We left early today to see the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala. We had done some research and know that I might have to wear a dhoti and take off my shirt when entering the temple, but to our utter disappointment, I was not allowed in at all, since I was not an Indian National. This is something new sweeping India, let's just hope it doesn't get a foothold or hundreds of places most of will never be able to see.
We left there and decided to see something for our trip away from the beach resort so we ended up at the Napier Museum and Gardens. Nice gardens with lots of trees. The museum holds lots of artifacts. Be forewarned... if you like to take pictures. Some of these places don't allow pictures inside or out, some just inside. Most have started to charge one price to take pictures, and another for using a camcorder. And of course, non Indian Nationals pay more for entry fees, sometimes a lot more. But, with that in mind, there is so much to see.
We left Trivandrum and headed back. We then went into the little fishing village of Vizhinjam. Our travel book had an obscure reference to an ancient temple, that was out of the way and not very traveled. We eventually found it, although it was closed. Temples in India close for part of the day to prepare for afternoon activities. We met some friends along the way in the form of curious school boys who were very friendly.
We went down to the fishing village for a while and then over to the Vizhinjam Juma Masjid Mosque to look at its architecture. After that we had a look from the base of the light house looking over to both the Mosque and Kovalam Beach.
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| The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum. |
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| Entrepreneurs everywhere. Here selling dhotis to those who might not have brought theirs. |
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| Simple point and shoot cameras just can not capture the real |
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| beauty of centuries old artwork and architecture. |
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| A gardener trimming the hedges at the grounds around the | Napier Museum. |
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| I snuck this picture of the Museum itself. |
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| The Napier Museum |
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| The fishing village of Vizhinjam. |
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| Some of our new friends. |
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| Very old sculpture of Nandi, outside of the hidden temple. |
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| Looking back at the village from the breakwater |
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| Outside of the Vizhinjam Juma Masjid Mosque |
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| Looking at Kovalam Beach from the base of the Light House. |
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| Looking back at the Vizhinjam Juma Masjid from the base of | Light House |
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| Night time on the boardwalk, Kovalam Beach. Good restaurants! |
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