Down to the southernmost tip of India

A long-awaited destination, a curiosity and a fascination – the thirst of all were quenched! I won’t say Kanyakumari is a treat for the adventure lovers but it has a different charm in itself. The conjunction of the three seas and being the southernmost part of India – with Sri Lanka being just 300 km away – you feel like you have hit one corner of the world.

Kanyakumari is some 680 km and by bus it will take around 12 hours to reach. To save time, we took the shorter, and of course costlier route. On Saturday early morning, we took a Kingfisher flight from Bangalore to Trivandrum and then a cab after that for the 80 km distance till Kanyakumari district. There are limited flight options though, the planes themselves are small and are two-seaters throughout.

The flight timing was one and a half hours, then another 4 hours from Trivandrum. But it was worth the expense because the green outfield that lay before us on the way is a treat for the eyes. We reached by noon and luckily the driver took us to a hotel with a view of the Thiruvallur and Vivekananda Rock, set amongst the majestic water waves. We stayed in a place called – Sebaa Palace – and the room cost us 650 bucks a night, a lot lesser than a hotel called Hotel Sea View (4,000 bucks a night), which of course had a complete, unrestricted view of the sea. But it is an option for people who are ready to shell out some extra cash. Again, be sure of booking a place during the peak season.

Many people warned us about the rains and humidity in June, because of which we had our rain gear ready with us. But we were quite lucky since we faced mild rainfall, along with lots of sun and wind.

An evening’s rest and a walk in the market refreshed us enough for an early rise the next day to watch the sunrise. Though it was a bit cloudy, we could catch a glimpse of the red sky. Around 9 am we headed off for the rocks. The steamers cost 20 bucks for a round trip. The route is – shore till Vivekananda Rock, from there to Thiruvallur Statue and then back to shore – none of the short distance ferries are accessible on foot. The time it takes to wait for the next ferry to frisk you to the next destination – you really will wish for a much faster foot-bridge.

The wind is extremely strong in the two rocks, it feels wonderful. You can buy some memorabilia at the Vivekananda Rock. There is one map here that tracks the summer and winter solstice, and a sun-clock. Thiruvallur statue itself is 133 ft tall (besides the pedestal it is put on!!!). The local people said, during Tsunami, the water reached till the statue’s shoulder! No surprises that Kanyakumari was one of the worst affected regions during the natural calamity.

We were back on shore by 11.30 am and went straight for the Kanyakumari temple, set right near the beach. We were sweating like pigs by the time we came out. There are quite a few shell, conch and clothes shops on the way to the temple. I noticed a new tradition in the temples here, which many of you must be aware of already – the male population has to discard their clothing covering their torso before they can enter the temple premises.

A quick lunch later, we started off for Padmanabhapuram Palace, Thiraparappu Falls and Hanuman temple. The entire distance was a round trip of around 150 km through Kerela borders.

Well, it will still be an understatement if I say the palace was humongous! Set amongst beatific, cloud covered hills; the wooden palace was definitely the king’s pride. Even after an hour’s walk in the palace and skirting a portion, we still couldn’t see the entire place. The thing that struck me the most was the flooring of the entire building. Since there was no cement 300 years back, the floor composition was made of jaggery, lime, egg white, river sand, charcoal. It was almost edible and to think of the volume of the materials that went in!

The Thiraparappu waterfall wasn’t as exciting enough as we thought. It was crowded with many people bathing in the artificial fall. Also, many of them were drunk, making the place quite unsuitable for family outings. A bit higher up, there is Thiraparappu temple and boating area where public nuisance is much lesser.

I will suggest you go to the Hanuman temple only if you want to give alms to the lord. It was again quite dark and hot inside, not much of my taste. It is just 18 km from the district, so you can stop by anytime.

One day’s activities finally got over – and you can well imagine how tired we were. We were asleep before we hit the bed.

Rising to another morning’s sunrise and our day of returning, we went for a walk till Sangam and Gandhi Memorial. Sangam is the place from where is it said the three distinct colours of Arabian, Indian and Bay of Bengal can be made out. Gandhi Memorial has his portrait, etched on granite and a rock pedestal. It is said that on 2nd of October every year, the sun shines down for twenty minutes on the rock from a hole above. We chatted with the caretaker – Jalaal – who gave us the details. Jalaal is with the memorial for an astonishing 38 years, so it felt great talking to someone with such fervor for the place.

After a quick bath at the hotel, we checked out and took a cab around noon so that we could visit Kovalam beach. En route, we also visited Kanyakumari church. Our flight was at 7.45 pm, which gave us enough time to stop over at the beach. A lazy lunch and sudden bursts of rain, the rough and vibrant sea, climb a small rock for better view of the waves and coffee at an open air restaurant by the water – it did feel nice.

The beach was just 20 minutes away from the airport and we reached way too early for the flight. The small airport and its meager crowd was quite a different and refreshing experience from the ever-busy Bangalore airport. We were home by 10.30 pm and ready for office the next day.