Cuddalore

Cuddalore (கடலூர் Kaṭalur) is a town at the north coast of Tamil Nadu. Cuddalore is a beautiful town located along the Bay of Bengal which is home to the famous Silver Beach.

Get in

By car

Cuddalore is also known as Thiruppadhirippuliyur or Tiruppappuliyur colloquially. It is located 190 km south of Chennai and is well-connected by road, via ECR (East Coast Road), 3hrs 30 mins, or by Pass [Via Tindivanam, Puducherry], 4hrs 30mins.

By train

• 1 Cuddalore Port Junction. (updated Jun 2023)

By bus

You can reach Cuddalore from Chennai by State buses or private transport. Takes about 4 hours via the ECR route. It will be time-consuming if you take a bus through a bypass.

See

• 1 Cuddalore Government Museum. The collection represents the history, culture, flora and fauna of the district. Natural History specimens include South Indian Timbers, Fibres, Swans, Bears, Lizards and Snakes. Wood fossils and Ammonite fossils are also on display. A Sculpture Garden in the museum welcomes visitors. In this sculpture garden Sivalinga, Nandhi, Vishnu, monkey sculptures, Narashima, Surya and Chandikeswara are displayed. The development of Tamil script, a dinosaur model and a model of Kali sculpture made of Fibreglass are kept at the entrance of the building. (updated Jun 2023)
• 2 Fort St. David. A ruined British fort. (updated Jun 2023)
• Hayagrivar Sannadhi - located in a small hillock nearby, this temple is well-known.

the bus stand.

• 3 Mulanathaswami Temple. (updated Jun 2023)
• Pataleeswarar Temple (பாடலீஸ்வரர் கோயில்), Thirupapuliyur. A Shiva temple of Pallava and Chola periods.  
• Silver Beach - 2nd largest beach in Asia.
• Sri Devanathan - Five kilometres from the main bus stand is the town Thiruvahindrapuram where this famous Vaishnavite temple is located.
• Thiruvanthipuram Temple - Next famous to Tirupathi temple. Thiruvahindrapuram is one of the famous 108 Vaishnavite temples in India. There is also a temple for Veera Anjaneyar very close to

Do

• Visit these temples and you can also go to the beautiful and serene beach at Thevanampattinam, 4 km away. Near Cuddalore Old Town you can also find a minor port. There is a fishing harbour in Old Town.
• Don't miss the "Paadaleswarar Temple", "Devanadha Swamy Temple" and "Sri Veera Anjaneya Swami" Temple - near to Bus stand and railway station - Thirupapuliyur. Also You can visit the " Sri Pidari Amman Temple" adjacent to the Brahannayaki Temple - Both these 2 temples are very close to the bus stand / Railway Station.
• The beautiful Manavala Mamunigal sannidhi is located in Thiruvaheendrapuram.

Buy

You can buy good variety of Clay dolls for Navarathri from nearby place Vandipalayam (about 2 km). Also, there is a town called Panruti, 21 km from here, which is famous for its Palaa Pazham (Jack fruit), Cashew nuts, and ground nuts. On the way from Cuddalore to Panruti you can find a place called Thiruvathigai where a famous Shiva temple is located. There is a famous farm in Palur near Panruti where you can get all kinds of plants. Agriculture research is also being carried out in Palur farm. Panruti dolls are also famous. This town is easily accessible by frequent local buses.

Eat

A good number of hotels and lodges are here. South Indian and North Indian food are available in these hotels.

There are good number of hotels available near Cuddalore Bus Stand and the Railway station. Cuddalore is one of the places where you can get the authentic South Indian food.

Be warned : All the hotels serve full meals only till 4 PM ! You can not get tiffin like Idli, dosai etc till after 4-30 PM

• Adyar Anandha Bhawan (A2B). 
• Anandha Bhavan, Krishnalaya Complex, Krishnalaya Theatre, 06, Imperial Rd, ☏ +91 4142 235557. Post Office Stop, Manjakuppam. 

Drink

You can find soo many TASMAC in and around Cuddalore. Puducherry is very near to Cuddalore.

Sleep

You can find Nice Hotels in the Cuddalore to have sound sleep.

Go next

The entire visit may take about 10 - 12 hours and then you can leave for Puducherry, 18 km from here, of the erstwhile French territory; or to Chidambaram another town 50 km away famous for its Nataraja Temple.