Kanyakumari gets its name after the goddess Kumari Amman, the main deity of Kanyakumari temple situated on the sea-shore.
We left home (@Trivandrum) at about 6:30 in the morning. Took the bus to Nagerkoil and then to Kanyakumari. As we boarded the bus, It started raining heavily. We were little worried as how to spend time if it continue to rain as there won't be any ferry service to Vivekanada rock from sea-shore. Luckily, when we reached Kanyakumari at about 11 am, the rain had stopped completely and the weather was sultry.
Vivekananda Memorial Rock:
We reached Vivekananda Memorial rock through ferry service from the shore. The ferry services are available at regular intervals. The memorial is located on one of the two rocks. From this place, one can see three seas meet here they are Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. We can see the difference is sea colour. There is Vivekananda Statue in this memorial. Vivekananda Memorial rock is specially attributed to Swami Vivekananda. During the year 1892, he came to Kanyakumari and meditated here and It is believed that he received enlightenment. There is Sripada rock where one can see the footprints of Goddess Kanya. It is said in Puranas that goddess Kanya meditated and did penance here. There is meditation hall where anyone can come and meditate. We can view Thiruvalluvar statue from here.
Tiruvalluvar Statue:
We took ferry to reach Tiruvalluvar Statue which is 133 feet in height. We were really thrilled by the size of the gigantic statue. Tiruvalluvar statue is dedicated to Tiruvalluvar, a famous Tamil poet and philosopher who wrote Tirukkural. The 133 feet tall statue denotes 133 chapters of Tirukkural.
Bhagavathi Amman Temple:
We reached temple at about 4:30 pm which is near the shore. There was not much crowd and we were able to have nice darshan. It is said that the diamond stud wore by Goddess Bhagavathy Amman was so bright that it was visible far away from the sea shore and it is said that many in the sailing ships were confused that to be a lighthouse. Hence the Eastern gate have been closed now.
View Tower, Telescope House and Kanyakumari Beach:
This is located on the sea-shore, but little away from the temple. We went on top of the tower and patiently waited to have a glimpse of sunset. It was cloudy and we were unable to see the sunset.
We enjoyed the beauty of beach and the meeting of the 3 seas from the shore. It was really entertaining for us to see these sea waves splash against the rock.
Suchindrum Temple:
The next day we got early and reached Suchindrum temple at 9 am. It is about 12 km from Kanyakumari. The mail deity is Lord Tanumalayaswamy. It represents three gods namely Tanu - Lord Shiva, Mal - Lord Vishnu and Ayan - Lord Brahma. There is also a 18 feet statue of Lord Hanuman in the temple. In one of the mandapa there are lot of pillars which would produce different musical rhythm when tapped. Many people in the past have damaged the pillars. Hence, to prevent more damages pillars are surrounded with iron grills to refrain public from tapping it.
Nagarajan Temple:
This is located in Nagarkoil which is about 20 km from Kanyakumari. This temple dedicated to god Nagaraja. There is image of Lord Shiva, Ananthakrishna and there are images of Jain Theerthakaras, Mahavira and Parswanathar carved on the pillars. There is also Nagalinga flower here which has a Shiva Lingam shape at the centre of the flower and the snake shaped pollen is the speciality of this flower. This rare flower are used for Shiva Pooja. Nagerkoil derived its name from this temple.
