A Southern Sojurn: Family Trip to Tirupati, Rameshwaram, kanyakumari, Madurai and kodaikanal

The start of the journey couldn't have been more disappointing. An early morning spice jet flight to Tirupati got delayed for over 5 hours due to some operational issues (so the airline authorities said). Even after we took off at 1 pm, the stopover in Hyderabad got prolonged by almost 2 hours with no probable explanation. This was the second time in succession i had faced the similar issue with the airline. My take away from the whole incident was to shell out some additional bucks (even if its painful) and book some reliable air carriers going forward. After a tiring and uneventful day spent in the transit, we finally reached the airport at 9 pm. The stay here was selected at a walking distance to Tirupati railway station facilitating our train journey to Rameshwaram a couple of days later. I wasn't disappointed with the service and setting as i didn't expect much out of a regular budget accommodation.

The day was new and so were our spirits as we started early for our 10 am darshan (Book from here: https://ttdsevaonline.com/). We took a shared jeep from Tirupati town to Tirumala hill which hails the most revered temple of India. The shared ride was economical and comfortable contrary belief which took over an hour to drop us at a walking distance of the Sri Venkateswara Temple. There was a separate queue for VIP pass holders which is essential if you don't want to spend almost a day opting for the Sarva darshan route (free darshan). As is the case with all the other religious places, the devotees were herded like cattle into the cramped queues passing through the overcrowded alleyways and stairs. One gets impatient after sometime gasping for fresh air in such a setting. Thankfully, it took us way lesser time than expected for darshan (45 mins) as we collected the famous laddus from the self service counters in the area behind the temple. The heat was unbearable even at the end of November which made us give up all the plans to explore the surroundings and retreat to our hotel for an afternoon nap. For someone who is willing to explore, there are numerous other temples and waterfalls in the vicinity of the main temple premises. In the evening, we explored the adjacent Govindaraja temple which was indeed surprisingly beautiful and a sheer example of Indian craftsmanship. Our day ended with a scrumptious dinner at Hemant Punjabi dhaba followed by some delicious pastries from a nearby bakery.

We stuck to our morning ritual of having breakfast at the Idli factory followed by packing up our luggage to board the Rameshwaram Express. Incidentally, the best way to travel between Rameshwaram and Tirupati is by a train which not only super comfortable but also easy on the pockets . A 3 tier ticket would not cost more than a 1000 bucks for a 700 km journey. We met a lot of interesting people in our train journey, majority of whom were the devotees visiting one of the four Dhams in the Hindu mythology instituted by 8th century reformer and philosopher Adi Shankaracharya. Travelling by railways is totally a unique experience as it acquaints you with personalities of different caste, creed and language.

The train hurdled past the vintage Pamban bridge as we arrived at the Rameshwaram railway station on a mildly cold winter morning. Good thing that the current administration had done a commendable job in at least the punctuality aspect of the national locomotive carrier. Our taxi driver for the remainder of our journey greeted us at the ticket counter. After done with our morning chores, we went straight to the temple. The surroundings were tranquil and there was a very short queue in front of the temple gate where the devotees waited without any haste and hassle. Within no time we were in the corridor of the temple which said to be the longest among all the Hindu temples in India. The inner sanctum is built with sandstone rocks dating back ages ad per the history books. The next stop was Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Museum inaugurated posthumously in the memory of our beloved president. The museum showcases the personal memorabilia of the late president, rare photographs and miniature models of rockets, satellites, etc. and inspiring quotes. A short documentary ' Missile Man' depicts the journey of a man from a small town of Rameshwaram to the world stage of science and innovation. We covered other local sightseeing places like before restoring to Dhanushkodi, a abandoned town on the south eastern tip of the Pamban island. Once inhibited by thriving fishing community, the town lies in rubble after being devastated by the 1964 cyclone. This place holds a religious significance too as it is believed to be the place where the monkey army build a bridge (Ram Setu) to lanka (Present day Sri Lanka) in the Indian epic Ramayana. Incidentally the country is just 24 km away from the shores of Dhanushkodi. Mangroves can be spotted on the way to the beach, which is currently a tourist spot by all means. There are certain timing restrictions to visit the places hence plan the day accordingly get the most out of it.

Our next stop was Kanyakumari which was going to be long drive. Although the two cities are connected by National highways, it took us 7 hrs to cover 300 km kudos to our driver who wouldn't even try accelerating above 70 kph . Somewhere realizing, we were going to spend unwanted additional time on the road which turned out to be true. We had a stopover at the Pamban bridge which connects mainland India with Rameshwaram. By the time we reached our destination, it was already getting dark and by no means i was going to miss the sunset from the southern most tip of the country. We hurried to the sunset point just in time to witness one of the most picturesque end to the day. The sky was painted red with intermittent hues of the refracting sun rays. The cool breeze took away all the ennui of the day as we sat upon the rocks witnessing the sun go down the horizon. The street lights added glamour to the coastline that shimmered like string of pearls. We spent rest of the evening exploring a nearby church and a museum dedicated to the Indian epic Ramayana.

The plan was to cover Swami Vivekananda rock memorial and Thiruvalluvar statue quickly, which was sadly under renovation. One needs to take a ferry ride to reach the memorial which was built in honor of Swami Vivekananda who is said to have attained enlightenment on the rock. The rock memorial is rare monument in the middle of the Indian ocean. Strong see breeze howls across the rock making it impossible to stabilized yourself let alone the camera and accessories. Standing on the southern side of the rock, one can stare into miles and miles of ocean front enough to calm your senses and harness your meditation prowess. Its great spot to capture some breathtaking landscapes and fishing boats in the vicinity. Being in such a close proximity to the ocean, the weather is unpredictable and it may rain without any prior possibility as it did during our visit. P.S. Keep your umbrellas ready. A surprises addition to all of this was Vattakotai fort. It gave a vantage point to capture the seashore and the adjacent beaches. In no time we were back on the road towards Madurai after grabbing a quick breakfast.

Madurai is an ancient city which was part of the rich culture inspired by some of the greatest dynasties to ever rule the Indian subcontinent. The ancient city is the heritage hub and a major settlement over the past few centuries. The city comes out to be busy bustling with general activity and transportation. The major highlight of this place is the Meenakshi Amman temple which was indeed our sole purpose for a stopover here. The temple is at the center of the city and in fact is a city itself from within. The inner sanctum is lit with divas which teleport you to the time before electricity was discovered. There are thousands of pillar with intricate carvings in form of texts and pictures rendering the entire structure spellbinding. It was a treat to witness a historical landmark of this stature which carries the tales of the glorious past along with it.

The final leg of journey was to achieve a significant elevation in the desire to visit the princess of hills, Kodaikanal. We booked a boutique hotel to suit our purpose of relaxation after some treacherous days on the road. The accommodation turned out to be a surprise with beautiful wooden cottages and many other added settings. It had a pelting zoo of it's own along with a club house and a multi cuisine restaurant. We spent the day covering local sightseeing which to be honest are too many. You can give skip to a couple of them as they would mostly be repetitive. I would recommend visiting the pine forest, Gunna caves and Pillar rocks view point which are some memorable spots for selfies and group/family photos. We wrapped up early evening to enjoy the soothing weather relaxing into our resort. The night was excruciatingly cold as we wished to have enquired about the heater in advance.

Kodaikanal is ideally a 3 day affair. We had 2 days out of which 1 was already spent in the local sightseeing which was ideally fun and much needed. So the next day was a choice between the jungle route or the more distant excursion to Mannavanur Lake. We choose the later one as the former needed a forest permit to be issued a day before the travel which we didn't arrange. As forced as it sounded, Mannavanur turned out to be the best decision of the trip. A quaint lake situated on the outskirts of a crowded hill station with limited tourist activities was all that we needed. The lake was tucked away in a forest department governed area. As we did leave pretty early, we were the first on sight. Imagine having a pristine blue water lake surrounded by vast stretches of greenery all to yourself. We spent a good 2 hours soaking sun sitting besides the lake enjoying our moment of peace. Our lunch was served hot at Tava Restaurant, one of the best Punjabi cuisine restaurant on the entire tour. We went dolphin nose trek in the evening which can easily be given a miss. Too crowded, not worth it after a such having such a great time during first half of the day. We resorted to our cottage after a hearty meal to get some much needed sleep.