Vellore

We began our journey from bangalore early in the morning; at around 6 AM. By the time we reached Vellore it was 11 AM. The road is pretty straight forward if you are following the google maps. My niece was with us, so it was a team of three on this adventure to explore the town of Vellore. 

We headed first to the Laxmi Narayani golden temple. This is a relatively new temple and is popular because of its gold plated exteriors. Though there is free entry, for some reason, it was closed at the time we went. We had to pay a ticket fee of Rs100 despite the temple being completely empty. 

As we took the long walk from the entrance to the main shrine, I realised how commercial this place is. There were big posters of the Swami who has built this temple along with his foreign devotees. The temple is small but each and every wall is covered in gold. But the atmosphere there failed to impress us. 

We then headed to Vellore town and drove directly to the Jalakanteshwara temple inside the fort as it was supposed to close by 1 PM. The temple is from Vijayanagara times and is amazing. The carvings are intricate and magnificent. The museum was closed due to Covid restrictions. 

Back in town, we found a good  local vegetarian restaurant called Aarya Bhavan. The lunch was delicious. We were served a lot of rice and dishes on a plantain leaf along with my favourite dish from Tamil Nadu - Sunddakkai Vathal.

After a tasty meal, we headed to the Vellore fort. There is a park were you can relax for a bit or walk around the area. 

We sat there for a while and headed back to town in search of a juice centre. We finally found one called Suresh juice bar near the vegetable market. They serve excellent Lemon and Nannari juice. 

Vellore has nothing much to offer but it is a good day trip from Bangalore. You can also fit in Vellore Arulmigu Balamurugan Temple, in Ratnagiri and Sri Margabandeeswarar Temple. However make sure to check the temple timings.