Trichy (Tiruchirappalli)

Welcome (more or less) to the geographical centre of Tamil Nadu. Tiruchirappalli, universally called Trichy or Tiruchi, isn’t just a travel junction: it also mixes up a heaving bazaar with some major temples. It's a huge, busy city, but Trichy has a strong character and long history, and a way of overturning first impressions.

Trichy may have been a capital of the early Cholas in the 3rd century BC. It passed through the hands of the Pallavas, medieval Cholas, Pandyas, Delhi Sultanate and Vijayanagars before the Madurai Nayaks brought it to prominence, making it a capital in the 17th century and building its famous Rock Fort Temple. Under British colonial control, it became an important railway hub known as Trichinopoly.

Explore Trichy (Tiruchirappalli)

0

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Trichy (Tiruchirappalli).

  • Hindu Temple

    Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple

    So large it feels like a self-enclosed city, Sri Ranganathaswamy is quite possibly India's biggest temple. It has 49 separate Vishnu shrines, and reaching the inner sanctum from the south, as most worshippers do, requires passing through seven gopurams. The first (southernmost), the Rajagopuram, was added in 1987, and is one of Asia's tallest temple towers at 73m high. Non-Hindus cannot pass the sixth gopuram so won't see the innermost sanctum, where Vishnu as Ranganatha reclines on a five-headed snake.

  • Hindu Temple

    Rock Fort Temple

    The Rock Fort Temple, perched 83m high on a massive outcrop, lords over Trichy with stony arrogance. The ancient rock was first hewn by the Pallavas and Pandyas, who cut small cave temples on its south side, but it was the war-savvy Nayaks who later made strategic use of the naturally fortified position. Reaching the top requires climbing over 400 stone-cut steps.

  • Hindu Temple

    Sri Jambukeshwara Temple

    Of Tamil Nadu's five Shiva elemental temples, Sri Jambukeshwara is dedicated to Shiva, Parvati and the medium of water. The liquid theme is realised in the central shrine (closed to non-Hindus), whose Shiva lingam reputedly issues a nonstop trickle of water. In the north part of the complex is a shrine dedicated to Akilandeswari, Jambukeshwara's consort. A good time to visit is around noon, when the temple elephant is involved in a procession between the two shrines.

  • Hindu Monument

    Rajagopuram

    The first, southernmost and highest of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple's gopurams, the Rajagopuram, was added to the 20 older ones in 1987. At 73m high, it's one of Asia's tallest temple towers.

  • Museum

    Art Museum

    On the right just south of Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple's fifth gopuram is the small but interesting Art Museum. On display you'll find good bronzes, tusks of bygone temple elephants, weaponry and a collection of superb 17th-century Nayak ivory figurines depicting gods, demons, kings and queens (some erotically engaged), and even a Portuguese soldier.

  • Museum

    St Joseph's College Museum

    In the cool, green campus next to Lourdes Church, this dusty museum contains the creepy natural history collections of the Jesuit priests’ Western Ghats excursions of the 1870s. Ask for access at reception on the left as you approach the museum. It was being renovated at the time of research.

  • Museum

    Railway Museum

    Trichy's Railway Museum is a fascinating jumble of disused train-related equipment (phones, clocks, control boards), British-era railway construction photos, old train-line maps (including a 1935 pre-Independence Indian Railway map) – and even modern-day London Underground tickets. It's 500m east of Trichy Junction.

  • Church

    Lourdes Church

    The hush of this 19th-century neo-Gothic church makes an interesting contrast to Trichy’s frenetic Hindu temples. Note the cakelike pink-accented arches and the rose window at the eastern end.

  • Church

    St John’s Church

    Adorned with original-period shuttered doors, elegant – and very white – St John's Church dates from the early 19th century.