Kanyakumari
The town of Kanyakumari is located on the southern tip of India’s mainland. This town is situated at the confluence of Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal. Kanyakumari is a very popular tourist location and has immense natural beauty. Colorful and pristine beaches with swaying coconut trees, few hills where you can get a glimpse of the sandy beaches, rocky terrains, Kanyakumari will ensure you will fall in love with nature!
Kanyakumari is a unique place in India where from sitting at a single spot, you can witness both sunrise and sunset over the blue water! To add to another uniqueness, on a full moon evening, you can witness both sunset and moon-rise at the same time!
The main highlight of Kanyakumari is the twin-islands: Swami Vivekananda Island, and Thiruvalluvar Island.
Kanyakumari is also famous for its temples: Kumari Amman Temple is considered one of the shakti peetas and this temple sees several devotees every year. It is believed that Kanya Devi is a reincarnation of Goddess Parvati, and was about to marry Lord Shiva. However, he failed to show up for the wedding, as it was his plan to kill the demon king Banasura. Banasura could be killed only by a virgin girl, and Kanya Devi had the power to kill him. However, if Lord Shiva marries her, she cannot kill Banasura!
Vivekananda Rock Memorial
Locals believe that Swami Vivekananda swam to this island and meditated here. A memorial is now built on this small rocky island that is located at about 100m from the shore. You can reach the island through a ferry that takes you to both Vivekananda Rock Memorial as well as Thiruvalluvar Statue Island. The island has two halls: one has a tall statue of Swami Vivekananda, and the other has a holy foot which is believed to be of Goddess Kumari who stood on this rock on one leg to meditate!
Vivekananda Rock Memorial
Queue for the ferry
View from the memorial
Vivekananda Hall
Temple of Goddess Kumari
View of the ocean
Sun-Rise Calendar (Direction of sun rise)
Thiruvalluvar Island
This island is adjacent to Vivekananda Rock Memorial Island, and is dedicated to Thiruvalluvar: Tamil poet, saint and philosopher. He is very well-known for his contribution to Tamil literature. The overall height of this structure is 133ft (which was chosen as there were 133 chapters in his book Thirukkural). The structure includes 38 feet pedestal and 95 feet tall statue. The pedestal has 140 steps where visitors can climb up and touch the feet of Thiruvalluvar.
Thiruvalluvar Island
View from Vivekanand Rock Memorial
Pedestal
Triveni Sangam
This place is the confluence of Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. The waves of the three seas strike each other at Triveni Sangam. Locals say that on few days, you can even distinguish the three colors representing the three seas through the naked eye!
Gandhi Memorial
The Gandhi Memorial was built in memory of Father of the Nation “Mahatma Gandhi”. In 1948, Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes were kept here for public viewing before it was immersed in water at Triveni Sangam. A beautiful pink monument has been constructed at the spot where the ashes were kept. The monument has been very carefully designed. The overall height of the monument is 79ft, which is to correlate his age at the time of his death. Also, on mid-day of October 2nd, which is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, sun rays directly fall on the exact place where his ashes were kept for public viewing though a small hole in the roof!!
Other Places of Interest
- Tsunami Memorial Park
- Padmanabhapuram Palace
- Kamarajar Mandapam
- View Tower
- Sunset View Point
- Kanyakumari Beach (Sunrise View)
- Vattakotai Fort
- Tirparappu falls
- Bhagavathy Amman Temple
- Our Lady of Ransom Church
- Maruthuvazh Malai (Medicinal Hill) – Trekking/Hiking
Location
Where to stay?
- Kanyakumari
Distance Chart
From | Distance (in km) |
Trivandrum | 90 |
Madurai | 245 |
Coimbatore | 440 |
Bangalore | 665 |
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