Vellore Golden Temple near Chennai

Vellore Golden Temple near Chennai
Lakshmi Narayani Temple is a spiritual Park  located on 100 acres of land,  at the foot of a small range of green hills in Thirumalaikodi at the southern end of the city of Vellore in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The temple has been constructed by the Vellore based Sri Narayani Peedam which is headed by the spiritual leader Sri Sakthi Amma / Narayani Amma. The important featureof the  Golden Temple is that the Vimanam and the Ardha mantapam of the Goddess Mahalakshmi  have been covered with gold both in the interior and exterior. The temple has intricate carvings  and sculptures in gold and the lighting is arranged i such away that the temple glitters  even in the nights.

More than 1500 kilograms of gold had been used in the construction  which got completed in 2007.  There is an LED lighting on top of the star shaped path ( Sri Chakra )which when lit up in the night shines like a star on earth. This temple is placed in the midst of lush green landscape and the star path is about 1.8 kilometers long. One has to walk along the star path to reach the temple. You can see messages from Sakthi Amma, Bhagvad Gita, Bible, Quran  as well as other good teachings from the spiritual leaderslaid out on the walls, while walking through the path.

The Golden Temple at Vellore has become a tourist attraction to the leisure and the pilgrimage visitors coming in to Chennai The Temple's location, its surroundings and the peaceful atmosphere are worth seeing  that you should visit this place at least once.

How to reach Vellore Golden Temple?
 The Mahalakshmi temple is located at Thirumalaikodi and  Katpadi is the nearest Railway station on the Chennai-Bangalore route of Southern Railways. From Katpadt railway station you can get buses and autos  which is just about 15 minutes to the temple.
If you are travelling from Tirupati, there are shuttle train services available upto Katpadi or Jolarpettai. You can also travel by train from Tirupati  by Kanyakumari Express from Tirupati to Katpadi which takes less than 3 hours journey.
The drive to Sripuram Temple  takes about three and half hours drive from Chennai, on the National Highway No 46 that connects Chennai - Bangalore  and then in NH4 from Ranipet to Bangalore.
You can also reach Thirumalaikodi from Vellore by road through Anicut / Odugathur route. The State run buses ply via Thirumalaikodi in this route.
Direct bus services available from all major points to Vellore from Chennai, Chittoor, Bangalore, Kanchipuram, Kanyakumari, Tirupati  and Thiruvannamalai.
Vellore is well connected by road with all the southern states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and  Pondicherry.

If you are driving from Chennai and Bangalore, through National Highways, you might find find many toll gates where in tyou would have to pay toll fee for private cars, taxis, vans etc   with the toll fee ranging from Rs.38 up to 65. Validity for entry-exit 24 hours.

Darshan Timings:  Vellore Golden temple at Sripuram is open from 8 am to 8 pm throughout the year.  Entry is free for the persons who have enough time to stand in the queue. However, for those who have limited time to go through the normal darshan, there are some special arrangements made for a little fee.