing to the environmental hazards they caused and there was no replacement area given to them either!
3. Connectivity
Though Trichy is very well connected by train/road from Chennai, the kind of help necessary to develop Trichy is probably not coming from Chennai. I would need to elaborate on that. The financial help that is necessary for a city to develop should start coming from the best developed city in that state and Chennai being the city in question, is slowly doing that. A recent seminar held at BIM called for an IT Park to be built by minister of Heavy Industries.
For the bigwigs to visit a place and think about developing it, you first need an airport where regular flights are operated. The first flight of the week from Chennai arrives on a Tuesday. That shouldn’t be the case. Maybe developing the airport would add to the connectivity. But that’s an investment rich proposition which would require great thought before deciding.
4. Language
If you don’t know Tamil, you are as good as an illiterate in Trichy. People seldom try to understand your predicament of not knowing Tamil. They continue answering in the language they know and you cannot hold them responsible for it. They are trying to help you out, they have the knowledge, but they cannot convey it in a sense that you may seem to understand.
I won’t fault the people on this, but just warn the people who are planning to go to Trichy that please don’t expect people to understand your language. Learn a few words of Tamil and go there. And especially if this is going to be your base for the pilgrimage of Tamil Nadu then you had better learn Tamil atleast for entering those interior towns.
A few tourism spots I wish to add are as follows:
Hazrath nathervali: A Durga temple, located right in the heart of the city. You cannot miss the bright colour of the structure that it gets by the marble structure.
Kallanai: A beautiful dam built across the river Cauveri also called Anaicut.
Vekkaliamman Kovil: An extremely famous temple in Woraiyur. 1 km from the center of the city.
Vayalur: Lord Murugan temple. 6 kms from the Centre of the city.
Puliancholai: A wonderful picnic spot. 60-70 kms from Trichy. A must-visit for youngsters!
That was my review of Trichy. I have picked the names of a few tourist spots, which I had forgotten, from a website <https://tiruchirappalli.nic.in/tourist.htm>. The intention is to give complete information to the readers. Please dont feel offended. Also, I must have missed many things. Please comment.
