An Unforgettable Personalized Trip to 193 Paadal Petra Sthalams in 15 days !!
“Without the quest, there can be no epiphany (revelation)” – This saying became true in Mr.B.T.Rao’s longing desire to visit all the Paadal Petra Sthalams in TamilNadu. He had access to the Internet, Tour organizers, and Temple Iyers but he still could not complete that one trip he wanted. People either did not hear the names of the temples or they didn’t know the location. But the couple did not stop the search and finally, they landed up in GoSthala.com which is India’s only personalized pilgrimage service provider. The excited couple immediately called GoSthala. Believe it or not, their trip to 200 Paadal Petra Sthalams started within 10 days after their visit to the website. Their lengthy quest finally had an answer.
When we talk about pilgrimage trip in Tamilnadu, we normally know the trip to Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Madurai, Navagraha temples in and around Kumbakonam etc. Mr. BT Rao Bhamidipati, a 66 yr old enthusiastic person from Hyderabad had been to many of these pilgrimages with his wife. Yet the couple were not satisfied and they had a unique wish for visiting the Famous Paadal Petra Sthalams.
According to Mr.Rao, these 275 Shiva temples are considered to be more important and powerful than any other Shiva Temples because they have been mentioned in Tamil Thevaram hymns. The Thevaram Hymns were composed by the 3 famous Nayanmars namely Thirugnanasambandar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundarar, who lived between 7th and 9th century A.D. These 275 Shiva temples can be divided into 10 categories namely, Chozha Naadu (North of Kaveri), Chozha Naadu (South of Kaveri), Pandya Naadu, Kongu Naadu, Nadu Naadu, Tondai Naadu, Malai Naadu, Tulu Naadu, Vada Naadu and Eezha Naadu.
He took the list of all the 275 temples under each category and visited a few of them personally. Most of the Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalams fall under Chozha Naadu (North of Kaveri), Chozha Naadu (South of Kaveri), Pandya Naadu and Kongu Naadu. While he was planning the trip to these temples, he faced many issues. One of the main issues is that many of the Shiva temples that are listed as Paadal Petra Sthalam have become unknown or forgotten. Even the local cab drivers and auto drivers were unaware of the location of those temples and he had difficulties in finding an accommodation in a proper place. Since there were 213 temples under these categories, Mr. Rao found it very difficult to map each and every temple and plan accordingly.
Finally, Mr.Rao sought the help of many travel agents for arranging them this trip. Since many of the temples have become “the forgotten ones”, they were not able to provide proper information to Mr.Rao. Some of the travel agents were ready to arrange for a trip but that was a Group Trip covering the list partially which did not suit his requirements. Finally, he approached Gosthala. Gosthala is India’s First Personalized pilgrimage tour organizer that was very keen in arranging any personalized pilgrimage trip for its customers based on their requirements and budget.
Once Mr. Rao approached Gosthala, they arranged a wonderful trip to Paadal Petra Sthalam that covered almost 193 temples in Tamilnadu. Gosthala collected all the details such as travel date and time, the number of days that could be planned, budget, travel mode etc. and they came up with a most comprehensive Personalised Pilgrimage Package Trip for Mr. and Mrs. Rao. It was a 15 days package trip that covered 193 temples under Chozha Naadu, Pandya Naadu and Kongu Naadu. They took care of the accommodation and travel for all those 15 days. The trip was exclusively planned for Mr. Rao and his Wife considering all the aspects of the elderly couple.
The trip started from Chidambaram and ended in Erode. Gosthala used the latest technology in mapping all the 193 temples in a customized order so that the couple could visit each and every temple in each location without wasting time in traveling. Utmost care was taken in choosing the hotel for accommodation. During these 15 days of Pilgrimage trip, they covered all the Paadal Petra Shiva temples in Chidambaram (10 temples), Sirkazhi (5 temples), Mayiladuthurai (23 temples), Nagapattinam (4 temples) ,Vaitheeshwaran Koil(10 temples), Kumbakonam (53 temples), Thanjavur (16 temples), Ariyalur (1 temple), Thiruchirapalli (15 temples), Thiruvarur(41 temples), Madurai (5 temples), Karaikudi (3 temples), Karur (2 temples), Erode (5 temples), in order.
Gosthala provided all the details that included the order of the temples to be visited in a day without any hassle, cab and hotel details to the couple well before the date of journey. Mr & Mrs. Rao were immensely happy about this special trip.
“We are immensely pleased with package tour of 193 Paadal Petra Siva Sthalams, located in Tamilnadu, arranged by you. We are thankful for the solid support extended coupled with resourceful planning and latest technology. The total trip was happy and concluded on the happy note.” Says Mr. Rao after completing his long desired pilgrimage with his wife.
Mr.Rao is one of the inspirations to the current generation of people who are keen in visiting the temples just for doing Parihara and rituals. None of them are keen on exploring such wonderful and unknown temples that have an abundance of architecture, culture, and heritage. As Mr. Rao said, it was not only a successful trip for his family but also for Gosthala. Gosthala believes that many will be inspired by Mr. Rao and it would be very keen in looking forward to arranging such Personalised Pilgrimage trips for its customers.
