Lands End

  Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India
Saturday, May 30, 2009

Kanyakumari is located at the southernmost tip of India. It is named after the virgin goddess Kumari. This is probably the only place in the world where three oceans, the Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean meets.

I visited the following places of interest:

Kumari Amman temple

Men are supposed to remove their shirts and enter the temple with bare torso. I decided to just walk around outside the temple. There is a bathing ghat outside the temple. The sea is very rough here so people are advised to stay close to the shore. Cops keep a watchful eye on the crowd.

There is also a tsunami memorial near the temple.

Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Swami Vivkeananda, also known as the wandering monk, travelled all over India. When he visited Kanyakumari in December 1892, he was drawn to the two rock islets which are the southernmost tip of India. He did not have money to hire a boat so he swam to the rocks. He meditated on the rock for three days and had a vision of one India.

The main hall has a tall statue of Swami Vivekananda. The other hall is built around a foot shaped carving on the rock. According to folklore this is the foot print of goddess Kumari who stood on this rock on one foot in penance. There is also a meditation hall called Dhyana Mandapam.

I went into the meditation hall and sat down on a chair. Lot of people were passing through the hall and you could hear the shuffling of feet and people talking in spite of request for silence. Even in such atmosphere I was able to get meditative quickly. In a short while the lights went out and there was silence. It must have been a power cut. After some time, strangely, the number of people entering the hall reduced and for a while no one came. I am not sure how many minutes passed, but my mind became still and I experienced a meditative state.

Tiruvalluvar Statue

05 Tiruvalluvar Statue

Just a stones throw away from the Vivekananda memorial is the 133 feet tall Tiruvalluvar statue. Tiruvalluvar is a great tamil poet, philosopher, and saint. His greatest epic Tirukkural has 133 chapters. One can climb up to the feet of the statue to get a great view of the city and the sea.

Gandhi Memorial

Gandhi was taken by the beauty of Kanyakumari. After Gandhi’s death the urn containing his ashes were placed on a platform for public viewing before being immersed in the ocean. Later a memorial was built around the spot where the ashes were kept. The memorial is engineered in such a way that the sun rays fall on the spot where the ashes were kept, on Gandhi’s birthday, the 2nd October every year. Though the sun rays enter from an opening in the ceiling, not a drop of rain water enters the hall.

Observation Point

An observation point has been constructed at a short distance from the Gandhi memorial. This is a nice spot to watch the sun rise and sun set or just to communion with the expansive ocean.

Vivekananda Museum

The next morning I visited the Vivekananda Museum, where a photo essay on Vivekananda is exhibited. There are many rare photographs of Vivekananda and others. You will also find the photographs of various places he visited in those days. The write up is also excellent and it would take time to read through the entire material.

There is free bus service to Vivekanandpuram at regular intervals from here. It is the head quarter of Vivekananda Kendra. I did not have time to visit it.

Vattakottai Fort (Circular Fort)

Vattakottai fort was build by the king of Travancore around the 18th century. It is situated about 6 KM from Kanyakumari. The fort offers a good view of the sea and shoreline with a farm of windmills. On the other side you can see the Western Ghats. The fort is reasonably well maintained. There is also a water tank inside the fort.