Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of India. This is the place where India actually opened up to the world through the speech of the philosopher and student of Ramakrishna Swami Vivekananda Kanyakumari, the southernmost city of India

As I wrote in a previous post about southern India, Kanyakumari is a unique place - the waters of the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal merge into one here, one of the sacred pilgrimage routes for Hindus ends here, the ashes of the most famous Indian - Mahatma Gandhi were scattered here. But that's not all! It is here, because of the waves, that the sun appears, it is here that people are the first in all of India, and indeed in almost all of Eurasia, to meet the dawn.

1. The wife categorically refused to stand in line for the ferry for girls. I translate the expression on my wife's face: "And what am I doing here at 8 in the morning, waking up at 5.30 without breakfast, and even in a crowd of people in black, with painted foreheads?" :)

2. But back to dawn. The time is around 6 am. It should be light soon. In the distance, an island with temples of Swami Vivekanda and the goddess Kanyakumari is illuminated.


3. We were not lucky to see an even solar disk appearing from behind the sea, clouds prevented. If you look closely, there are people standing on the roofs everywhere.


4. The roof of our hotel was no exception. It’s good that we arrived early, because literally in 10 minutes all the parapets were occupied and the view would have been closed.


5. We admired the dawn colors and went to get ready for the ferry.


6. At 7 o'clock in the morning the city is no longer sleeping.


7. Followers of one of the Hindu cults - Ayappas. It is here that the pilgrimage route ends for them.

8. A small queue for the ferry - about 300 meters long :)


9 A man with glasses "breaks" the queue at a certain place, where rickshaws and motorcycles sometimes pass.

10 While standing in line I catch interesting characters. How do you like your mustache?

11. Closer to the ticket office, they begin to manipulate the queue and force people to walk in circles so as not to create a flea market.


12. And these are pilgrims who have already made a trip to the island and are returning back.


13. Saffron robes are the only thing that sannyasi monks have. These are people who have renounced everything material, live on alms and are constantly in spiritual activity.


14. I would not upload this photo, if not for one moment. Pay attention to the old man, who is to the left of the bald boy in a green plaid shirt. The spitting image of Mahatma Gandhi!


15. Bars as thick as a grown man's thumb protect cashiers selling ferry tickets. A round-trip ferry ticket costs 20 rupees, i.e. 15 rubles for our money.


16. After buying tickets, you have to sit a little more.


17. In order not to get bored, I look at the coastline through the holes in the wall.


18. Fishermen in a traditional men's loincloth, which is called "lungi".


19. As you can see, the habit of ruining walls is international.


20. By Indian standards, it is cold in the morning. In order not to freeze their ears, Indians wear such special headphones. Seen in many places, but with such cheerful colors only here. I imagine a security guard in some Moscow bank who went out to smoke on the street and put on such things with polka dots :)


21. Female leg detected!


22. And here is our floating craft


23. At first, everyone is serious. Still, after all, everyone is forced to wear vests without fail. But as you can see, not everyone takes it seriously.


24. Video with views from the ferry and with friendly neighbors

25. And this is a rather unique thing for India - a trash can, and even such a funny design. Garbage bins seen only in some tourist places.

26 While you are collecting change for a ticket, the bill is pressed down with a weight for scales so that the wind does not blow it away. Just like some grandmothers when selling tickets in the Moscow metro. Only our weights are not used for scales.


27. An obligatory item when visiting any place is taking off your shoes.


28. Thousands of years ago, people living on this cape were plagued by a demon. The gods turned to the supreme goddess Devi to help deal with this demon and she took the form of a Kanyakumari girl. But she overdid it, because. the girl turned out to be so beautiful that Shiva fell in love with her and decided to marry her. The gods were afraid, because after the wedding she would lose all her strength to fight the demon. One of the sages turned into a rooster and crowed at an inopportune time, as a result of which Shiva decided that the time for the wedding was lost and returned to his city. And Kanyakumari only had to stand on one leg for 1000 years and wait for the demon, who was eventually killed by her.
Inside this temple is the imprint of her foot. It is forbidden to take pictures inside, but this does not stop everyone :)


29. Island with a monument in honor of the poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar. If I'm not mistaken, then for tourists it is opened several times a year.


30. Being in any tourist place, you must be prepared for the fact that you will be asked to take a picture ...


31. ... and take a picture with you


32. And in this photo, taken against the sun, the entrance to the temple of Swami Vivekananda. Vivekananda is the man who spoke at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. It is he who is considered the man who sowed the seeds of Hinduism in the West. He founded several Vedanta centers in New York and London.


33. Frozen compass.


34. Friends, who knows what this sign means? Volumetric, right in front of the entrance to the temple.


35. A married couple chtoli?


36. And this is the entrance to the meditation room. Inside the room is 15 by 30 meters, people sit and meditate to the music. I didn’t manage to immerse myself in myself - it’s hard to do this when there are many more interesting things ahead of you!


37. As you can see, there are plenty of tourists here


38. According to legend, straight from the Gulf of Vivekananda independently swam to this stone island and meditated here for 3 days. And after the ideas that appeared, with the help of friends, he went to America to bring the knowledge of Hinduism to the world.


39. But I saw shaved women for the first time. Why do they shave their hair?


40. Standing at the exit to the ferry, we were also haunted and photographed with us and asked to photograph them.


41. While I was doing the previous frame, I felt a touch on my leg. Thought I did. The touches turned into light poking and pinching. Turning around, I saw a baby in pink, and heard the laughter of her parents. The child could not believe that my wife and I were real and checked us by touch :)


42. And this is just an epic video, boarding a ferry. If you don’t know what it is, then you might think that this is a recording of military exercises :)

43. Part of Cape Komorin, Kanyakumari coast


43 On the way back, we filmed the line at the box office, but by the time the line had shortened significantly. Add to what we saw for another minute and a half - then you will understand in which queue we stood in the morning.

44. Tourist breakfast - coconut milk and a couple of bananas on top.


45. Here is such a border between the states. On the spare wheel of the jeep on the left is written almost "Thank you" :)


46. ​​I saw myself on a poster and couldn't help but take a picture :) This and other photos were taken with my wife's camera.


47. What you will not see on the roads of India!


48. Movement is really fun! I learned to drive our scooter like a Hindu and at a speed of 50 km I calmly swept through such cracks. True, after such "slips" hands sweated even more :)


49. The cost of gasoline - 50 rubles per liter


50. Delivery of live chickens


51. Honestly, I would not have thought of this :)


52. Telephone + tariff of almost 500 rubles for our money. Where are our prices?

53. Three is not the limit! I saw right away

Kanyakumari is the southernmost point of India and the confluence of the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. The city is named after the virgin goddess Kanyakumari, and the temple built in her honor is located here. Kanyakumari is the city of the eternal bride who never became a wife.

The temple is dedicated to Kanya Devi, the manifestation of the virgin goddess Parvati, who is forever waiting for the appearance of her betrothed (Shiva). According to legend, the wedding of the goddess with Shiva was scheduled, but Shiva did not appear at the wedding ritual. In connection with the amazing legend of the origin of the temple, people have come up with many other legends associated with the temple of the Virgin Goddess.

You can enter the temple through the northern gate, despite the fact that the deity is facing the east. The east entrance remains closed except on special occasions.

Vivekananda stone memorial

The Vivekananda Stone Memorial is a sacred monument and a popular tourist destination located on an Indian island near Kanyakumari. The monument was erected in 1970 in honor of the visit of the great spiritual master Swami Vivekananda to Sripad Parai in December 1892. He swam up to this rock and on it he thought about the past, present and future of India. On the rock, he managed to achieve enlightenment, and since then he has become a famous reformer and philosopher.

The rock has been considered sacred since ancient times. She is also known as Sripada Parai, meaning the stone that became holy at the touch of the feet of Goddess Kumari.

Visitors can see the meditation hall (Dhyana Mandapa) where everyone can meditate. Externally, the Mandapa combines various Indian styles of temple architecture. Inside the building is a statue of Vivekananda.

What sights of Kanyakumari did you like? There are icons next to the photo, by clicking on which you can rate a particular place.

Church of Our Lady Ransome

Large whitewashed Catholic church. It is located on the eastern outskirts of Kanyakumari in the middle of a fishing village. The huge white and blue Gothic tower of the church rises among the fishermen's huts.

The statue of Saint Thiruvalluvar is located on a small island, near the city of Kanyakumari, in a place where the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea meet the Indian Ocean. The statue is dedicated to the saint, Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.

His famous work "Tirukkural", which is something like an ethical code for all mankind, has been translated into more than 60 languages ​​of the world. The total height of the statue is 133 feet, which symbolizes the number of chapters of a significant work. The statue was opened to the public in 2000. You can get to the memorial by ferry from the mainland.

The most popular attractions in Kanyakumari with descriptions and photos for every taste. Choose the best places to visit famous Kanyakumari places on our website.

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 with the ashes of the Mahatma was also placed 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.

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 a lot of mysteries in the palace, for example, the ventilation system and the composition of the floor covering, which is cool and has not been worn off for 300 years, it seems that it includes 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. The 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 established the exact and best time for the wedding, insistently insisted that the date indicated by him 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 there is an imprint of Kumari's foot on a rock (the foot of an ordinary 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. 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.

The city of Kanyakum?ri is located on Cape Komorin, at the southernmost point of the Hindustan peninsula. The waters of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean converge here, so this is one of the most popular tourist destinations in South India, which is visited by more than 2 million tourists a year.

A legend is connected with the name of the city, according to which for many thousands of years the inhabitants of the cape were haunted by the demon Banasura. People began to pray to the Goddess Parashakti to save them from this evil demon. In order to kill Banasur, Parashakti assumed the form of a young girl named Kanyakumari ("kumari" means "virgin" in Tamil). She was so beautiful that Shiva himself, the god of destruction, fell in love with her. But if Kanya had married Shiva, she would have lost her power and could not destroy the evil demon. Then the gods decided to upset the appointed wedding. On the day of the wedding, when Shiva began the corresponding rite, which was to be completed before dawn, the sage Narada, at the behest of the gods, turned into a rooster and crowed the dawn ahead of time. Shiva thought that auspicious time for the wedding missed and disappeared.

And the goddess went to the island of Vivekananda near Cape Komorin and stood there on one leg, as it should be for killing a demon, for a thousand years. After that, the evil Banasura was destroyed.

On the same island there is a small temple of Kanyakumari, where the imprint of the foot of the goddess has been preserved, and the temple of Vivekananda, the main disciple of Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Order. In 1892, before traveling to America, Swami Vivekananda attained divine consciousness. Later in 1970, his memorial was built on two rocks in the ocean.

Also on the cape is the Kanyakumari Sanctuary (in addition to the temple on the island). Non-Hindus are not allowed to enter it (but everything can be negotiated for money), and men at the entrance must take off their outer clothing and undress to the waist (from above).

On the neighboring island there is a monument to the Tamil poet Thiruvallur (1st century BC), who wrote "Tirukkural" - a collection of poetic moral sayings in Tamil. The memorial was opened on January 1, 2000.

View of Cape Comorin from Vivekananda Island.

On the cape itself is the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi.

The memorial is designed in such a way that every year at 2 pm on October 2 (the day and time of the birth of M. Gandhi), the rays of the sun fall through a tiny hole in the ceiling to the place where the ashes of Gandhi, which was scattered here over the ocean in 1948, are located. The memorial was opened 8 years later. The central tower of the monument is 79 feet high, which is the age of the "Father of the Nation".

Beach Road - Beach street, where vegetarian restaurants and cafes, hotels and shops are concentrated.

The main range of shops - sari,

shells and bright flower garlands.

The occupation of most of the local population is fishing.

Fishermen dismantle the net.

The only road along the coast

leads to purple sand

and a sandy beach where you can swim. The city coast is too rocky.

Important events during the day for every resident of Kanyakumari are sunrise and sunset.

Especially in order to meet the sun, residents put aside their business and go to the embankment, climb onto the roofs,

take places on a special observation tower. The whole city is silent in anticipation of the light.

The first rays of a new day are greeted with applause

The usual picture at the railway station