We left Kovalam and headed south, to the southern most tip of Continental India, to Kanyakumari, where 3 oceans meet, the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. It is a very sacred place, where pilgrims flock by the tens of thousands to visit the Vivekananda Memorial and the Bhagavathi Amman Temple.
We also took a side trip a few klicks away to the Suchindram Thanumalayan Temple. This was one of my favorite temples, being extremely old and they were very nice to me, giving me the full "treatment" of a VIP. There are many rituals that are performed in a specific order and you need someone with you that knows them or get someone to help you. Of course you have to tip well, but I wanted the full treatment, to be immersed in it. We were escorted into the inner sanctum, which was a treat.
We also visited the Vivekananda Kendra or the ashram of Swami Vivekananda. There is a nice museum that shows a great timeline of his influential work. There is also a Memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, but I was very disappointed with that and thought it was lacking in anything substantial. It it situated on the spot where his ashes rested before being scattered into the sea a few yards away.
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| The view from our hotel room looking east. |
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| Vivekananda Memorial |
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| The Vivekananda Memorial is supposed to be built on a rock that he swam to to meditate. This is said to be the actual rock. The memorial was built on a much larger rock outcrop for obvious reasons. These rocky outcrops are a few hundred meters off shore. |
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| Looking due South across the India Ocean |
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| This is the Suchindram Thanumalayan Temple. |
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| Dusk, looking out from our Hotel across Kanyakumari. |
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| We got up early as usual the next morning to go to temple, about 4:30. No cameras allowed, so no pictures. We got back to the hotel and went to the roof to watch the sunrise as we have been doing, but found we were not alone. All over Kanyakumari, on top of most hotels there were hundreds of people who had the same idea. |
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| Looking out towards the Vivekananda Memorial from our hotel roof. |
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| Sunrise, March 25 looking South across the India Ocean. |
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| Sunrise, March 25 looking South across the India Ocean. |
Michael it's good to see that you take a good pictures but this whole blog is very misinformed and looks like on your part you don't know much about India or didn't do much research before or after.
ReplyDeleteIf the sole purpose of this blog is to make money then you need to be more informative. I am a Latin American and though India is continent apart but " Tagore" is a household name for us. Indian culture, specially Bengali Literature is taught in S. America's Universities. Streets & roads are named in Argentina, Peru, Brazil etc after lot of Indian poets & famous politicians.
My father is Brazilian went to study in Shantiniketan in 50's and married to a most beautiful woman on the planet- my Mother (a Bengali).
My father was a diplomat, we travelled around the globe but I was schooled in International school, New Delhi. Spend most of my life in India and also planning to spent the other rest of it .
Quick correction - " Devi Sri Mutharaman Temple ". I don't know, what are you talking about? That is the picture of " Suchindram Temple", which is about 15km out skirt of Kanyakumari. It's not a Devi Temple. It's a very very old temple dated back as far as 2nd or 3rd Century BC. Also, it's unusual because jointly it's dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva, which you will not find everyday.
Few temples in India are not allowed for Non Hindus. Specially the inner Sanctum but other than that, Hindus are very open and charitable.
It's my suggestion, that you find and read some good Travel Books by Fodor's, Rough guide, Amazon or B&Ns. It will help you with the history and time line for your blog and next visit ( if you wanted to go back ).
If you need any suggestions, you can reach me @ rsnchz2000@gmail.com
People who has been travelled and love India will be very upset with your half hearted entries. It's my opinion and suggestion.
Thank you for your correction. I was basing the name on my percieved location of the temple and was off by a couple of kilometers.
ReplyDeleteMy wife, too, is Bengali, and I have the utmost respect for the Indian peoples and its culture. I can't wait to go back.
My wife ad her uncle were the ones most upset by the fact that some temples are excluding more people. As a practising Hindu, I was allowed into some wonderful places, but excluded by some. This is a new trend according to my wife. I felt more at home in India than in my own country, as everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming.
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