freinds, i took a small trip to sayavanam. it is 4km west of the poombuhar coast. the temple is sorrounded by important archeological site.
1. sampadhi amman koil: this is mentioned in silapathikaram. itis in a near collapse or already collapsed state may be in another 3-4 years may not be seen at all. this place had been visited by kannaki as per the silalmbu text of ilango.
2.buddha viharam: it is in an excavated state. the museum inside the campus has beutifull artifacts. only buddha vihara in tamil country that is available in ruins. said to have existed between 200bc-200ad.
3. ancient boat house: remains of an excavation showing a boat jetty. poorly maintained.
4. pallavaneeswaram temple: a thevara padal sthalam. constructed by pallavans. just opposite to the buddha vihara.
5. sayavanam temple: beutifull temple said to have existed during karikalan time. coins of karikala had been discovered in its vicinity. said to be containing sangam age inscriptions?
how to reach here:
take a bus from chidambaram to karaikal. get down at poompuhar arch. fee rs 10/- take an auto to sayavanam rs 70/- from sayavanam all these places are in a km radius only. may take 2-3 hours in all to see all these places.
then take the same auto to poompuhar coast(keezhiyoor) rs60/-. here you can see most of the modern constructions by DMKregime including a small museum worth seeing. towards the coast lies an another excavations showing remains of an ancient port -situated among the tsunami houses.
return by auto 130/-rs. return to chidambaram by bus (frequency every 1/2 an hour) fare rs10/- only. total cost of the trip from chidambaram rs rs 300/- only.
if a group of people come can take a 10 seater from chidambaram and the cost could be around 1500/- in all.