Touching Roots

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We took the Kanyakumari Express train from Chennai to Tirunelveli. It arrived at 4:30 in the morning. The taxi we hired to take us to Dr. Balasubramanian's house broke down half way there. The alternator gave up the ghost. We waited for a bit and then finally got an autorickshaw. It was almost comical trying to fit 4 people (5 with the driver) plus everyone's luggage into a tiny vehicle only meant for 2 passengers. A Chinese fire drill for the record books! I've heard so much of the inconveniences of India but had been lucky so far to not have experienced any major disruptions.

Yesterday, we drove down through Nagercoil to Kanyakumari. At the seashore we crowded onto an over-full ferry boat which spilled us out onto a huge rock along with a ton of Indian tourists. Perched at the top is the Vivekananda Memorial, bookstore and meditation hall. There is also a small shrine enclosing a rock in the shape of footprints. After doing a quick circuit of the rock and marveling at the fact that we were at the southernmost tip of India, we climbed back onto the overloaded ferry. Back on shore, we heard the story of Goddess Kanyakumari and her famous shiny nose ring along with a bit of history of the place. Nearby is the Kanyakumari temple so we went and had darshan there. We wanted to have lunch in Kanyakumari but we arrived at an odd hour and kitchen was closed. However, we did snare some coffee, toast and fresh lime soda. The beach nearby is not very clean and I can safely say that it does not make my top 5 list. But I love the ocean and was glad to see it. The memorial is shown in the second photo.

Near Tirunelveli is the temple of our family deity. The priest was happy to show us around. We had archana there and then walked around. The temple now has some recently placed marble flooring. Perhaps the most impressive temple I have seen so far was the main one in Tiruchendur. It is absolutely huge. Turned out, we ended up there on a particularily busy day as the crush of humanity wanting darshan was literal. It was wall-to-wall bodies in a dark, hot, cramped space. Not something I am used to but definitely worth the experience. The walls and pillars are elaborately carved of dark grey stone. Pictures lining the ceiling show the history of the place which goes back quite far into time. We got the grand tour. I take it that not many Westerners show up here as I had hundreds of eyes following my every move. All out of curiosity, I guess.

Anant's father was born in a village near here and we found the house. The picture of it is posted here. He was very pleased and had not seen it in a long time. The structure is very good condition with only some cosmetic additions. Next, we will see where Anant grew up and where some of our friends used to live..... more coming......!

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