As a travel lover, I had been to many cities and I have many favourite places from North, South, East, West. It is a difficult choice to pick only one favourite. Since only one favourite has to be chosen as part of the Tata Motors #madeofgreat campaign, I will pick Tiruchirappalli from South zone. This is one of my favourite city I travel often by road.
On the banks of the river Kaveri lies a beautiful city by name Tiruchirappalli. It is commonly called as Trichy. This city posses rich historical and cultural background. This is located at the geographic centre of the state Tamil Nadu.
I have tried to explore the city with respect to the three key features Drive, Design and Connect.
Drive:
Drive can be of motivational or road drive. I have tried to put both the perspective.
Motivational drive:
Trichy is considered to be one of the best in terms of educational institutions. It has schools and colleges that are of hundred years old. Few of the prominent among the educational institutions are Bharathidasan University, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIT), the National Institute of Technology (NITT). Education plays a major role in every ones life. This city is rightly called as educational town.
Do you know where the former Indian President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam studied? Yes, you guessed it right. It is none other than Trichy. He studied in St. Joseph’s College.
Trichy is a major engineering equipment manufacturing, fabrication hub in India and there are few other major industries in Trichy. Few among them are Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) which is a prominent Navaratna company, Heavy Alloy Penetrator Project of Indian defense establishment, Golden Rock (Ponmalai) Railway Workshop and Dalmia Cements.
The city’s educational and industrial institutions have attracted students and young skilled workers from different parts of India.
Road drive:
This is a travel junction for travelers. There are many places in and around Trichy. On the north we have Cuddalore, Namakkal, Salem on the west Coimbatore, Karur on the East Thanjavur and on the down south Madurai, Tuticorin, Dindigul, Tenkasi and Rameshwaram. Driving in these road is pleasure. I am sure many other travellers will agree with me.
Design:
This city has a long history which dates back to Chola period with over 2,500 years. One can find rich culture and heritage as many historic temples like famous Rockfort temple and other monuments built by the various rulers Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Vijayanagar Empire, Nayak Dynasty, the Carnatic state and the British.
This is a not only a travel junction but it has a mix of agriculture, industries, temples, bazaars and well known schools and colleges. In the year 2015, Trichy was listed as the second cleanest city in India by National Urban Sanitation Policy.
Connect:
Trichy is well connected by roads to most of the important cities and towns through major national and state highways. The city is well inter-connected with public and private transports. It is also well connected through rail and air. Grand Southern Trunk or GST road (NH45) is one of the busiest National Highways in Southern India.