The nine Navagraha temples sit within about 65 km of Kumbakonam, and almost every first-time pilgrim underestimates what that actually means. Nine separate temples across three districts, each with its own midday closure and its own busiest day. Get the sequence wrong and you arrive at a closed sanctum, drive the same road twice, or miss the one abhishekam you came hundreds of kilometres for.
This guide fixes the sequence. Below you will find every temple and the graha it belongs to, the timings that actually shape your day, a driving order that does not double back, and one-, two- and three-day itineraries you can lift straight into a plan.
- Temples
- 9
- Spread
- ~65 km
- Shortest trip
- 1 day
- Base town
- Kumbakonam
The nine Navagraha stalams and what each one governs
The circuit is not one temple complex. It is nine separate temples, each consecrated to one of the nine celestial bodies of Hindu astrology, and visiting all nine is held to settle the planetary influences in a horoscope. Kumbakonam is the practical base simply because it sits nearest the middle of the cluster.
They are listed here in the order this guide recommends driving them, which is chosen for distance rather than for the order of the grahas. Distances are road distances from Kumbakonam town.
Naganathaswamy Temple, Thirunageswaram
Rahu~6 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:30 PM
- Busiest
- Rahu Kalam daily — the milk abhishekam during that window is the main draw and is crowded every day, not just at weekends.
- Worth knowing
- About 6 km from Kumbakonam. Time your visit for the Rahu Kalam abhishekam if that is the reason for the trip.
Suryanar Kovil, near Aduthurai
Surya (Sun)~15 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Busiest
- Sundays, and Rathasapthami. Thai month draws additional pilgrims.
- Worth knowing
- The only temple on the circuit where all nine grahas have their own shrines. About 15 km from Kumbakonam.
Agneeswarar Temple, Kanjanur
Sukra (Venus)~20 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Busiest
- Fridays are busiest.
- Worth knowing
- Very close to Suryanar Kovil — the two are almost always visited together.
Vaitheeswaran Koil, Sirkazhi taluk
Angaraka (Mars)~52 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:30 PM
- Busiest
- Tuesdays are busiest. Angaraka-related transits draw large crowds.
- Worth knowing
- Known as the temple of the healing deity; pilgrims bathe in the Siddhamirtham tank before darshan. Close to Mayiladuthurai.
Swetharanyeswarar Temple, Thiruvenkadu
Budha (Mercury)~63 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Busiest
- Wednesdays are busiest.
- Worth knowing
- Near Poompuhar on the coast; often combined with Keezhaperumpallam in the same run.
- KetuNo freely-licensed photo available
Naganathaswamy Temple, Keezhaperumpallam
Ketu~59 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Busiest
- Ketu-related transit days.
- Worth knowing
- Near Poompuhar, the last stop on most circuits — usually paired with Thiruvenkadu.
Dharbaranyeswarar Temple (Saneeswarar Sthalam), Thirunallar
Sani (Saturn)~52 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 1:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 9:00 PM
- Busiest
- Saturdays are the busiest. Sani Peyarchi days draw very large crowds — book rooms 2–3 weeks early.
- Worth knowing
- Take the holy dip at Nala Theertham before darshan. One of the nine Navagraha temples — Saturn (Sani) sthalam.
Apatsahayesvarar Temple, Alangudi
Guru (Jupiter)~18 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 12:30 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:30 PM
- Busiest
- Thursdays, and Guru Peyarchi — Guru Peyarchi is one of the heaviest crowd days anywhere on the circuit. Book rooms well ahead.
- Worth knowing
- About 17 km from Kumbakonam. The Guru shrine is the draw; expect long queues on Thursdays.
Kailasanathar Temple, Thingalur
Chandra (Moon)~32 km from Kumbakonam
- Usual timings
- 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM
- Busiest
- Mondays and full-moon days are busiest.
- Worth knowing
- Near Thiruvaiyaru, roughly 30 km from Kumbakonam — usually paired with Suryanar Kovil on a two-day circuit.
Darshan timings and the midday closure that shapes your day
The opening windows are the hard constraint on the whole trip. Every temple on the circuit closes for an afternoon break and reopens around 4:00 PM, so your day is really two sessions with a long gap in the middle — and how many temples you cover depends almost entirely on how many you fit into the morning.
The morning closure is the one that catches people out
Most temples open between 6:00 and 7:00 AM. The closure is where they diverge: several of the smaller stalams shut at 12:00 noon, while the larger ones stay open until around 1:00 PM. Thiruvenkadu is the classic trap — it is the furthest temple from Kumbakonam and one of the earliest to close, so it has to be reached before noon or deferred to the evening session.
Evening sessions, and the one puja worth timing for
Evening darshan begins at 4:00 PM across the circuit and runs to somewhere between 8:00 and 9:00 PM depending on the temple. If you can arrange to be at Vaitheeswaran Koil or Thirunallar for the Sayarakshai puja around 6:00 PM, the atmosphere is markedly different from a plain daytime darshan. Of the six daily worship sessions the Shaiva temples keep, three are realistic for a visiting pilgrim: Kalasanthi around 8:00 AM, Uchikalam around 10:00 AM and Sayarakshai at 6:00 PM.
The driving order that avoids backtracking
The nine temples are not strung along one road — they are scattered in three loose groups, and that is the whole reason sequence matters. Three sit just north-east of Kumbakonam, four run out towards the coast, and two lie west and south-west. Drive them in the wrong order and you cross the same 30 km twice.
The route below runs the near north-east cluster first, sweeps out to the coast, drops south to Thirunallar and collects the two western temples on the way home. One loop, no repeated roads.
Scroll the map sideways to see the eastern temples.
- ThirunageswaramRahu~6 km from Kumbakonam
- near AduthuraiSurya (Sun)~15 km from Kumbakonam
- KanjanurSukra (Venus)~20 km from Kumbakonam
- Sirkazhi talukAngaraka (Mars)~52 km from Kumbakonam
- ThiruvenkaduBudha (Mercury)~63 km from Kumbakonam
- KeezhaperumpallamKetu~59 km from Kumbakonam
- ThirunallarSani (Saturn)~52 km from Kumbakonam
- AlangudiGuru (Jupiter)~18 km from Kumbakonam
- ThingalurChandra (Moon)~32 km from Kumbakonam
One-day, two-day and three-day itineraries
Whichever length you pick, leave Kumbakonam between 5:00 and 5:30 AM. That single decision does more for the day than any other — it puts you inside the first temple as it opens and buys back the hour you would otherwise lose to the midday closure.
One day — the full circuit
10–13 hours · leave 5:00 AMRun the route above in order. The three heavy-footfall temples — Thirunageswaram, Vaitheeswaran Koil and Thirunallar — need 60 to 90 minutes each; the smaller stalams average 30 to 45. Reach Thiruvenkadu before its noon closure, then take Alangudi and Thingalur in the 4:00 PM evening session on the way back. It is a long day, and it works.
Two days — the family pace
5–7 hours a dayDay one takes the north-east cluster and the coastal stretch: Thirunageswaram, Suryanar Kovil, Kanjanur, Vaitheeswaran Koil and Thiruvenkadu. Day two picks up Keezhaperumpallam and Thirunallar, then Alangudi and Thingalur. This is the version that leaves room for a proper abhishekam rather than a rushed darshan.
Three days — for elderly pilgrims
3–6 hours a dayDay one covers Thirunageswaram, Suryanar Kovil and Kanjanur. Day two takes Vaitheeswaran Koil, Thiruvenkadu and Keezhaperumpallam. Day three is Thirunallar with a generous buffer for the queue and the ritual bath many Sani devotees consider essential, then Alangudi and Thingalur. Every day ends well before sunset.
Getting between the temples, and what it costs
There is no shuttle linking the nine temples — you arrange your own transport, and the choice changes both the cost and the character of the day.
TNSTC package bus
from ~₹740
A dedicated Navagraha service leaves Kumbakonam central bus stand around 5:00 AM and covers all nine in a day, with an air-conditioned variant on some days at a higher fare. Cheapest option for a solo pilgrim — but it runs to a fixed schedule, so a long queue means you move on regardless.
Private taxi
~₹3,500–6,000
Per vehicle for the whole circuit, not per person, so for a family it often lands near the per-head bus fare with far more control. Agree the rate before you start, and confirm the driver has run this circuit before — a few stalams sit down unmarked village lanes.
Self-drive or local buses
cheapest, slowest
Shared autos and town buses cover the 6 km to Thirunageswaram easily. The distant stalams need connections, which costs more time than it saves in money. For elderly or differently-abled pilgrims a pre-booked vehicle is the practical choice.
Dress code, offerings and what to carry
What to wear
Traditional, modest attire across all nine. Men commonly wear a veshti and are expected to remove their shirt at the sanctum entrance; women wear a saree or salwar kameez covering shoulders and ankles. Avoid shorts and sleeveless tops. Footwear comes off before the premises, and leather items — belts, bags, wallets — are generally discouraged throughout. Some guides suggest dark blue at Thirunallar, in keeping with Sani.
What to carry
Archana and abhishekam prices vary by temple and are set at each counter — a simple milk abhishekam is in the low hundreds, special and annual packages run considerably higher. Many counters prefer cash, so carry small denominations for all nine rather than assuming UPI. Bring a cloth bag for prasadam, a sealed water bottle, and slip-on footwear you can take off nine times without irritation.
Planning it without the spreadsheet
Nine temples across three districts, each with its own closure and its own crowd day, is a genuine logistics problem — and it is the reason pilgrims who plan on paper end up backtracking. One temple's midday closure lands in the wrong place and the rest of the sequence unravels behind it.
That is the part we built software for. Our temple concierge takes your start date, how many days you have and where you are travelling from, and returns a temple-by-temple plan with departure times — then books the car and the rooms against live availability rather than a callback. It reads the same timing data as this page, so the itinerary it produces and the guide you just read cannot disagree.
Plan your circuit before you leave home
Tell the concierge your dates and it will lay out the nine temples in order, or check which vehicles are actually free for your day.
Questions pilgrims ask
How many days do you need for the Navagraha temples in Kumbakonam?
One long day covers all nine if you leave Kumbakonam by 5:00 AM and keep each of the smaller stops to about 30 minutes. Two days is the comfortable version and the one most families choose. Three days suits elderly pilgrims, because each day then ends well before sunset.
Which temple should you start from?
From a Kumbakonam base, start at Thirunageswaram — it is only about 6 km away, so you are inside the first temple by 6:00 AM without a long pre-dawn drive. If you are staying at Karaikal instead, start at Thirunallar and run the circuit in the opposite direction.
Which temple belongs to which graha?
Suryanar Kovil is Surya (Sun), Thingalur is Chandra (Moon), Vaitheeswaran Koil is Angaraka (Mars), Thiruvenkadu is Budha (Mercury), Alangudi is Guru (Jupiter), Kanjanur is Sukra (Venus), Thirunallar is Sani (Saturn), Thirunageswaram is Rahu and Keezhaperumpallam is Ketu.
What time do the Navagraha temples close for lunch?
Every temple on the circuit shuts for an afternoon break and reopens around 4:00 PM. The morning closure is the one that catches people out: several of the smaller temples close at 12:00 noon rather than 1:00 PM. Treat these as the usual pattern and confirm locally — they change on festival days.
Do you have to visit all nine temples?
No. It is common to perform a full abhishekam only at the temple of your own birth star and take an ordinary darshan at the other eight. That concentrates both the ritual and the cost where it matters to you, and it shortens the day considerably.
How much does a taxi for the Navagraha circuit cost?
Local operators quote roughly ₹3,500 to ₹6,000 for a full one-day circuit, depending on the vehicle. Fares are per vehicle for the whole trip, not per person. Live per-vehicle prices for a car from Karaikal, Kumbakonam or Thirunallar are on our taxi page.
Is there a bus that covers all nine temples?
Yes. TNSTC runs a dedicated Navagraha package bus from Kumbakonam central bus stand, leaving around 5:00 AM, with an air-conditioned variant on some days. It is the cheapest way to do the circuit solo, but it runs to a fixed schedule — if the queue at one temple runs long, the bus leaves anyway.
Is Nagore Dargah or Velankanni part of the Navagraha circuit?
Neither is. Nagore Dargah is a Sufi shrine and Velankanni is a Catholic basilica; both sit on the coast near Nagapattinam and pair naturally with a separate day trip, not with the nine Navagraha temples.
Photo credits
Every photograph on this page comes from Wikimedia Commons and is reproduced under its own licence. No freely-licensed photograph of the Ketu sthalam at Keezhaperumpallam exists, so that card carries a placeholder rather than a picture of a different temple.
- thirunageswaram.jpg — Ssriram mt, CC BY-SA 4.0
- suryanar-kovil.jpg — PJeganathan, CC BY-SA 4.0
- kanjanur.jpg — Muralikrishna m, CC BY 4.0
- vaitheeswaran-koil.jpg — raguleo, CC BY 3.0
- thiruvenkadu.jpg — Ssriram mt, CC BY-SA 4.0
- thirunallar.jpg — VasuVR, CC BY-SA 3.0
- alangudi.jpg — Shankaran Murugan, CC BY 3.0
- thingalur.jpg — Ssriram mt, CC BY-SA 4.0