CHARISMATIC KANYAKUMARI- KERALA TRIP

Kanyakumari was the next and the last travel destination in our Kerala Trip Plan. It was the second last day of our trip. We were dog-tired by the long commute. The long drive till Tamil Nadu to visit Kanyakumari did not make sense somewhere. But I did not want to miss visiting the southernmost point of Indian Peninsula after covering almost 3,000 kms from Delhi.

 

On the way we got to see Maruthuvazh Malai from our car. Maruthuvazh Malai is believed to be a fragment of the Sanjeevani Mountain, which fell down here while it was carried by Lord Hanuman from Mahendragiri to Lanka for healing the fatal wounds of Lakshmana. It stretches for more than a km, reaching a height of 800 feet at the highest point.

 

Maruthuvaz Malai... View from the car

 

We were starving by the time we reached Kanyakumari. We had some distasteful dishes in one of the nearby restaurants. Out driver had cautioned us that it is rare to find good food here. Check out the funny French fries we were served. It was so much like the Bengali side dish ‘Aalu Bhaja’.

 

Tamil Nadu French Fries

 

After refueling our tummies we reached for the deck from where we bought steamer tickets to reach Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial and Thiruvalluvar Temple. The name Thiruvalluvar took me back to the school days. I could recall studying the poem of this saint poet in 8^th or 9^th standard.

In Steamer and heading towards Vivekananda Rock

The only ferry between the rock and the mainland jetty was huge steamers taking atleast 100 tourists to and fro the rock at a time.

 

Swami Vivekananda memorial rock is named so because, Swamiji swam to this rock and meditated on this rock for three days more than 100 years ago; precisely on December 25, 26 and 27, Year 1892. 

Vivekanand Rock Memorial, Kanyakumari

 

It is said that he attained enlightenment on the rock, and henceforth became a reformer and philosopher. The Rock memorial has a tall statue of Swami Vivekananda and two temples on each side of the entrance for Sri Ram Krishna Paramhansa and Maa Sharda Devi.

 

A Closer look

Swamiji's hall at the backdrop

 

Kanyakumari derives its name from the oldest and the most ancient landmark in this town, the temple of Goddess Kumari who prayed to Lord Shiva to be accepted as wife by him. The rock holds its significance also because of the omnipresence of the holy foot of goddess Kumari. The Holy Foot is a foot shaped carving found on the rock and is believed to be the footprint of Goddess Kumari who stood on this rock on one leg and performed the Tapasya (penance).

There is a meditation hall and a Vivekananda store where you can buy books of Swamiji, calendars, key chains, Swamiji’s statues and other goodies. The view of ocean surrounding the rock from all sides is overwhelming.

Water Water all around

The confluence of the Indian Ocean, The Arabian Sea and The Bay of Bengal can be witnessed from here. We sat on the rocky floors for a long time and soaked ourselves in the tranquility surrounding us. It was too good, too soothing to be here.

 

Deep Blue sea. A view from Vivekananda Rock

Tired, and given up!!

 

We boarded the steamer again and now we were heading towards another rock just few meters away in the sea from Swami Vivekananda Memorial Rock . This rock had a giant statue of Tamil saint poet, Thiruvalluvar.

 

Saint Thiruvalluvar Temple

 

We were really tired and decided to skip going inside the Thiruvalluvar Temple. Our ferry took us back to the mainland Jetty.

 

Crowd at the mainland jetty waiting to board the steamer

 

Both the rock memorials at the backdrop

 

After this we strolled around the nearby market and reached the Triveni Sangam; exact point where the three seas amalgamate.

 

The beautiful amalagamation of three seas, SANGAM.

 

Kanyakumari is a legendry town with fantastic places of high spiritual and religious significance. We could cover just a handful due to the time constraint.  It was sad to see that places like Triveni Sangam with such high religious and spiritual significance not so well kept.  The way to reach the Sangam was dirty and full of beggars and touts. We couldn’t stay at the Sangam for a long time due to the stench, litter and overcrowding touts.

The Fortune teller

Nevertheless, the place is a beautiful gift of nature and with a little care, the end point of the Indian Peninsula can be developed as a wonderful place for Heritage Tourism.

 

PS:- Kanyakumari is also famous for being a eco- friendly town. Plastic bags, disposable plastic plates, glasses and other plastic items are completely banned and you will actually not see these items here. Our was a ‘touch and go’ trip to Kanyakumari. We even missed visiting the sunset point. Kanyakumari is famed for its mesmerizing sunrise and sunset. We were not lucky enough to witness it  : (

 

One of my favourite click.

The Famous Kanyakumari Sunset

Trip to God's own Country- Kerala

Officially our yearly trip was still four days away but I got in holiday mood November 21 onwards; our anniversary day. We completed two blissful years together and celebrated the day first fighting like maniacs and then patching up over lavish dinner in CP. Good food can make us both forget everything. We were best buddies again by the end of the meal.

2nd Anniversary @ The United Coffee House

 We started the day even before crack of the dawn on November 24. Early morning flights always slaughters sweet morning sleeps and……I HATE IT!! My brain was still in sleep mode but my over notorious heart was popping out in excitement with every beat and for some good strange reason my mind was playing Chennai Express songs in the background.

We had 8 am flight and the journey was via Hyderabad. It was pretty stupid on our part to book 4 hours via flight rather than a 2 hours direct one. We actually did not pay much attention to the journey time/ route while booking. We passed the travel time sleeping, munching and taking lots of pictures.

Busy morning highway

Clicking around

In and around the craft

   

On cloud 9... and going higher

Before we take a plunge into the Kerala blog, I must confess that I intend to make this blog very long and pour my heart over this blog. Thank you for bearing with an over emotional blogger. The links to various Kerala destinations we covered are given below. Skip merrily the places that don’t evoke your interest.

 

Unrivaled Munnar 

 

Alluring Alleppey 

 

Vivacious Kovalam 

 

Scenic Poovar & Gleaming Golden Sand Beach 

 

Charismatic Kanyakumari

 

Kerala, or the land of coconut a.k.a. Kera in Malayalam.

Land of Kera a.k.a. coconut

Kerala. A view from above

Nature is beautiful and its beauty is dynamic. Kerala proves it the best. With Kanyakumari we ended our trip for the year. Trip ends are never so great. This time too, it did not feel good as we were nearing the end of our Kerala trip. But like always we were happy and content and collected thousand memories to look back at and smile over and over again. I am on the sixteenth page of MS word typing this blog (divided in 6 different links). It is just a reflection of our treasured trip reminiscences. It is not the imprint. There is so much more I wish to share but it is rather impossible to pen down every feeling and emotions. 

I was nostalgic de-boarding at the Delhi airport and I knew for next few days my mind would keep wandering back to Kerala. This was kind of a holiday hangover and it was difficult to work in office with this hangover. I extended my leaves for few more days to revive and bounce back to the mechanical metro life.

PS:

An honest trip advice:- If u dread long car travels, do not attempt to cover all Kerala destinations. It is rather impracticable. For a ‘let loose’, relaxing holiday, pick two or at the most three exotic places for a week long travel plan. I like my holidays full of action and hence I tried squeezing in maximum number of destinations. I admit it was exhausting.

A realization:- Kerala is vast. Full of choicest places. Even a month long holiday would not be sufficient to cover all Kerala destinations, or experience all that Kerala has to offer. We made a compromising choice of striking off Periyar Sanctuary from our plan and chose to visit Poovar and Kanyakumari instead. There are other exotic places like Wayanad, Nelliampathi, Ayyappancoil, Vattavada, Pythal Mala… and the list goes on. Make your choices with care :))

Some tips:-

• Wear comfortable clothes and foot wear. Sarees, long duppattas and tight- low waist jeans could play a spoilt sport. Rupam had a tough time during elephant safari because of his tight jeans.

  
  

• Do not miss on Munnar masala tea and coffee flavours add on.

  
  

• Carry basic abdomen pills in first aid kit. There is a fair chance of your stomach getting upset. A big bottle of hajmola will really help.

  
  

• Do not miss out on Kerala Traditional sarees. Inexpensive, and very very vibrant.

  
  

• Booking floating cottages at Poovar Island could cost a bomb. Have a quick bite in the floating restaurants. It is a comparable experience. Go to the upper deck and enjoy the panoramic view ou Estaury, Golden Sand Beach and Poovar Island from there.

  
  

• Reserve a day for Kanyakumari. Enjoy both the sunrise and sunset.

  
  

• At Kovalam, book a beach side resort. None of the fivestars are on the coast line. You are going to enjoy the view from balcony more than the hotel ambience.

  
  

• Pls pls pls do not miss prawns fried rice if you are not a vegan. We had it in Malabar café at Light house beach in Kovalam.

  
  

Trip regret: - I had to miss out on Periyaar Wild life sanctuary. It was a compromising choice. After looking at this picture any adventure lover would not like to miss going to this place.

Bamboo rafting in the Periyar river