When visiting a place, what do you focus on the most?
That unique vibe that sets the location apart. Of course, you want to enjoy yourself and travel in your own way. For instance, leisure seekers might look for a relaxing spot, like a beach resort in South India. But beyond that, you also want to soak in the experience—the atmosphere that makes the place famous.
Kanyakumari Blog
When I arrived in Kanyakumari, I had similar expectations. I thought it would be a peaceful place, enveloped by the sea, free from the chaos of mainland India. After all, this is where India ends, gracefully bordered by the vast Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal.
However, when I started writing this Kanyakumari travel blog, expecting peace and ocean beauty, I was disappointed because I found no tranquillity there.
I didn’t get to experience the deafening seashores as I had perhaps expected. However, what I encountered in abundance were brief, intermittent glimpses of the sea, each time I looked through the crowded, bustling markets and multi-story guesthouses that are situated right along the seashore.
And when I occasionally found myself on a beach, I perceived it as seamlessly blending with the chaos and thrill of the thousands of tourists visiting daily, almost as if attempting to challenge the dominance of the sea.
Kanyakumari boasts a rich history, blending ancient legends with modern monuments. From the centuries-old Devi Kanyakumari Temple to the contemporary Vivekananda Memorial, this place seamlessly merges myths and history.
As the sun sets and the sky turns completely dark aside from a few twinkling dots, the temple begins to glisten like scattered diamonds. Its shimmering appearance is so striking that locals say ships often stray from their course, mistaking the sparkle for a lighthouse reflection.
I found Vivekananda Memorial to be the only reason you want to visit Kanyakumari, and that reason, in itself, is significant enough. As you walk around the memorial, you feel the energy that Vivekananda must have felt when he meditated on the rock.
The rock is encircled by the ocean. On one side, the vast ocean stretches out, its deep blue seeming limitless—like a different world we can never reach from land. On the opposite side, the fading hills appear to bid us farewell or maybe welcome us, each in their own way.
No wonder Kanyakumari is one of those rare places that invite us to a secular Sabbath despite its muddled, confusing atmosphere.
A meditation hall also stands within the premises of Vivekananda Memorial, at the exact spot where Vivekananda meditated. Though that’s a different matter, ongoing tourists sometimes make it just too tough for you to find some peace during the visiting hours of a wee day.
Today, you pay 100 Rupees to 300 Rupees for a 10-minute ferry ride to the rock. It is believed that Swami Vivekananda swam across the sea to the rock for deep meditation and enlightenment, during which he perceived realities and understood the potential of great Indian thought and culture. This is when he decided to cross the oceans and go to the West to participate in the World Parliament of Religions, before becoming a great teacher for all times, for his own countrymen and for the rest of the world.