Kanyakumari & Thiruvananthapuram

Time: Dec 25th-30th, 2023

Place: Kanyakumari & Thiruvananthapuram

Company: Wife & daughter

Highlights: 

Prologue: To go or to not go, was the question that my wife & I kept pondering since Oct, during Christmas holidays. Reason being, I would be just back from the Samyama Program in IYC and wife would be leaving soon to Samyama Repeater program in IYC in Jan soon after the Christmas Hols. Indecision resulted in inaction and we did not book any tickets to anywhere. However, during first week of Dec, we decided that we should make use of the week-long office & school hols since it is rare and decided to risk it, especially since our Dasara (Oct) vacation plans got cancelled due to untimely customer visit at office. So, for Dec, we thought why not use the same itinerary but there was no availability of trains and food was a problem, especially for wife since she had to be very conscious due to her program participation in IYC. 

So, searched for train tickets especially return to BLR during last few days of hols because  pretty much all trains had got booked already. Finally found one train from Kochuveli to BLR on 29th which had availability. With that one train in mind, booked rest of the itinerary wherever we had train availability. Finally decided on BLR - Kancheepuram (for temples) - Chennai (for Madras Music Festival) - Kanyakumari - Thiruvananthapuram - BLR as the main places of visit, although did not get trains all the way. For instance, got a train from Chennai to Tirunelveli (instead of Kanyakumari). Anyways, itinerary was finalized although I was not too happy since I thought this did not seem like worthy of a week-long vacation. 

However, after I got back home from IYC Samyama program, I got sick and had severe bouts of cough & a running temperature coupled with running nose and sore throat. Thought it will dissipate after a day or so but it did not and I was not well enough to undertake the journey. So, first cancelled the BLR-KAN leg thinking if I get better, we can directly go to Chennai skipping Kancheepuram as we could do it some other day as it is just 4 hours from BLR. On 24th morning at 10 am, started searching for Tatkal train tickets and was surprised to easily get a train ticket directly from BLR to Nagercoil for 25th. So, booked it and then cancelled Chennai-Tirunelveli leg. So, our itinerary became very simple now: BLR-Nagercoil (Kanyakumari) - Thiruvananthapuram (Kochuveli) - BLR. Again, not really suiting a week-long vacation itinerary but then considering I was not feeling well, this was the best we could do.

Day 0 - Dec 25th: Train was at 5:15 pm from Sir M Visweswaraiah Terminal (SMVT). Our first time from this station, which was touted as the first AC railway station in India. It does indeed have the looks of an airport terminal, at least the lobby portion. We boarded the train and it was a smooth journey overnight.

Day 1 - Dec 26th: Was welcomed with amazing sights of Agastya forest reserve near Nagercoil just as the sun rose. It was like we were in Hawaii - sights of clouds hovering over towering majestic cliffs. We reached Nagercoil on time at about 8 am, and then took a bus to Kanyakumari. Some auto drivers tried to fool us by wanting to take us to bus stand but one honest guy told bus would come right to the station. Indeed, the bus waiting right then was leaving to Kanyakumari, so we boarded that and it was a 30 min ride. 

We had booked our room in Phalimaru Matha which was outside city limits. Had done this to facilitate our no-restaurant-food resolution for this entire trip. This was a hard decision but had to be done for wife's Jan Samyama program which involved strict do's and dont's 2 months before the program. Anyways, we reached last bus stop but realized we could have got done about 4 kms back! So had to take an auto back. Got into the lodge, freshened up, had our 'consecrated' (naivedya) lunch, took some rest since it was too hot, and finally left at 2:30 pm to the cape. Took the bus this time instead of auto. We thought we can do the Vivekananda Rock Memorial before it closes at 4 pm but we were stunned looking at the queue. It was extremely lengthy and hardly moving. Later found out that there were 2 lines - one for Rs 75 and one for Rs 300. We thought we will take a chance with Rs 75 for some time but it hardly moved, so we shifted to Rs 300. But we were just 3-4 folks away when the entrance door closed since it was 4 pm! 

Quickly we went to Bhagavathy Amman (Shakti Peeta - right shoulder and spine of Sati) temple which had just opened. Had good darshan. After that, we just spent time looking at the ocean from different parts of the peninsula, the last land of continental India. Some places, we could play with waves splashing on the rocks but most places were inaccessible and looked dangerous. Just lazed around for about an hour and we were greeted with a wonderful sunset - hardly any cloud came in the way. 

After sunset, there was pooja going on on the banks, maybe because it was full moon. The moon rays was reflecting on the ocean and it was a wonderful sight to watch. The pooja and arati went on for a long time - almost an hour and since we did not have anything else to do, we witnessed the whole process. Then got back to our Matha, had dinner, and retired for the night. Since we were away from the city bustle, it was like being in a rural area and very peaceful and we could see the starry night sky. 

Day 2 - Dec 27th: Got up at 4:30 am, left by 5:30 am, took an auto (arranged previous night) to the sunrise point by 6. But place was overcrowded plus sun was rising right behind the Vivekananda Rock memorial. So decided it was not a good place, and hence we walked towards the pier which was about 10 mins away. The pier is indeed sunrise point but it is slightly risky as it is just rocks after some time and one has to navigate the heavy cross winds. It is like being in the middle of the ocean since it is water on both sides, uneven ground and wind that keeps pushing you towards the water! That was one nice adventure indeed! And the pier is long, so one has to walk about 10 mins in that ambience just to get to the end of it. Coming to the sunrise, it was anit-climax. The clouds covered it all up until 30 degrees by which time one cannot even see the orange ball. So this pier walking thing was a good replacement!

We then ran to the Jetty queue and again there was already a huge queue. It was 6:45 when we entered the queue but it would open only at 7:45 am. But by the time we got into the ferry, it was almost 10:30 am! I suppose they give preference to the Rs 300 queue more than Rs 75 which seemed unfair. Almost like for every 300 people on the Rs 300 queue, only 75 people from Rs 75 queue got entry. So our line was hardly moving. We didn't go to the Rs 300 queue since we thought we had enough time and were not in a rush but at one point, it became too annoying. Seriously felt authorities can make situation better.

The boat ride itself is 5-10 mins and very choppy. At the rock memorial, it is very well maintained, clear indications where to go, what to see, etc. (place where Goddess Kanyakumari (Parvathi) did Tapas to attain Lord Shiva, Vivekananda's statue, meditation hall). It was around same dates (Dec 27-29) in the year 1892 that Vivekananda got enlightened, so it was like we were here for the anniversary!! Entire island is too windy, and I think 24/7/365. There is also a nice sundial which clearly marks where sun rises on which day of the year. Spent about an hour meditating, taking pics, etc. The line to get back was thankfully not too long and we got jetty soon enough.

It was already 12 noon by the time we got back to the main land. We took an auto back to our lodge and had our lunch at 12:30 pm. An hour's nap and we checked out by about 4 pm. Thanked the local administrator for the home-made food and stay.

Took a bus to Nagercoil and got down at Suchindram temple which wifey had found out was very famous. It is a massive typical Tamil Nadu temple but later found out that it is famous because of the Hindu Trinity Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva being at the same place in the same idol. We went in, had darshan, spent time meditating and then there was a huge grand procession going on, with loud trumpets and drums, so we followed it. Circumambulation was first inside the temple premises and then it was outside the temple premises. At different parts, the procession used to stop for arati and people used to give rose water to pour on the utsava murthy (idol). At about 6:30 pm, we were contented and departed temple. 

We had a train booked at 10:30 pm to Thiruvananthapuram which would reach past midnight but we thought if we could get a bus sooner, we might as well reach earlier and get a good night's sleep. So we got suggestion that we should go to Vadachery for bus, so we took the bus to Vadacheri. It was a really long journey, and we reached only at 7:30 pm. And then we found the bus to Thiruvananthapuram was too full, lot of people standing. We decided this was not worth it, and we might as well go in train peacefully. So we were about to go when another bus to Thiruvananthapuram came and wifey somehow got in and secured seats for all three of us. We would now reach Thiruvananthapuram at 10 pm, so that saved us 2 hours of wait time and more importantly overnight restful sleep. I could not cancel the train since it was booked in Tatkal, so more freebies to Indian Railways from me! 

Most of the bus journey to Thiruvananthapuram, I slept and was uneventful until we were just a few mins away from the bus stand when someone in car came and hit the bus from back. So we were all forced to get out of the bus. Thankfully we were right opposite Thiruvananthapuram Railway station, so an auto guy took notice of us. He seemed genuine and asked us for the hotel. Since we had not planned to be at Thiruvananthapuram until next day, we had not booked any hotel. So the auto guy offered to find some hotels for us. He took us to 3-4 hotels but either rooms were not available or was too expensive. Thankfully, we got one which was reasonable and neat. We arranged the plan for next day with the auto guy himself and retired for the night.

Day 3 - Dec 28th: Up by 7 am, did kriyas till 10 am and headed to temple. Huge queue. Even to deposit the mobile. Both free and VIP darshan of Rs 500 was long. We stood in one of the lines which was moving quite fast but then after some time, it stopped completely. Apparently temple keeps closing every other hour or so. It was hot, too much crowd, and we had not yet had our breakfast. It was tiring. Realized that temple visit should occur early in the morning and not at 11 am during holiday season. Lesson learnt. Anyways, line started moving again and it was almost 1 pm when we finally had our darshan. At the sanctum sanctorum, the Kerala police were positioned and managing the crowd. Hardly any time to see the Lord. In fact, it is very difficult to see at all because it is a large sleeping idol with three doors, and hence two big pillars right in front. I wondered sarcastically whoever thought of creating such a view. I mean, it could have easily been made with full visibility instead of such complication. Add to this, no lights and hardly any deepas. Plus idol is full black. So, we were like, ok, where is the idol - and BOOM, security is tugging you away saying your turn is over!! It was very dissatisfying experience indeed - especially with emotions flaring up, not the ideal way to have a darshan. Only Vishnu's hand was visible because it was steel-plated. Plus his dhoti because it was not black! At that moment, when we got ushered out by security staff, we decided that we will come back next day morning at 3 am when temple opens. 

The Kanyakumari Matha admin had called up his contact here in Trivandrum to arrange food for us. We were not very keen but because he had called up, we felt obligated. And anyways, why say no to 'consecrated' home-made food. But had a hard time finding this contact's address. Especially because directions given was not very clear. Also this contact person was always edgy, terse and mostly disrespectful in every aspect of the conversation. We hardly felt invited or any service was being done to us. It was more of 'Why are you even coming to me' attitude. We hurriedly finished eating and bid adieu to him, we did not want to have anything more to do with him any more. One of the most difficult persons I have ever dealt with in my life indeed.

Got back to our room, changed to comfy clothing (from temple attire), checked out of the room and went to Poovar backwaters. Now, this was really soothing. It took about an hour to reach but it was well worth it. Very relaxing - the estuary, mangroves, sanctuary of birds, the island, the beach, the floating restaurant, etc.. For the first time, felt like we were finally in a vacation! The boat ride took a little more than 1.5 hours. 

Our next stop was Kovalam beach. This reminded me of Garrapatta beach. Big slope towards the ocean which made the waves big and crashed to the land. Ocean looked very active and violent every other minute. View was mesmerizing. Although we could not see the sun setting, the hues were very colorful indeed. Played with the waves for some time and left. Reach our originally booked hotel this time, and retired for the night.

Day 4 - Dec 29th: Got up at 2:30 am. Temple entry at 3:30 am. By 5 am, we had finished three rounds of darshan! We finished first time by 4 am, this time hardly any queue. And were just sitting on the sands when we realized that we can actually go again and again. So we went twice more. Each time focusing on aspect of the idol that we wanted to see - like Brahma on Lotus, which you can see on the middle door only if you squat, face of Vishnu which is on left most door above his right hand, Shiva linga below Vishnu's right hand, etc.. Also abhisheka was going on, so we got to drink some of the milk. 

We then exited through East entrance, since we were so far only entering/exiting through the West entrance. East side is where there is a huge gopuram. Then, we took auto to Attakal temple. Had nice darshan of Goddess, especially due to arati. That done, we returned back to the hotel. We were all done by about 7:30 am. We contemplate sight-seeing more places like Shiva idol near Kovalam beach, the Jatayu Museum, etc. but decided against and thought we might as well take it easy. So took rest, napped, chatted, watched TV, videos, etc. until 11:45 am and then took an auto to Kochuveli station. Boarded our train and it left right on time at 12:50 pm. It was nice to spend half a day watching Kerala go by. So lush and beautiful. Tried to glimpse the sun setting but did not get a good view of the Orange ball. Once in a while, we got to see the ocean and the vast channels of backwaters. We were lucky for none to occupy our part of the coach until almost 6 pm, so we had a nice family quality time. Had light snacks for dinner and slept between 8 and 9.

Day 5 - Dec 30th: Reached BLR next day at 5 am, an hour late. I had booked a cab prior day and we reached home at 6ish. And that is how the final tour of 2023 came to an end...

Epilogue: Well, this trip will be remembered for a lot of wrong reasons! Firstly, this trip got created out of thin air, when none was planned to be safe. And then, at the last minute, we sketched out an itinerary based on the availability of a return train to BLR. Then, thanks to the viral flu that I caught, we had to cancel one part of the trip. Then, because we got a tatkal ticket, one more part of the trip had to be cancelled. All this was still ok. But then, my cough never subsided. In fact, the first couple of nights, I remember coughing continuously until almost 3 am. On day 3, I started getting pain near my left rib cage due to the persistent cough and my vocal chords almost stopped working. I started off with antibiotics midway through the trip. In fact, I restarted drinking masala tea to ease the mucus. I guess the tablets slowly started working because my night coughs slowly started reducing. But then my daughter started getting throat pain, and she could not talk for an entire evening and night. Thankfully she got better soon. But on the way back to BLR, wifey got sick with fever and cough. And just after she reached, her vocal chords stopped working! Health-wise this was a big risk we had undertaken starting the journey when I was not well enough. In addition to the health, the experience with some of the folks in Thiruvananthapuram was memorable: the verbal scoldings I got by the 'contact' who gave us food, the physical push/pull my wife got inside sanctum sanctorum, and then there was one more visual scoldings I got at the temple on last day when they found me walking on a path meant only for priests. It was full of eye expressions, with eyes wide open, blasphemous no-sound mouthing, etc.. Was not sure to laugh or not, since it seemed so funny that people close to the Divine seemed to act like devils! 

Anyways, I wanted to show these two places to wife and daughter since I had already visited when I was 8 years old. I still remembered the Vivekananda jetty ride 3 decades ago and nothing much has changed. That trip was my first time I had flown on an airlines (from Trivandrum to BLR). And Dec is the best month to visit due to the weather and possibility of sunset/sunrise views. We were lucky to have got the best sunset view indeed. Cannot ask for everything, can we?! Now, time to see what places we will cover in 2024...!