We were 6 folks who left Bangalore via train to reach Madurai the next morning. We had pre-booked a Toyota Innova for 3 days from Madurai.
After having a quick Darshan at the famous Meenakshi Amman temple, we left for Rameswaram at 11 A.M. In between, we stopped at Villondi Theertham beach which is an isolated serene beach en route Rameswaram. Thereafter, we stopped at Pamban bridge to take some quick snaps and soak in the beauty of the surrounding vastness. This bridge connects Rameswaram (which is on the Pamban island) to the mainland India. The last point today was Lakshmana Thirtham. Legends are that Lord Lakshmana established a Shiva lingam and worshipped him here. We reached Rameswaram late in the evening and were excited for the next day!
Today, we started off early for the Ramanathaswamy temple, the main attraction in Rameswaram. It is dedicated to Lord Shiva. A mandatory 22 Kunds bath is needed before 1 can visit the temple! The kunds are located inside the temple premise and can easily take an hour or two. There's a long queue to enter, however, one can take express tickets by paying Rs.125 per person(group of 20 folks) or Rs.250 per person(only your group). It's a crazy experience with you taking group bath amidst all sorts of unintended punches from all directions. After surviving the bath, we went for the Darshan. There's strict no photography inside the temple premises. So, stash your DSLRs in the hotel!
From here, we went to Dhanuskodi or the ghost town. This area is abandoned post the Tsunami destroyed the entire city. We spent some time near the dilapidated church and the nearby beach.
Now, was the time to leave for Kanyakumari. We visited A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Memorial which houses President Kalam's accolades and personal belongings. The Memorial has free entrance and nicely made with beautiful painting adorning the walls. It will take around 45 mins to take a tour and the Memorial is worth it! We reached Kanyakumari in the evening. It took us nearly 3 hours to reach here from Rameswaram.
We started off the beautiful morning with the equally beautiful sunrise at Kanyakumari beach. One can see the gigantic and magnificent Vivekananda Rock Memorial and St. Thiruvalluvar Statue from the beach.
There are ferries which go to both the spots. It takes hardly 20 mins from the beach till the Memorial. It's made on the rock where Vivekananda meditated and is built on a very large area. This is the southernmost point of mainland India and one can get a nice view of the mainland from here. There is Mandapam here, however, it was closed when we went.
From here, the Statue is 5 min away from the ferry again. Standing at 133 ft, it's MASSIVE!
Both these spots would take around 1.5-2 hours.
After returning to the mainland, we went to Arulmigu Bhagavathy Amman temple which is near the beach itself. We left our Car at Nagercoil station from where we had our return train to Bangalore. This marked end of the wonderful family trip!!
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