My visit to Kanyakumari, the last tip of India’s mainland was a sudden development that drove me to that place. It was an unscheduled trip but a richly rewarding one. It was so charming that I fell in love with the place at first sight itself – surrounded by the sea on three sides – Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea.
I joined Vivekananda Kendra as a Life worker in 1978. From our training centre, I could see the seas with endless water. In the immediate vicinity were the coconut and tamarind trees that sooth our eyesight with greenery and the seas with blue waters. One day I got up early around 4.00 a.m. and went for a walk by the sea. As the darkness was invaded by the light of the sun, the whole sky was diffused in multi-colors with different hues. It was a marvelous sight to see.
The early morning breeze was so soothing that one can feel the presence of the invisible power that propels the sun into its orbit. That day the sky in the horizon was absolutely clear thus paving the way for the sun to shine in all its glory. As the red fireball raised its hood, instant red lines were drawn on the sea waters. With the movement of the sun, the waters turned into complete red bridging the gap between heavens and earth for a while. I stood transfixed looking at this heavenly panorama. There is another celestial event that takes place once a year at Kanyakumari is the rising of the moon from the Bay of Bengal and the setting of the sun into the Arabian Sea at the same time.
Before I narrate some of the prominent landmarks of Kanyakumari, I would like to talk about the light house which I am sure many do not bother to look at. If you ever seen the seas on a dark night with its turbulent waves and the sudden flashing of the light house beam over the sea waters, you will understand how terrible the sea looks at that time. It get’s manifold if it is a stormy night. I enjoyed seeing the nature’s terrible face as well.
After we completed our training of 3 months at the Vivekananda Kendra, , we were asked to go the Vivekananda Rock Memorial everyday for a fortnight using the ferry services. Our work was to introduce to the visitors the majestic statue of Swami Vivekananda made of bronze in the main hall and also tell them a brief life history with special emphasis on his meditation on the rock. Swamiji after visiting the Kanyakumari temple as he came out he saw the twin rocks and decided to meditate on that rock. He swam across the stretch of 200 meters and stayed there for 3 nights and 3 days in the year 1893. In meditation he visualized Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa directing him to go to the West. As this rock is off the coast, a visitor has to take the ferry service to reach this place. The present temple was completed in September 1970. The pounding of the rock by the sea waves create a continuous roaring sound. But once you are inside the meditation hall the sound seems to get subdued and allows you to meditate for a while. Another interesting natural even a visitor can witness is the setting of the sun into the Arabian Sea. It is so vivid that as if in reality the Sun goes down into the waters. It is an optical illusion but none the less an enjoyable one.
There are three more important structures one can see. The first one is the 133 ft. tall statue of Tiruvalluvar adjacent to the Vivekananda Memorial. His statue was installed, I suppose, more as a Tamil pride competing with the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. Of course Tiruvalluvar’s composition of ‘Tirukural’ is comparable to the Bhagwad Gita.
The Gandhi Memorial is also another landmark of Kanyakumari. This memorial was built on the spot where the urn containing the Mahatma’s ashes was kept for public viewing before immersion. Resembling central Indian Hindu temples in form, the memorial was designed so that on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, October 2, the first rays of the sun fall on the exact place where his ashes were kept.
The third one is a very small temple dedicated to ‘Shankaracharya’ the exponent of ‘Advaitya philosophy’ There is another Shankarachary temple in Kashmir thus connecting India from Kashmir to Kanyakumari in it’s Advaitic philosophy of oneness.
Most of the people those who visit Kanyakumari do not stay overnight. I personally feel that if you really want to have feel of a place, a night stay gives you an extra edge in understanding the nature’s warmth. In the quietness of the night our mind can easily tune with the surrounding nature and identify oneself as a part and parcel of this universe.
On a full moon night, if you ever watched the seas, you will wonder how the waters react exuberantly by the pull of the moon. During our training at Kanyakumari we were taken to the sea shore on full moon nights & we had to deliver an ex-tempore lecture on a given subject that too in our mother tongue! If you are a nature lover spending a few hours, like taking a walk along the sea beach on a full moon night would definitely be a rewarding one.
I still love that place and would like to go and stay there whenever the next opportunity comes.