Madurai

We proceeded to Madurai by train. It is just 4 1/2 hours journey from Kanyakumari. The weather was pleasant as there were showers during our journey. Green fields passed by. On the way, there are many windmills on both the sides of the track.

The moment I stepped down in Madurai, I noticed too much of chaos, crowd and felt that the city is too congested. In fact all these things make the city feel lively. 

Meenakshi temple was the main attraction in Madurai. The temple is dedicated to Parvati & Shiva (Sundareshwar). The temple was nominated for the in top 30 nominees for ‘New Seven Wonders of the World’.  The temple has 14 towers which are called gopuram. These gopurams have a height of 45-50 m and therefore you can spot the temple from a long distance also. There is a ticket of Rs.50 for Camera in the temple. But still one can’t take snaps in certain restricted premises of the temple. The temple is constructed in Dravidian style. One who is interested in archeological buildings will love to spend time here.

Close to the Meenakshi temple, there is Koodal Azhagar Temple. It is a temple of Lord Vishnu.

The next place worth visiting in Madurai is Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal. It is a palace of King Thirumalai Nayak. He ruled Madurai from 1623-59. 

There are shows in which the history of King Thirumallai is told through an audio. During this, there is a spectacular light show which goes hand in hand with the audio depicting the history of King Thirumallai. I felt that this sort of initiatives should also be followed in Shaniwarwada or various forts in Maharashtra so that the tourists coming from all over the world will come to know about our glorious history.

So that was a day in Madurai. We returned back to our hotel as we had to sleep early because we had to catch an early morning train to Rameshwaram.

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Kanyakumari - 2

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Now it was time to visit Triveni Sangam. It is the place where The Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea meet. There also a spiritual importance of this place. People come to wash off their sins here. An interesting question was asked to me by a foreign tourist in train while returning from Kanyakumari. She asked whether I thought taking a bath would wash off all my sins. To which I replied that I had not taken a bath out there instead just washed my feet. On my reply she asked whether that was sufficient enough to wash my sins. Then I had to explain her that I was there for fun and looking at the number of people taking bath and the dirt out there, I just symbolically washed my sins by only washing my feet. 

It is also a good location for viewing sunset. To me this place resembled to a chowpaty where there was horse ride, lots of stuff to eat and shop.  After the sunset from the same place, we can see the Vivekananda Rock Memorial and The Thiruvalluvar Statue beautifully lit up under lights.

 One can roam around the various shops near the Triveni Sangam.  The shops provide variety of products from the colorful sand, sea shells, cloths, spices and so on. 

Day 2 in Kanyakumari started early morning. I was lucky enough to get a view of sunrise from the hotel itself. Waiting for the sunrise feels like you are waiting your with camera for some celebrity who is supposed to arrive. Everyone around me was there geared up with their cameras, mobiles and tabs to capture that moment. And that moment came. 

Sunrsie !!!

Captured the rising sun with The Vivekanada Rock Memorial & Thiruvalluvar Statue

Watching a sunrise like this one was special because generally I (if I am awake early morning) watch the sun rising from behind some building of the city.

So next we headed towards the Kanyakumari Bhagavathiamman temple. Kanyakumari derives the name from this Goddess.  Near the temple at a walk able distance is the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial. Here the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were kept before immersion.

Mahatma Gandhi Memorial

Later we headed for ‘The Shrine of Our lady of Ransom’. The church looks beautiful in white color and is constructed in Gothic style. This 153 feet structure was constructed in 1914.The Cross at the top of the Central tower is of pure gold. If you love beautiful buildings, this one is a must visit in Kanyakuamri. 

In my next post, a little more on Kanyakumari. Stay connected with Viewfinder on facebook : https://www.facebook.com/viewfinderblog

Kanyakumari - 1

Kanyakumari !!! 

The southernmost city of India’s mainland. This was the only little thing which I knew about the city which I studied in school geography. But when it was decided to visit Kanyakumari, just like another netizen I went through various sites through the internet to check the ‘Places to see’ out there. So I found out a few places to see before we left for Kanyakumari. The city was named Cape Comorin by the British. The name is still used in the Indian Railways as the station code of Kanyakumari is CAPE.

After a journey of about 40 hours (believe me 40 hours of journey is a long one), we reached our destination. When we reached our destination and were on the way to the hotel, I noticed that typical weather which one feels in coastal areas. It was quite hot & humid out there in february. As our rickshaws entered the hotel and I saw something which made me jump out of rickshaw and start clicking through my camera. I was yelling, “This is it!!!” The reason for my excitement was The Vivekanada Rock Memorial & Thruvalluvar Statue was visible from the hotel’s parking. The view was so awesome that our tired minds got refreshed.

View from Hotel Seaface 

After having lunch we headed for the two monuments.The only way to reach there is through ferry services from the coast because they are located 400m offshore.

Vivekananda Rock Memorial is the major attraction of tourists in Kanyakumari. Swami Vivekanada was here for meditation before his departure to World religious Conference in Chicago. There is a bronze statue of Swami Vivekanada inside the Vivekanada mandapam.

Vivekananda Mandapam

Exactly opposite of it, is Shri Pada Mandapam meaning Rock blessed by feet of Goddesses. There is an imprint of a foot, which is believed to of Goddesses Kanya.

Shri Pada Mandapam

The force of wind out there can make anything blow away!!!

Just beside the rock lies another rock on which a 133 feet statute of Thiruvalluvar stands.The only word I can describe the statue is huge.  He was a Tamil poet and a saint. The statue was opened on 1^st January 2000.

Thiruvalluvar Statue

More about Kanyakumari in my next blog post.

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