Aquatic borders convey a sense of
absolute finality when demarcating territorial boundaries. Even mountain ranges
don’t proclaim such feeling of exclusivity. When we look at an ocean marking
the end of the land, we intuitively comprehend the measure of man and his
powers when compared with that of nature. Everyone should visit a beach once in
a while to cultivate some humility in our minds. This aspect of nature and
man’s parasitic reliance on her is nowhere as pronounced as in Kanyakumari
where the ocean surrounds you on all three sides. You feel the sea everywhere
in the Cape, in the incessant rustle of leaves as the wind flows caressing
over them, on the horizon that offers a line that never undulates, in the smell
of the sea felt everywhere and in the rising and setting of the sun that can be
observed just by walking a short distance on the beach. At the Cape, you become
one with nature.
My last visit to Kanyakumari was some
24 years ago, as a teenager. So, with a quarter of a century of toil that is
part of a working life, it was felt that the time has come to renew the
experience of being in perfect communion with nature. In fact, you can do it on
your own backyard as well, but exotic places help you achieve it quicker and
better. It was also decided to visit the nearby places in Kanyakumari district
also, driving our own car. Once in a while, you should do a load test on your
vehicle.
Day 1 (Aug 14, 2015)
We started at 6.30 am via MC Road.
Hardly a few kilometers through the drive, a long traffic snarl awaited us at
Chelamattom, near Perumbavur. The commotion was due to the convergence of
thousands of people for ‘bali tarpanam’,
the ritual offering of food for one’s own ancestors on the occasion of Karkkidaka Vavu (new moon day on the
month of Karkkidakam/July-August), which fell on that day. It took a painful
half an hour to get extricated from the jam. After that, it was smooth driving
till Muvattupuzha with a smooth road and low traffic. But all hell broke loose
on the stretch from Muvattupuzha to Chengannur, having a length of 91 km. The
road is badly potholed and in some areas, even the colour of black is missing
on the mud roads. The pathetic condition of the road is simply indescribable.
We feared that something would snap inside the car, which was being manipulated
through ditches, pools and unpaved earth. Luckily, MC Road is exceedingly fine
south of Chengannur. We had a hearty lunch at Kilimanoor.
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| Neyyar Dam is full and water is being discharged |
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| Road to Tirparappu is scenic |
At Vembayam, we took a detour from MC
Road to go via Nedumangad on the way to Neyyar Dam. The drive was smooth, with
the road conditions good for most of the stretch. At 2.20 pm, we landed at
Neyyar Dam Park. There is a range of attractions at Neyyar, the most prominent
being the Lion Safari Park. But we didn’t have that much time to spare and
decided to spend some time in the garden, which was mediocre and the dam top.
The reservoir was full to the brim and water was being continuously discharged.
The view from the top is breathtaking on both sides. The climb is worth it.
Vehicles can go to the top, instead of parking in the designated area near
entrance. This could’ve saved us an arduous trek in the afternoon sun. We left
the place after 45 minutes.
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| Tirparappu Waterfalls is ideal for bathing |
We headed next to Tirparappu
Waterfalls, which is a lesser known place, but provides great opportunity for
bathing. The river just tumbles over a steep rock that looks like a black wall
of geometric precision. River Kodayar falls on the waiting heads of the bathers
from a height of about 15 meters. Water flows for about 7 months in a year.
Being the end of monsoon, the river was in spate. A lot of people were bathing,
having refreshments and simply enjoying. We spent nearly half an hour there.
We had one more item on the agenda for
the day – the Padmanabhapuram Palace. Since the time was already nearing 4.30
pm, there was no point in attempting to reach the place which was scheduled to
close at that time. So we decided to drive straight to Kanyakumari and take
rest for the rest of the day. We reached hotel at 6.15 pm.
Day 2 (Aug 15, 2015)
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| Independence Day dawns at Kanyakumari |
It was Independence Day and all of
Kanyakumari was dressed up for the event. The eastern sky promptly turned
crimson. Far away, a slew of wind turbines turned majestically in the morning
breeze. As a balance for the renewable energy being generated in those
turbines, the twin nuclear reactors of Kudankulam silhouetted against the
distant haze. After breakfast, we moved to the ferry office which operates the boats
that ply between mainland and the Rock Memorial. We were amazed at the absence
of crowd there, because the serpentine queue normally spilled over to the
streets. But the official at the gate told us that due to low tide, ferry
service was suspended till 11 am. So, that was the reason the place seemed
deserted; and it was only 8 am!
There is nothing in Kanyakumari that
helps to pass time except the beach. So we went to Vattakkottai, which is a
seaside fort that is about 7 km northeast of the town. Here, we must pause for
a brief moment to reminisce about a Dutch naval officer who has a colourful
reputation in Kerala’s history. Let’s go back to the 1740s when the princely
state of Travancore in South Kerala entered a crucial phase. For the first time
in its history, Travancore had an able ruler on the throne in the person of
Anizham Tirunal Marthanda Varma who parted company with many old customs and
set the country on the path to modernity. War in Kerala was some kind of sport
till then, where the troops fought only during the day and strictly according
to rites as ordained in the shastra texts. Marthanda Varma put a stop to all this
and started annexing defeated kingdoms to Travancore one by one. British power
was rising while the Portuguese were vanquished and the Dutch on the wane. The
rising clout of Travancore disturbed the Dutch who sent a naval squadron under
the leadership of Eustachius de Lannoy, with the intention of capturing
Padmanabhapuram Palace. The troops landed at Kolachel near Nagarcoil, where
they were joined in battle with the primitive Travancore forces. Even though
possessing superior firepower and trained soldiers, fortune didn’t smile on the
Dutch on that fateful day on August 10, 1741, almost exactly 274 years to this
day. The Dutch troops were overcome and de Lannoy, along with a few of his
soldiers capitulated to the king. De Lannoy soon became a trusted servant of
Marthanda Varma. Many royal favours were heaped on him until at last he was
made one of the generals of the Travancore army. He thoroughly modernized the
army, introduced artillery and infantry and upgraded the fortifications that
ringed the country’s frontiers. Vattakkottai, which we are going to visit, was
one such fort built under his supervision. We will see more of him later.
The drive was smooth and we reached
there by 8.30 am. The fort is made of granite blocks and a part of it extends
to the sea. This commands a picturesque view of the sea on one side and the
craggy peaks of Western Ghats on the other. There were no visitors when we
arrived there and we had the whole place to ourselves for about 15 minutes. The
panoramic view of the sea from the promontory is breathtaking. After half an
hour of enjoying the sea and the wind, we left the place.
The drive to Muppandal was a dream. We
had a 4-lane highway that goes to Varanasi practically deserted. Wind turbines
were seen everywhere you look. Of varying sizes and designs, thousands of such
turbines produce electricity from the ever blowing wind, both
night and day. About
1500 MW of electricity is produced here, which comes to about one-tenth of the
entire wind power generation in India. There is no smoke or any exhaust from
the machines, making it a source of green and clean energy. We drove through
Arulvaimozhi (Aramboli in British times), which was the historical border pass
of the erstwhile Travancore state. At around 10 am, we returned to Kanyakumari.
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| On the way to Muppandal on NH 7 |
Still, the boats had not begun service
after the low-tide. So we hailed an auto rickshaw to Wonder Wax, the celebrated
wax museum in Kanyakumari. If you were expecting something like Madame
Tussauds, you are in for a big disappointment. There are very few exhibits
here, around 10 to be precise, and they don’t show much resemblance to the
celebrities they were meant to represent. Einstein and Tagore looked lifelike,
but others really needed a facelift. In hardly ten minutes, we finished the
museum and walked back the short distance to Boat House.
The long meandering queue had breached
the gates and overflowed to nearby streets as well. All the tourists were
patiently waiting in line under the blistering sun. But as part of the pre-tour
research, I had already heard about a special ticketing scheme by which
tourists can buy special tickets at five times the normal fare and go straight
to the landing pier, without the need for waiting in line. There are no notices
or anything about the availability of special tickets, while the price of the
normal ticket was displayed everywhere. So we asked the guard at the gate about
the special tickets and he immediately directed us to the counter. The cost of
a normal ticket is Rs. 34, while the special ticket is priced at Rs. 169. But
the premium is worth it, if you wanted to avoid the grueling wait which may
last up to one or two hours! Soon, a boat arrived. It is only a 10-minute ride
to the rock, and three boats were in service. Life jackets are compulsory for
passengers, which are available in the boat itself. Due to low-tide, boats were
not plying to Thiruvalluvar Statue.
Footwear is not permitted inside the
Memorial and you have to deposit them at a designated counter in the jetty. It
was a very hot day and the solid mass of rock was scalding. Fortunately, there
is a line painted in white on the rock face, which you need to follow to reach
all the intended areas on the rock. You won’t feel the heat while walking on
the white line. It offers a superb view of the town and the temple situated at
the southernmost tip of land.
Watching the bustle of life unwinding
on the mainland, one can not help spare a thought about a 28-year old ascetic
who reached these shores on the Christmas day in 1892, after wandering for
around three years across the length and breadth of India. He saw the dark rock
beckoning him over the waves. Probably on an impulse, he dived into the sea and
swam all the way to it and spent three days and nights there meditating –
taking the whole of India from that vantage point. At the end of it, he
realized his life’s mission was to arouse the nation from its slumber of a thousand
years of slavery and rediscover its past glory. On that day, Narendranath Dutta
metamorphosed into Swami Vivekananda who dedicated all his life to the country
until his death at 38 years of age. The story of the building of the monument
is another saga that could be compared to the efforts of Bhagiratha in
mythology.
Swami Vivekananda’s birth centenary
arrived in 1963 and some activists decided to put up a memorial on the rock as
a tribute to him. Unfortunately, the local Christian population rose up in arms
against the scheme. The district has a sizable Christian population who are
very active in proselytism. Even today, we met several pastors distributing
leaflets on the beach. The fisher folk claimed ownership of the rock, naming it
St. Xavier’s Rock, which was said to be the place where St. Francis Xavier
converted them to Christianity 400 years ago. A big cross was put up on the
rock, which was visible from the shore.
Now, things began to turn ugly. A
communal riot was in the offing. Both sides took aggressive postures.
Litigation followed and the government declared the placement of the cross
illegal and asked it to be removed. Even though a decree was passed, the
government was unwilling to carry it out for the fear of alienating the numerically
strong Christian population. Then, all on a sudden, the cross was found removed
on a fine morning. Tensions flared and prohibitory orders were clamped in the
town. Armed guards were posted on the rock. Interventions at the highest levels
forced the Tamil Nadu government’s hand in giving permission to install a
‘tablet’ on the rock commemorating Swami Vivekananda. Tensions again escalated
when it was discovered another day that the tablet was destroyed overnight and
thrown in the sea. At this point, Eknath Ranade stepped in and amassed national
public support to build a massive structure. Donations poured in from all over
India. The construction began in 1967 and the memorial dedicated to the nation
in 1970. A pedestrian bridge was planned to reach the rock, but it was later
dropped. So, when you look at the Memorial today, you should be aware of what a
Herculean task it was to construct it!
After embarking on the mainland, we
had our lunch and took rest for a few hours, as it was a tiresome day. At 4.30
pm, we walked through some very narrow country lanes to reach Vavuturai. A
local church fete was going on and Christian devotional songs were billowing
loudly in the air. The earthen fishing pier jutting into the sea offers lovely
photo opportunities. It is better not to miss them.
Spending half an hour there, we wanted
to reach the Sunset Point before sunset. But it was nearly 3 km away and the
beach was heavily crowded, being a national holiday. There was a public meeting
held at the traffic circle (India’s southernmost!) by the Congress party. A
typical Tamil political leader clad in white shirts, white pants and white
shoes was directing the proceedings. A black coloured belt provided sharp
contrast to the whiteness of his entire attire. We came to know that his name
was H Vasanthakumar, who was the owner of Vasanth & Co, a huge retail chain
in Tamil Nadu and a Congress leader. The sunset was a drab affair because of
the huge crowd and the thick layer of dark rain clouds in the horizon. We took
an auto rickshaw to get to the Kumari Amman Temple, which gave the place its
name. The term Kanyakumari actually refers to the goddess enshrined here, who
is also an aspect of goddess Parvati, Shiva’s consort. As in many temples of
Kerala, this temple also prohibits men from entering the shrine with their
shirts on. In this era of low-waist trousers, this custom results in some
awkward scenes inside the temple. The authorities probably detest the shirt
more than the underwear! The temple was nearly deserted with only a few
tourists inside the temple at that time. Getting out of the shrine, one can
have an excellent view of the Rock Memorial and Thiruvalluvar Statue
illuminated at night. After a decent dinner, we retired for the night.
Day 3 (August 16, 2015)
Being the last day on the itinerary,
we had to finish many places by noon so as to reach home before it was too late
at night. We checked out at 7 am and headed straight to Chitharal Jain Temple.
We had breakfast on the way and reached the foot of Chitharal hill by 8.30 am.
There are steps leading to the top of the hill and most of the path is arched
over by low trees to provide the weary traveler with some shade from the
scorching sun. It might take about 25 minutes to reach the top and there is
ample scope for resting midway. This Jain cave temple was built in the 9th
century and taken over for Hindu worship in the 13th century when
Jainism declined in Kerala. In this regard, this temple displays a marked
similarity to Kallil Temple near Perumbavoor in Kerala. The natural cavern on
the hill is formed by an overhanging rock with bas relief on one side depicting
jinas and their attendant yakshis. The Bhagavati temple faces
west. The cave has been extended at a later date with a masonry mandapa in
front. The chief deity now worshipped is Bhagavati, but in all probability the
idol must originally have been that of goddess Padmavati of Jain mythology as
we see the idols of Mahavira and Parsvanatha, the 24th and 23rd
thirthankaras respectively, are also worshipped in Hindu style, attesting to
its syncretistic zeal. We also saw stone inscriptions in vattezhuthu, an ancient script in which Malayalam language was
written, before the present script was adopted.
The number of visitors was slowly
building up as time went on. The charm of the place lies in its secluded
quietness, and the stunning view of the verdant Kanyakumari district that lies
round you in full panorama. The land is covered in dark and light shades of
green, here and there interrupted with hues of blue signifying a lake or the
ribbon of a rivulet. Far away in the horizon, a suggestion of azure reminded
one of the sea, which accompanies you everywhere you went in Kanyakumari. How
splendid must it be to watch the sunset from here! Probably, we may come back
here one day just for that unforgettable moment! We came down the hill by about
10 am.
Our next destination was Mathur
Thottippalam. This is an aqueduct built to carry irrigation water across the
Parazhi river from an elevated level on one hill to another. It is said to be
one of the longest and highest aqueducts in South Asia, with 378m in length and
at a height of 35m from ground level. This is a huge concrete structure held up
by 28 tall pillars. The water trough is partly covered with concrete slabs,
allowing people to walk on the bridge. It is definitely worth a visit.
Padmanabhapuram Palace was the next
location to which we went. The palace is now a museum, but was built around
1600. The original building, called Thai Kottaram (mother palace) was built
around 1550. This was the capital of the Travancore dynasty and Anizham Tirunal
Marthanda Varma rebuilt it around 1750. The palace and the land on which it
stands continue to be an enclave of Kerala, under the state’s archeology
department. The palace complex consists of several structures including the
King’s Council Chamber (dewan-i-khas, if you prefer Mughal nomenclature), the
Queen Mother’s Palace, a navarathri mandapa, dining halls and other buildings.
It houses exquisite articles of luxury like ornate bedsteads, chairs, reclining
chairs built with smooth granite, huge containers in which pickles were stored
and gifts from foreigners like mirrors, lamps and furniture. We immediately
realize the scale of the extravagant life of the kings. The palace houses oil
paintings mainly connected with the life of Anizham Tirunal like the surrender
of de Lannoy, non-aggression pact with Cochin signed at Sucheendram temple, early
attempts on the life of the king and others. The paintings have faded much and
soon it might have to be moved to a climate-controlled gallery. We spent half
an hour inside, which felt like a trance. The intense heat outside woke us up
to the reality of life.
We had only one more place to go.
Udayagiri Fort is very near to the Padmanabhapuram Palace, around 3 km to be
precise. Before proceeding there, we need to know a little more about de
Lannoy, whom we had abandoned at Vattakkottai. After his surrender, he was
assigned the charge of a regiment of the Travancore army. Marthanda Varma was
thoroughly impressed with his talent and dedication that he was elevated as one
of the generals of the very army that defeated him. He came to the capital at Padmanabhapuram,
but being a Christian, was not allowed entry into the palace. But he had to
have frequent interactions with the king and so a place was found nearby to
accommodate him and family. Udayagiri Fort was thus rebuilt and served as a
military training centre and a foundry for casting guns. He introduced gun
powder and firearms hitherto not used in the kingdom and together with the
tactics of Ramayyan Dalawa and the statesmanship of Anizham Tirunal, annexed
the northern kingdoms stretching up to Cochin. The fort was used till mid-19th
century by the British. De Lannoy was interred inside the fort.
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| De Lannoy, his wife and son's tombs |
Udayagiri Fort is now a bio-diversity
park operated by the Tamil Nadu Forest department. Some entertainment for
children is found here, but the whole place shows signs of neglect. We missed
the sign pointing to de Lannoy’s tomb at the entrance. You should turn right
after entry into the fort and follow the stone-paved path which runs to the
tomb. A dilapidated chapel welcomes you at the end of the road, which might be
the private chapel built by the General himself. The fort is also known as de
Lannoy fort. Swaying the creepers to one side, we entered the chapel and
immediately saw the burial site of de Lannoy, his wife Margarita and son
Johnnes, who died at the age of 20 in battle while serving in the Travancore
army. It is said that after his son’s death, the General felt greatly
distressed and he grew prematurely old. The epitaph in Tamil and Latin stands
as a mute pointer to the work of this adopted son of Kerala, which runs as
follows.
Stop wayfarer,
Here lies Eustachius
Benedictus de Lannoy,
Who as the commander-in-chief
of the troops of Travancore
Was in command, and for
nearly 37 years
Served the King with the
utmost fidelity.
By the might of his arms
and the fear,
He subjected to the
king’s sway all the kingdoms
From Kayamkulam to
Cochin.
He lived 62 years and 5
months and died
On the 1st
June 1777.
May he rest in peace
We stood silent for a moment beside
the tomb and regretted that we hadn’t brought any flowers for placing on the
tomb. So, if you plan to visit it, please carry a bulb of rose for us. The time
was already 1.15 pm and the time had come to wind up the trip and return home.
The return journey was eventless. At
Adoor, we took a detour to reach NH47 at Kayamkulam, as we had no intention
driving through that dreadful sector on MC Road from Chengannur to
Muvattupuzha. A slight drizzle was falling and we reached home by 9.15 pm
Accommodation
We stayed at Hotel Melody Park, East
Car Street, Kanyakumari for two nights which offers a very good view of the Bay
of Bengal. We had a deluxe sea facing room on the 3rd floor and had
an excellent view of sunrise on day 2. But the view from Melody Park is not
unimpeded, as there is a line of buildings on the eastern side of the street.
Only Hotel Maadhini, Hotel Manikkam, The Sea Shore and Hotel Sea View offer an
unobstructed view of the sea. Our room was rather small and the air conditioner
slightly problematic. The hotel doesn’t have a car park. A balcony facing the
sea is provided. The hotel has a good restaurant too.
Travel
We traveled by own car. For local
travel, we used auto rickshaws. In Tamil Nadu, always fix the rate before
engaging the vehicle, otherwise the experience may turn out to be a bitter one.
