People go to Kanyakumari to watch the sunrise and sunset over Triveni Sangam. Triveni Sangam is the place where the Indian ocean, the Bay of Bengal, and the Arabian sea meet. This may be the only place in the world where three oceans meet. The meeting point is indicated by a flag (see picture). It is considered auspicious to have a dip at Triveni sangam during sunset or sunrise. When I had my holy dips at the Sangam, it was a full moon night. During the day I visited a church built by St Thomas, the Peer Mohammed dargha, and Swamithope Pathi, and I spend the evening watching the sunset and the moon rise right at the Triveni Sangam. It was truly a blessed day. Blessed by all major Indian religions.
That was the only day we saw a sunset. All the while we were there the sun stayed hidden in the clouds. I went to seek the sun to Kanyakumari and the sun chose to stay hidden. What I found, instead, was a lot of lost Indian history. Nothing is wasted in travel.
We took the train from Mangalore to Trivandrum, then we took a taxi to Kanyakumari. Thus, this trip covered a good part of Kerala too. On the way from Trivandrum to Kanyakumari, we saw the church built by St Thomas, the Peer Mohammed dargha, and Swamithope Pathi. On the way back from Kanyakumari, we focused mainly on the palaces of Travancore rulers. We also saw Colachel which is an ancient port mentioned by Vasco De Gama and a beautiful temple at Suchindram. These experiences are discussed in following posts in greater detail.
My trip to Kanyakumari has made me thirst even more for a better understanding of Indian history. One way to access Indian history is through India's religions. Since ancient spiritual leaders traveled mainly by foot, the Indian civilization is mainly limited from Kanyakumari to Himalayas. At these two end points, spiritual leaders settled and formed philosophies. Yes, Kanyakumari is a very important gateway to understanding Indian spirituality.
