Kanyakumari is the southernmost city in India. Kanyakumari is the city of three seas or the southernmost point of India. Church of Our Lady Ransome

Kanyakumari is the state of Tamil Nadu. The best way to get there is by train. He goes three or more times a day. A little over three hours drive. The ticket cost some pennies, about 40 rupees.

Along the way, I watched banana and palm plantations, villages and fields through the window, and closer to the city of Kanyakumari, such beautiful landscapes appeared.
Evening was approaching, the heat subsided, it became much more pleasant.

Kanyakumari - the southern cape of India

Main Attractions Kanyakumari is a temple in the city, a large temple and monument on the neighboring islands and the very unique geographical position of the city. Here, from the same place, you can watch sunset in the evening and sunrise in the morning. There is even a special three-story tower and an observation deck, where many Indian tourists naturally crowded. That's why I didn't go upstairs. All sorts of food, fruits and knick-knacks were sold along the embankment.

The sunset did not impress me - I had already seen so many of them that I did not even begin to photograph. On the other hand, I was impressed by the view of the nearest small islands, with a huge statue and a large building located there, which majestically flaunted in the distance.
I, as usual, did not have the slightest idea about them, so these sights came as a complete surprise to me, causing a lot of impressions. True, by the time I reached the place where you can better see all this, it was already dark and it was hard to see.

I walked through the central part of the city, to see what and how, and find myself, as always, inexpensive accommodation for one night. I found it in a hotel for Indian tourists. And this means that there will be a terrible hubbub, but okay, for one night, or rather, midnight, it will do. Early in the morning, everyone goes ashore to see the sun rise and meet the new day. So for 250 rupees I had a room with windows overlooking a balcony, or rather a passage, windows that were closed with mesh frames and curtains.

The food in the town is not at all mine - spicy. I wandered into some place where a man was frying fresh fish on the street, having previously dipped it in a chili pepper breading - horror! I was the only tourist in this place and on their invitation to eat, I agreed on the condition that they would not put any spices. I stood right over him and controlled his every move as he gutted the fish. Well, thank God, I will finally have a cool dinner, and the fish was very cheap. It was not there - he fried in the same large container where all the previous fish and oil were already mixed with hot spices !!! Well, what to do, ate. There were a lot of local men sitting nearby, and there was even some kind of swearing - horror. And on the way back, I came across such a carelessly sleeping, human specimen.
I looked into the temple, naturally some very revered one - there were already much fewer visitors, but people with offerings were still spinning around the temple.

Dawn

In the morning, very early, I went to meet the dawn. The people were already in darkness. I squeezed between the Indians on the very "first line" on the curb. It was very dark, you couldn’t even see where to sit, and I lost my flashlight back in .

After waiting for about two hours, all these people did not see a beautiful dawn - the weather was bad, and the sky, covered with clouds, did not reveal the sun to us. Everyone was sorry.

People splashed in the sea - the water is warm! As I have said more than once, the vast majority of Indians do not know how to swim. I first noticed this while still in . They just splash in the water like children and rejoice.

And I went to the pier, from where the boat left for these two small islands with a proudly towering building and a statue. We actually had to wait in line for a bit. It started to drizzle.

Temple and monument on the island

My self-guided tour of the island was well worth the time. The beautiful building turned out to be a temple in which the sound of Om was discovered - an important and widespread in various teachings and meditations. There is a hall where Om-m-m constantly sounds and its symbolism is natural. It is allowed to meditate for a short time.

And on the neighboring island with a statue, no one was allowed in and boats did not go there.

This monument to the philosopher and thinker Thiruvalluvar, who wrote Thirukkural - a work containing 1330 articles on the philosophy of life.

A sign showing the direction of the parts of the world - so I went south to be imprinted at the southernmost point. As in any temple, you need to walk only barefoot.

In fact, both islands are two huge stones on which all these grandiose structures - sights - are located.

To be honest, I really liked it, I was impressed by this scale, and most importantly, it is beautiful and clean, which is very rare for India. Well, walked up - it's time to leave, you have to catch the morning train. The queue for the boat was long, it’s good though they often ply, but we had to stand for half an hour. It rained from time to time, so the pictures are not clear. Thank you Kanyakumari for an interesting tour!

And I'm getting further and further away...

Not far from the pier, there was a fish trade in full swing. And on the embankment, various products made from shells are sold - I had never seen so many shells before and could not pass by.

True, the owner of this whole pile was unhappy that I was photographing. Yeah, how everyone tortured me with their requests to be photographed with them, that at least howl! In all four months of traveling in India, I was photographed 500 times - sometimes they drove me right to madness.

Instead of breakfast, I ran to the station to catch the train and ran a little earlier. The station in Kanyakumari is very decent and clean. There are almost no people. I managed to buy a ticket and even some food to go. The train was served and I went back to Varkala to leave for Kochi the next day, and then to the airport. I had a ticket to - this is the cheapest option to get from the south of India, from to Southeast Asia.

What can I say - thanks india, for all the experience that I got here, for all the difficulties and joys, even though almost everywhere is dirty, which sometimes seemed terrible for a former package tourist with royal manners and expectations. I experienced a lot during this trip, experienced the magic of wish fulfillment and amazing situations that happened in the most mysterious way. Thank you for parting with a fellow traveler, already on the third day after arrival. That I was able to travel India from North to South - from to Kanyakumari, starting at and ending at. And most importantly - thanks for all my new friends with whom I still communicate and even visit sometimes, even though we are in different countries! I came to India without a single foreign friend or girlfriend, with weak, almost non-verbal English, and I'm leaving with a backpack full of impressions and friends. I didn’t know how and I was afraid to book a ticket on the Internet ...

Thank you for the fact that I, instead of a package tourist, can call myself backpacker!!!

On March 13, 2012, with a light heart and the feeling that I had done it, I flew out of India to. For, if you remember, I dreamed of traveling in Southeast Asia, and I started from India, because it was right, but I did not imagine that I would spend four months here.

So, my first independent journey in my life continues! What I will talk about in . You can read about all the places I visited in India with. At the beginning and end of each article there are links to the previous and next, or simply click on the tab of the corresponding tab and scroll through.

I would be grateful to everyone who appreciates my experience and work. Share with your friends 🙂 or, if possible, donate to the development of the site.

Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of India, where the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal merge. The name of the city was given in honor of the goddess Kanyakumari, whose temple is located on the shore. This place was originally known as Cape Komorin. Kanyakumari's main source of income is tourism and arts and crafts, which are taught to everyone. The terrain of the coast is hilly and uneven, with a number of commercial buildings and hotels overlooking the sea. The city itself, where the locals live, is located nearby. This place is famous for the ancient temple of Kanyakumari, dedicated to the goddess Parvati. The temple attracts tourists from all over the world and is located on the coast itself.

Continuing the story about the sights of India, we are approaching the southernmost point of the country. It is believed that Goddess Parvati took penance in order to marry Shiva, receiving the name Kanyakumari (virgin goddess). The confluence of the seas is considered sacred, important festivals are held here - the Vaishakh festival, the car festival, Kalabha and Navarati. Other points of interest include the place where the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were preserved for public access, the Gandhi Memorial.

Vivekanada memorial stands are located on one of two rocks 500 meters from the mainland. This monument was built in 1970 and is considered very sacred. The footprints seen on the rocks are believed to be the sacred footprints of Kanyakumari.


Swami Vivekananda is said to have meditated on these rocks. The breathtaking view of the confluence of three seas excites the imagination. There is also Vivekananda Ashram in Kanyakumari. There is no better place to get a unique sunset and sunrise experience than the shores of Kanyakumari.


Other attractions of these places include Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandrum Zoo, Sri Chitra Art Gallery, Kanakapuram Palace, Naipur Museum and the local beach.

Cape Kanyakumari is the southernmost point of mainland India. Here the waters of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean meet. This is a holy place for every Hindu.

Maybe it seemed to me because I was already a little used to Indian landscapes, but the ride was much longer than to Niyardam. The driver and car were the same. The road was different, it ran not only through densely planted settlements, but also through plantations.
Along the way, we stopped for gas. There are only two types of fuel in India: diesel and petrol. No gradations at 95-98.
Kanyakumari is not located in Kerala, but in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. When crossing the state line, we were charged a fee (25 rupees per car). The border runs right in the middle of the settlement, the driver showed: "this house is located in Kerala, but this one is already in Tamil Nadu." The language in Tamil Nadu is already different, Tamil, so my "nani" (thank you) didn’t work here anymore :)
To the south of Kovalam, a larger percentage of the population than in all of India is Catholic. Therefore, there are a lot of churches. Including there are modern, with ambiguous architecture.
We drove past a Hindu temple:

Its representatives collected donations from passing cars and drew dots on their foreheads with white clay. They also collected from us, they also painted for us.

Sewing machines sell:

City:

Our first man-made object is Padmanabhapuram. In this place, in the pre-colonial era, there was the capital of the principality (now part of it belongs to Kerala, and part to Tamil Nadu), and the maharajas settled in the palace. The last ruler lived there about three hundred years ago. At the entrance to the palace, you should take off your shoes and leave them in a special storage room, receiving a number in return. The palace is a fenced area with buildings of different times and purposes, in some places connected by corridors. There are 14 buildings in total, but not all are open to the public. The buildings are remarkable for their carvings. In my opinion, there is a lot in common with Russian architecture. Inside is almost empty, everything that the British could take out. There are many mysteries in the palace, for example, the ventilation system and the composition of the flooring, which is cool and has not been worn off for 300 years, it seems to include egg whites, sugar, coconut flakes and something else.
At the entrance, they take off and hand over their shoes; they walk around the palace barefoot.

The students were taken on a field trip.

In general, there were quite a lot of people. Indians love to travel, but it is difficult for them to travel abroad, so they travel within their own country.
Ceiling:

Maharaja's bed. Made from 64 (!) pieces of Ayurvedic wood. Breeds are selected so as to positively influence the health of the last Maharaja:

These are meeting chairs. They are deliberately made uncomfortable so that people do not sit up and quickly resolve all political issues:

Comforter prototype. Firewood was laid down, and something was being prepared in this oblong recess:

The daughters of the Maharaja had an unenviable fate. They could not marry anyone, and there were not enough noble people for everyone. Unmarried women did not have the right to leave the palace buildings, they moved only inside. In one of the "buildings" there is a pool with water, which played a role in the cooling system, above the pool there is an open sky. It was the only place where the daughters of the Maharaja could see the sky.

On my way:

So, directly, Kanyakumari.
There is a legend associated with this place:
Shiva was happy and expressed his readiness to marry Kumari (Kanya is a virgin, Kumari is a princess, goddess). The evil Narada, who set the exact and best time for the wedding, insisted that the date he indicated could not be missed. Down to the smallest detail, the elaborate wedding was to be held on the grounds of Kumari. And the god Shiva at that time was not far away in the village of Suchindram. The groom's party began in this place with chic and brilliance. Narada decided to come up with something to prevent the marriage. Narada turned into a rooster, and hid in the path of Shiva's wedding procession, and as soon as the guests and the groom appeared, he began to crow. Shiva, deciding that it was already dawn, that another day had already come and he did not have time to marry on the date predicted by Narada, was very upset and turned the procession back. Without waiting for the groom, the bride vowed to remain forever virgin. All her wedding preparations turned into sand and pebbles like rice. The colorful and varied sand of Cape Kanyakumari still reminds us of this incident.
There are many variants of this legend. Somewhere I read that Narada prevented the wedding not at all because of natural harm, but because, having married, Kumari would lose part of his strength and would not be able to adequately fulfill his divine destiny.
This place is also associated with the classic of Tamil literature, who lived in the 1st century AD - Tilluvaruvalu and the religious philosopher Vivekananda.
General form:

Two rocky islets are what the Kumari wedding preparations have become. On the left island: the higher building is the Vivekananda temple, the lower building is the "chapel" of Kumari. On the right island is a huge sculpture of Tilluvaruvalu.
To get to the island (now the boat goes only to the left island, something is being repaired or completed on the right one), you need to stand in a HUGE queue for the boat. Despite the fact that a special building has been made for the queue with air conditioners and benches, some people still stand on the street, because there are more people who want it than expected.
Expectation:

Everyone is dressed very smartly in bright saris. Many have jasmine garlands in their hair. This is the same building for the queue. The benches there are zigzag to accommodate more people:

We waited quite a long time, maybe an hour. I talked to the girl and her family. The girl's name is Puni, as her mother, Dr. Puni, said. She recently completed her law degree. They live in Tamil Nadu.
Some two comrades really wanted me to take a picture of them, I'll put them on my livejournal, let them rejoice:

Boarding process:

We are sailing:

Windmills were visible in the distance.
On the island, they also hand over shoes to the storage room and go barefoot. I liked it.

"Chapel" Kanikumari.

Inside the chapel is a footprint of Kumari on a rock (foot of the usual female size). It is believed that her spirit still stands there on one leg. You can’t take pictures, so I’m quoting a picture from the tourist brochure:

There is also a large Kumari temple on the shore, but non-Hindus are not allowed there.
Kumari patronizes love affairs, inside the "chapel" you can make a thematic wish and toss a coin. I thought so too and gave up. When I returned home, at first it seemed to me that Kumari had messed up something and did the opposite. But then I fixed it :)

Vivekananda represented Hinduism in 1893 at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. There he eclipsed all the speakers. His speech is considered the starting point of Western interest in Hinduism. Before the speech, Vivekananda retired to the island and meditated there for three days.
Vivekananda Temple:

Three years ago there was a tsunami, the people on the island took refuge in the temple and the wave did not reach him one meter.
Somewhere far away is the South Pole. There is no more sushi in that direction.

On certain days of the year, if you look all day in that direction, you can see both sunrise and sunset.
Girls taking pictures:

And this is the meditation room:

It's dark in there, there's a mat, and the "ommmmm ommmmm" record is spinning. You can come in and sit for as long as you like. I went and sat.
We swim back. View from the boat:

Statue of the classic of Tamil literature, who lived in the 1st century AD - Tilluvaruvalu:

House entirely made of palm leaves on the beach:

And here some of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were scattered:

Last stop is Suchindram temple. He is about 2300 years old! One of the few temples that non-Hindus are allowed into. Photography is not allowed at all. Not even postcards. Men must take off their shirts upon entering. Can be left on one shoulder. Twice-born Brahmins serve in the temple. In adolescence, they undergo a rite of initiation - a second birth, after which a string is hung over their shoulder.
The temple is dedicated to Vishnu, Rama and Shiva. The portal of the temple is made of shell rock, sugar and egg white. The vast territory is surrounded by a gallery of high columns, along which processions go during the holidays, inside there are many "arbors" dedicated to different gods. One of them is dedicated to 9 planets. With it, you can light 9 candles, make a wish, twist the saucer with them three times clockwise and go around the stone table with saucers three times. I did all this, the candles were very difficult to light, they were a wick in oil. Sveta said he needs to be squeezed out.
Puja was held in the pavilions of Ganesha. They lit candles and carried the fire past the people, everyone put their hands on the fire and washed themselves with it. Me too.
There are singing columns in the temple. They are from a single piece of granite, inside are not empty, but if you knock on them, they sing. I tried - and they really sing! Nobody knows how. Mystery. In one group of columns, they make sounds exactly in tonality, I don’t remember what notes, the accompanist spoke. And in the other group, not all columns sing. The last place was dedicated to Shiva. They said that if he is depicted with four hands, then he destroys only what has become obsolete, and if there are more hands, everything is in a row. At the entrance to the temple, there is usually a "arbor" of Ganesha, but in the one we visited - Jupiter. This is an exception. Another exception - the figure of Ganesha is depicted with breasts - a female avatar.
The gates of the temple in thorns - protection from the raids of wild elephants.


On the way back we met a Catholic procession, which was celebrating some religious holiday.

This is the edge of the earth, the southernmost point of India, Hindustan, and the Eurasian continent. Kanyakumari is also the confluence of the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, this is a human convention, of course.

It's very good here, somehow in a special way, not that you feel at the end of the world, but ...
Kanyakumari got its name from the name of the local Kanya (girl) and Kumari (i.e. virgin on). Therefore, men entering Kanya Amman (amman - mother in Tamil) must take off their shirts and expose their torsos.
IN kanyakumari temple not Hindus are allowed, but the sanctuary is not, as evidenced by the sign, however, for a fee, the local pujari will guide you through all the premises. At the entrance to the temple during the puja, wonderful music is played on the trumpet and drum... a certain set of sounds that creates a vibration inside that helps to dissolve oneself in the surrounding space.
says that he was going to marry Kanya and began the corresponding ceremony, which was supposed to end at night, but then, someone from his opposition turned into a rooster and crowed the dawn. Shiva, realizing that he did not have time to complete the wedding before dawn, left, and Kanya remained his eternal bride.
Kanya Amman temple is old and interesting, it is small, only 1 wall around. Between the right wall of the temple (if you stand facing it) and the outer one there is a colonnade, full-length carvings on the columns, with outstretched hands-lamps, they pour it in the palm, used as fuel, I have not seen anything like it. It’s very dark in the temple, but it’s very cozy, it’s nice to just sit among the columns in it, you just need to smear yourself with anti-mosquito products, there are a lot of blood-sucking here. Filming in the temple and the temple itself is prohibited, cameras and mobile phones will be confiscated at the entrance.
Local people said that during the tsunami that raged in Kanyakumari for 6 hours in a row, the waves rolled over the temple walls and washed away many houses and people, but the tsunami did not damage the temple at all.

Around the temple there are many book and souvenir shops with postcards and guidebooks. If you go around the temple on the left, you exit to the embankment filled with trays with shells. Shells in Kanyakumari are perhaps the cheapest and there is the largest selection.

Along the embankment, you can go to the ghats, where there is a small mandapa and a tiny temple dedicated to the Divine Mother. This temple was founded in 2000 by an old man, who is also its abbot today, after Amma, a modern saint from Kerala, visited this place. The sadhu has several red dogs that live with him in and around the temple, at night the little puppies lay on the bed of the old man, and the old man himself slept in front of his temple on the ground next to his dogs, who, having heard the approach of strangers, rumbled and sparkled with their eyes. The old man is very kind and radiant, speaks English, if you like animals, come in - they will let you in to him.

There is also a Catholic church in Kanyakumari, it stands in a fishing village, to the left of the spit, by the way, there are a lot of Christian fishermen who supply fish to mainland cities. The church produced a strange, empty, as if it were not a temple at all, but a warehouse. We passed through the village on our way back, and I remembered the stinking smell of stale fish, naked big-eyed children of 3-5 years old crawling along the street, and the surprise, but without interest, with which the local women in dirty clothes looked at us. If you go from the coast deep into the town, the huts are replaced by white huts, and then by small houses with gardens.
Kanyakumari is divided into parts on a religious basis - those houses behind the fishing village are decorated with crosses, we turned left from the church along the road and walked across the street with Sikh hands on the walls of the houses until we reached the area of ​​\u200b\u200bour hotel, from where the street leads to the Hindu temple.

It is customary to consider the geographical point of the end of India not Kanyakumari itself, but two small islands 500 meters from the coast, on one of which is located Memorial of Swami Vivekananda, and on the other is a gigantic statue of the Tamil saint poet Thirumular.
Swami Vivekanada was a student of the great Indian mystic, yogi and reformer Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, he received a Western education and actively participated in the Congress of World Religions in Chicago, which led to the spread of interest in Indian culture and Hinduism in the European world, from which Hinduism itself officially began its expansion to the West.
Boats to the memorial and the statue go every half an hour from 6 to 16.30, it costs 20 rupees. The entrance to the memorial is 10 rupees. The memorial has a meditation hall and good bookshops, so you can't take pictures inside the memorial.

February 12th, 2013

So we got to the southernmost point of the Hindustan peninsula - Cape Komorin, on which the sacred city of Kanyakumari is located in Hinduism. Many also call it the southernmost point of India, but this is not entirely true. India's southernmost point is Cape Indira on Great Nicobar Island.

We go straight to the beach. And ahead of the horizon only Antarctica!

Beautiful uninhabited landscapes.

It is assumed that the mythical continent of Lemuria was south of Cape Comorin.

Fishermen.

The sunsets and sunrises of these places are amazingly beautiful!
We meet the dawn from the balcony of our hotel.

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial built in 1956.
Mahatma Gandhi - the "father of the nation" - visited Kanyakumari twice: in 1925 and in 1937. Memorial with designed in such a way
that at the time of Gandhi's birth on October 2 at noon, sunlight through a hole in the ceiling enters the memorial. This event attracts many people every year. An urn containing the ashes of the Mahatma was also erected on this site for the people to pay their last respects before his ashes were scattered over the waters of the ocean here in Kanyakumari on his birthday in 1948.
During the tsunami in 2004, the lower two floors of the memorial were flooded with water.