KanyaKumari: Where India Starts

If you have ever dreamed of watching Sunrise and Sunset across the seas from the same place or if you wanted to touch the sea and ocean together, then you have to be in Kanyakumari. 
Kanyakumari is the place where India's land mass ends or aptly told by someone where India's Land mass starts. 

The drive from Madurai to Kanyakumari crosses through dry lands on the left and the foothills of Cardamom Hills to the right. And as we start approaching Kanyakumari, the scene shifts to Coconut plantations on either side. 


We were in time to check the beautiful spectacle for what Kanyakumari is known for, The Sunrise and Sunsets. We checked into the hotel, freshened up and moved towards the Sunset point. In few minutes, the beach got piled up with lot of tourists assembling to view the magic of Sunset. The Sun started slowly descending and the skies over Kanyakumari were lit with different shades of bright orange. The sea wasn't rough and we were able to get a little bit into the sea too. Busy photographing the different shades of sunset it was almost dark before we left the sunset beach point. 

Watching a dramatic Sunset at Kanyakumari

Sunset at Beach point in Kanyakumari

Evening Skies at Kanyakumari

Evening in Kanyakumari

As we progressed back to settle in our hotels for the night, we could see a lit up Vivekananda Rock memorial and Thiruvalluvar Statue, places which we would be covering in the morning. On our way we stopped by Gandhi Mandapam, and paid our respects to Father of our Nation. 

Kanyakumari by Night

Lit up Thiruvalluvar Statue at Kanyakumari

We woke up much earlier than usual to witness the sunrise from our Hotel balcony but were greeted by fog as early as 6am. The skies gradually cleared up, and we were able to witness a beautiful sunrise. As i see around most of the Hotel Terraces are filled with people watching the sunrise. We get ready quickly and make way for the boat jetty to take us to the Vivekananda Memorial. 

Watching Sunrise from our Hotel Terrace

The Boat jetty was really crowded owing to a public holiday. After around what seemed like an hour we were able to get the tickets and make it on the boat for a 15 minute ride across the sea towards the Vivekananda Memorial. First impression, Fabulous . It was a dream to be at the Southern tip of the Subcontinent. The boat ticket was for to and fro journey and you do not have a particular time to return back. Only thing is you need to be back by the last ferry boat to the dock by 5pm after which the services are shut down. We walked across the Vivekananda Memorial, the Gandhi Mandapam and the Dhyana mandir. We were amazed by the Solstice Calendar placed in Kanyakumari which predicts the exact direction of the sunrise during a year. We were not able to make to the base of the Thiruvalluvar Statue due to rough currents. 

Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Thiruvalluvar Statue

Kanyakumari Temple
The city of Kanyakumari is derived from the Kanyakumari Amman Temple situated here. It is at the confluence of 3 seas, The Arabian Sea, The Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. Of particular significance is the nose ring of the deity which is made of pure diamond and the sparkle of the diamond is so bright that it is visible to distances out to sea. The sea travelers used to confuse the light coming from the nose ring as a Lighthouse nearby. Such is the brightness of the nose ring. We paid our obeisance to the Devi and moved on to our next destination.


We had a quick breakfast at Saravanas near the boat jetty and it was time to move onto Padmanabhapuram which was famous for its wooded palace.

East Coast Diaries: Tranquebar

(Continuation Of the East Coast Diaries)

The travel from Chidambaram to Kumbakonam was a complete road maze. We were traversing the same set of roads to and fro in search of the Navagraha temples( read in the later part of the blog). En-route we heard about this coastal Sea-side town from a local and decided to make it, hoping it will be wonderful outing on a beach side.

Tranquebar or Tharangambadi as it is locally known lies 50 km South East of Chidambaram. Found by the Dutch East India Company, it was a thriving port during the 1600s under the Dutch rule. The main tourist attractions in Tranquebar are the Dutch Fort, Fort Dansborg built during the Dutch rule in India and Masilamani Temple on the coast of Tharangambadi. Tranquebar also boasts of a very beautiful and pristine coastline devoid of lot of tourists. Fort Dansborg is now converted into a museum housing the personal collections of few Dutch Travelers who made it to this port town during the 1600s. The entry fee into this dutch fort was a bit expensive, but, i guess it was for the renovation effort underway to restore the fort. You may as well find lot of Dutch Travelers rather than Indian tourists . Dutch backpackers trying to find the roots of their ancestors. After a customary exchange of a few "Hello's" and "namasthe" with few Dutch Tourists, it was time to bid farewell to this port town and leave for our final Destination, Kumbakonam.

Fort Dansborg on Tranquebar beach

Coast of Tranquebar

Staying options in Tranquebar is limited only to a high end resort. Neemrana groups runs a Bungalow on the Beach resort with prices starting from Rs4000/-. Other than that there are no options of staying back in Tranquebar.

East Coast Diaries: Making it to Pondicherry

Day: November 14 2008, Time: 630am

We had early morning darshan at Thiruvannamalai. You can also read my other blog about my earlier visit to Thiruvannamalai here. You will be able to recognize Thiruvannamalai temple by the large gopurams on each direction of the temple. The gopurams over here are the tallest next only to the main Gopuram in Srirangam temple. The majestic Arunachala hills at a distance adds glory to this wonderful pilgrimage center. The annual Karthika festival attracts lots of devotees here who go barefoot to the top of the arunachala hills and light the lamps ending the 10 day festival.

Giant Corridors inside Thiruvannamalai Temple

We had breakfast at Hotel Ramakrishna, which is one of the popular vegetarian restaurants around here. At around 830 am we started towards Pondicherry with a small pit-stop in Gingee Fort. Gingee town is about 30kms from Thiruvannamalai. It was the bastion of Tippu Sultan, and the fort built is spread across 3 hills. The fort is absolutely very large and it would almost take a day to hike it.

Gingee Fort spread across 3 hills

Gingee Fort

It was a comfortable 2 hours drive from here to the coastal town of Pondicherry.