Kanyakumari: The southern most tip of India

We had some friends visit us from Austria and we traveled with them for 10 days from Kochi to Chennai. On the way we stopped at Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of India surrounded on three sides by sea. The name comes from the Devi Kanya Kumari who is regarded as the sister of Lord Krishna. Tourism is the main source of income for this region since the 1970s. The owner of the hotel where we stayed told us that there are around 54 varieties of bananas that grow here and out of them around 27 varieties are edible by humans and others are used as food for animals. Also Kanyakumari town is a big pilgrimage area. The temple here is a rare place where the deity who is the Mother goddess is worshipped as a child. People who desire to devote their life as a Sanyasi (a Hindu holy man who is a homeless mendicant) come here to take the vows.
There was a huge statue we could see from the edge of India. It was a 40.5m tall statue of a famous Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvallur, who wrote about ethics, political and economical matters, and love. From the edge, we could also see a memorial for Swami Vivekananda, who was key to introducing the Indian philosophies of Yoga and Vedanta to the western world. It was built in 1970 in honour of Swami Vivekananda who is said to have attained enlightenment on this rock.

Nearby the beach was the Gandhi Memorial Mandapam which was built on the spot where the urn containing the Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were kept for public viewing before immersion. Resembling central Indian Hindu temples in form, the memorial was designed in such a way that on Mahatma Gandhi's birthday, 2 October, the first rays of the sun fall on the exact place where his ashes were kept.

The sunset was spectacular but unfortunately due to lack to public facilities, the rocky beach was covered with filth and trash. We spent enough time in India that we compartmentalised our brains to be able enjoy the sunset and ignore rest of the surroundings :)