Manicka Vinayagar Temple, Malaikottai - Hindu temple in Theppakulam, Tiruchirappalli - Tiruchirappalli, India

This is the most popular temple, which is a must visit for any tourist coming to Tiruchirappali. There are many legends associated with this temple, which makes it a very special place to visit. You may refer to Wikipedia for the temple legends and history. Just sharing below some details from Wikipedia along with a few clips from my most recent visit to this famous temple. The temple complex has three shrines, two of which are dedicated to Lord Ganesha, one at the foot and the Ucchi Pillayar Temple at the top, and the Thayumanavar Temple between them. The Thayumanavar temple, the largest of the three, houses a shrine for Amman (the Goddess) as well as the main deity. The Rockfort is visible from almost every part of the city's north. The Teppakulam at the foot of the Rockfort is surrounded by bazaars.The Thayumanavar temple is located halfway up the Rockfort. The temple has a columned structure. You would also be able to see the entrance to the hundred pillared hall (nuurru kaal mnnttpm) as you climb up the rock hill on the left side. The central shrine of Thayumanaswamy is located a level up to the lower half that houses the shrine of Mattuvar Kuzhalammai. The lower level also houses the niches of Vinayagar, Arumugar, Navagrahas and Veerabadraswami. The walls around the central shrine houses the image of Dakshinamurthy, Somaskandar, Natarajar, Surya, Brahma, and Durga. The Rock Fort temple stands 83 metres (272 ft) tall perched atop a rock. The smooth rock was first cut by the Pallavas but it was the Nayaks of Madurai who completed both the temples under the Vijayanagara empire. The Ucchhi Pillayar temple is situated at the top of the rock. The Ganesha temple is much smaller with an access through steep steps carved on the rock and provides views of Trichy, Srirangam and the rivers Kaveri and Kollidam.

Very nice view of city from hill top. Moving crowd and no much queue. Anadhanam available at 12. Shops available at hill top. Steps are high and more in number for elders to climb. But safe with bars around and shelter to walk during noon. No parking available. Need to park at private parking down at main guard gate.

A very good devotional place. It is also called malaikottai or rockfort temple. The view at the ucchi pillaiyar temple is a devine.. i spent upto 1 hour there . The sculptures was really amazing. It's an historic place..

One of the best and must place to visit in trichy, about 400 steps to be climbed to visit the manicka Vinayagar Temple. The view from the top of the hill is mesmerizing and incredible. The entire trichy city can be viewed and the river kaveri can be viewed and the banks of river kaveri too can be viewed. Visit the temple once when u come to Trichy. Bus route - Get into chattiram bus stand town bus from trichy central bus stand, the bus stops at the entrance of the temple

This is the Lord Ganesha temple at the bottom of the Rock fort temple. It is a general practice that you always take blessings of Manicka Vinayagar before you visit Ucchi Pillayar.

It hardly takes 20 - 30 minutes to climb up. It's not very difficult to climb. No parking space : But it's hard to believe that this temple does not have any dedicated parking space. Bikes are parked in road sides outside shops. Car parking I am not sure. The place also doesn't have paid space or people employed to keep our slippers. There is stand we can just leave it there. The whole Trichy City view from the mountain is very good. It has two to three shops in the to as well.

We went to Trichy to visit this place and Srirangam. My friend suggested to go to this temple in the evening for the best city views from the top and also, you won't feel much hot I'm during the evening times.. we started climbing these steps which was actually steep at many places, though I dint feel it hard. There would be hardly 300 steps. You have various sannidhanams in between. At one point, there are two temples. Ucchi Pillayar on the right and Thayumanavar(Lord Shiva) on the left. We went to see Ambaal and then climbed few more steps to see Lord Shiva. Temple was maintained so well and clean! Felt a pure peace inside the temple and we sat for sometime infront of Lord shiva!! Then, we went to see Ucchi Pillayar. Wow it was a fantastic experience. After Dharshan, we got to see the whole city views from the top! There are mountains(rock) at both the sides of the steps.. we went and sat at the rock and enjoyed the wonderful views of the city. We had a fresh air and speechless experience. We the had Goli soda in the shop at the top. Only problem is to find a parking a lot for even bikes is really tough. And please do visit this place atleast once in your lifetime. We all felt so happy visiting this place. Evening is the best time. Temple timings: 4-8:30pm Opening time I dint note but upto 12pm. 12-4pm temples will be closed for the afternoon..

Located in the middle of the busy city, parking is a very big challenge. A must visit temple in Trichy.