Kanyakumari – Where Land Ends
After visiting the legend in Rameshwaram, I moved towards the southern tip of India where the land ends, Kanyakumari.
Kanyakumari is most famous tourist place in India for its sunrise from the Triveni Sangam. Another most exciting thing about the Triveni Sangam is that it is the only place in India where three seas meet each other i.e. the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. And that is why it is called Triveni Sangam, Triveni means three and Sangam means meeting.
There is a mythological story behind the name of Kanyakumari. Once the Banasura, the king of demons got a boon from Lord Brahma that he can choose his own manner of death. Banasura decides to let his death be by the hand of a Virgin lady. With his boon, Banasura started to harass the Devas and torturing the saints and rishis. They were not able to defend themselves from the harassments of Banasura. So all the Devas and Saints went to Lord Vishnu for the help. As Banasura got the boon to get death by the virgin lady, Lord Vishnu was not able to help them. Finally, they started praying to Goddess Parvati. And Goddess Parvati came to earth in a form of Devi Kumari in one condition and that is to marry Lord Shiva.
Lord Shiva agrees to marry Devi Kumari. Lord Narada took the responsibility for all the arrangements of their marriage. Lord Shiva’s bridegroom’s party started from Suchindrum where Lord Shiva used to live. Meanwhile, in between this, Narada was prompted by the Devas to do something to stop the marriage.
Because once the marriage gets over, Kumari could not be a virgin and Banasura could not be killed as he could be killed only by a virgin lady. So Lord Narada forms himself in a cock, and when marriage party was about to reach the Kanyakumari, lord Narada crowed aloud. After hearing this loud voice lord Shiva and marriage party thought the auspicious hour has passed and they all returned to Suchindrum.
At the other side, Devi Kumari was waiting for Lord Shiva in bridal dress. When she got the news about Lord Shiva and marriage party has been returned, she gets angry and vowed to remain a virgin. And then the place where Devi Kumari was waiting for lord Shiva named as Kanyakumari, Kanya means lady and Kumari means Virgin. Later Devi Kumari also killed Banasura. It is said that Devi Kumari is still present at Kanyakumari in a hope that one day she will marry Lord Shiva.
I woke up at 5:30 AM and reached at Triveni Sangam to enjoy the beautiful sunrise. Nearly at 6 AM sun started rising from the depth of the Bay of Bengal. It was marvellous view. Sunrise is always been motivational for me. It always charge us with new energy and hope. After enjoying the sunrise from Triveni Sangam, I took some rest in the hotel and got ready by 11 AM to visit Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial. It is situated on a Rock Island, which is about 500 meters away by seaway from Kanyakumari. There are boat services available from Kanyakumari to Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial.
Before going for World Religious Conference at Chicago in 1893, on December 24th, 1892, Swami Vivekanand went to this rock for doing a meditation. He did meditation continuously for three days till 26th December. In the memory of Swami Vivekanand, Swami Vivekananda Rock Memorial was established by Eknath Ramakrishna Ranade in 1970.
On the same rock island, there is Shripada Mandapam which have the footprints of goddess Devi Kumari. It is said that once Goddess Kumari performed austerity on this rock and left her footprints which is still present on the rock. There is one meditation hall known as Dhyana Mandapam where visitors can go for meditation. When I went inside the Dhyana Mandapam, it was very dark inside and continuous tune of OM was playing. Which is a perfect environment for meditation. I tried to meditate for almost 40 minutes. Believe me, when I came outside it was a different feeling. For almost half-n-hour, I forgot all my worries during that meditation. It was complete peace of mind. Everyone should meditate at least for 15-20 minutes a day.
One can see Thiruvalluvar Statue from Swami Vivekanand Rock Memorial which is about 40 meters tall situated on another rock island just beside the rock island where Swami Vivekanand Rock Memorial established. Thiruvalluvar was one of the greatest Tamil poet and philosopher. He wrote Thirukkural which defines ancient Tamil ethics and moralities.
After visiting this great place I took a lunch and went to the hotel for some rest. At 5:30 PM I came out to explore the remaining part of Kanyakumari. First I went to Triveni Sangam to enjoy the sunset. Again the best part about Triveni Sangam is that you can enjoy both Sunrise and Sunset by standing at the same place. It was beautiful!! After the sunset, I went towards the main Kanyakumari village. It was typical village having small houses, small shops and small streets. Few people were tying their fishing net. Group of ladies were gossiping by seating at their courtyard. I was walking in the random direction.(No Google maps support) I didn’t know where the street is leading to me. At a couple of crossroads, I saw few people were playing cards and having drinks. When I was passing by them they were continuously looking at me with a suspicious eye. I got scared a little bit, so I speed up my walk and somehow I reached to the nearest church.
It was the Our Lady of Ransom Church about which I had read before coming to Kanyakumari. It is one of the famous churches in Kanyakumari. I felt relief after reaching there. When I entered into the church the prayer was going on. The prayer was in the Tamil language. I didn’t understand a single word from that prayer but I surely felt the blessings from that prayer. The prayer got finished by 8 PM and with the help of one of the local person I reached till the main street from where my hotel was about 1.5 km away. I took a dinner on the way to the hotel and finished my day.
Kanyakumari gave me some beautiful moments of Sunrise and Sunset from Triveni Sangam. Exploring the main Kanyakumari village introduced me to the actual village culture in Tamilnadu. And getting some amazing information about Swami Vivekananda and Thiruvalluvar felt me proud that my country had such great characters.