Before embarking on this trip I tried to find out various routes to take to reach Madurai online but was not too successful in finding correct information. So I spoke to some friends who belong to Madurai and decided to go via Dharapuram and return via Udumalpet. From Coimbatore, one has to take the NH-67 upto Palladam. One has to drive past the diversion that leads to Tirupur in Palladam and about a kilometre to the right is the road that leads to Dharapuram. There are no diversions or confusions midway and the only area where one will need directions is when entering Dharapuram.
Every road is neatly marked with directions and one will have to drive towards Ottanchatiram from here. This is a fairly straight drive and upon reaching Ottanchatiram one will join NH-209 (right from this intersection will take us to Palani and left to Dindigul). One will have to take the left towards Dindigul and drive to a point where the a diversion towards the left leads to Sempatti. After Sempatti, one joins NH-7 (coming from Karur, Salem) and drive right upto Madurai.
While returning we drove upto Ottanchathiran via Sempatti. The diversion to Sempatti occurs around 45 kms from Madurai on the NH-7 highway. From Ottanchatiram we took the road to Palani and reached Coimbatore via Udumalpet and Pollachi. This drive took 3.5 hrs and the roads were better than the route I took to go to Madurai. One can cruise at 90-110 kmph speeds without any serious risk in the night time because of the lack of potholes and moderate traffic.
