The idol of Kanyakumari whom Adi Sankara extolled in his `Soundaryalahari'

"Adi Sankara exclaimed, "O Mother your right eye being the Sun creates day and your left eye being the Moon creates night". The rising Sun and the setting Sun can only be seen at Kanniyakumari. On the full-moon days the rising Moon and the setting Sun can be simultaneously seen only at Kanniyakumari and not elsewhere. Chithra Pournami is a scene of beauty par-excellence. " - A new light on Adi Sankara -S.Padmanabhan- the Hindu April 23, 2004.

Namostu Varade ! Krishne ! Kumari ! Brahmachaarini !
Baalaarkasadrisaakaare ! Poornachandranibhaanane !
Trailokyarakshanaarthaaya Mahishaasuranaasini !
Prasannaa me Surashreshthe ! Dayam Kuru Sive ! Bhave !

Meaning:

"Obeisance unto Thee, O, bestower of boons ! Dark hued !
Kumari ! Reveller in the Vedas !
Resplendent likethe rising Sun
With face lovely like the full- moon,
For the safetly of the three worlds,
Didst thou kill the demon Mahisha,
Mayest thou be ever present to me ,
O, great among Divine Ones !
Show mercy unto me and bless me !

---The Mahabharatha. Temples of Tamilnad. R.K. Das.

The Legend:

In times immemorial Bana and Muka were two demons who gave trouble to the devas. The devas approached the gods, but as is usual, the gods were of little help to the devas and finally with their backs to the wall, the devas approached Lord Kasi Viswanatha as the ultimate alternative for help and succour. Kasi Viswanatha who is none other than Lord Siva, the eternal Destroyer, invoked his sakthi, the partner in his life, and with his yogic powers created two Divinities. One assumed the form of Kali and took her abode at Kalighat in Calcutta, and the other a charming young virgin (Parashakthi in disguise) chose her place of residence in Cape Comorin, where the mighty Indian Ocean meets with its two siblings the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal.

About ten kilometers away, is the Temple of Suchindram, which is the abode of Lord Siva and when he espied this Divine Virgin and Celestial Beauty he felt he must have her as his consort. He expressed his desire to the devas, who opposed him tooth and nail but were afraid to express their views because none had the courage to oppose the Lord of Suchindram. The devas wished that Parashakthi in her present form should remian a virgin, so that she will retain her sakthi to defeat the demons.

The devas then decided to co-opt Narada in their scheme of things, and it was decided that the marriage would take place, albeit on an auspicious midnight.

The auspicious day rather midnight came and the Lord of Suchindram decked in all finery set foot towards the Kanni Ambalam, where the Celestial Virgin was awaiting his arrival with bated breath. {Kanni Ambalam = Temple of the Virgin}

Now Narada, true to his self played a mischief. Assuming the form of a cock, he, crowed, heralding the dawn and stopped the Lord of Suchindram in his tracks, so to say. Dismayed that the auspicious time had slipped by and greatly disappointed the Lord re-traced his steps to Suchindram.

On the other side, Goddess Kanniyakumari, the virgin Goddess was eagerly anticipating the union between her and her Lord and Master, the Lord of Suchindram. She was waiting for the auspicious hour to commence and commence it did, but without the arrival of her Lord. She waited till dawn, and still HE did not arrive. Disappointed, and disgraced, she went back to her Kanni Ambalam ever to remain a virgin and never to marry. And when Banasura in his stupidity proposed to her he was rewarded with his slaying by her. The deity, Devi Kanniyakumari is the Guardian Angel of India's shore-lines and has an exceptionally brilliant diamond on her nose ring which shines out to sea over long distance.

Narada, knew, that it was pre-ordained that the King of Demons Banasura would meet his end only at the hands of a Virgin and hence he had to play this subterfuge. One more reason, why we say Naradar Kalagam Nallathil Mudiyum.

According to another legend, it is said that Lord Anjaneya dropped a piece of earth, as he was carrying the Sanjivani Hills from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka during the Rama-Ravana battle to revive the dead and dying soldiers of Sri Rama. This piece of earth is called "Marunthuvazh Malai" meaning the hills where medicinal herbs live. This could be a reason, for the abundance of unique herbal plants in this strip of land, which is also the home of many practitioners of various branches of ancient India's tradition of good health, ayurveda, siddha and varma kalai.

Geographically, Kanniyakumari is a cape, located in the southern most tip of the Indian Pennisula and during the British Rule it was christened as Cape Comorin. At the confluence of the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, there are two fairly large red cliffs which jut out of the blue waters, where Swami Vivekananda used to meditate and when the sun was scorching his physical body he would plunge in to the oceans to cool himself. Hence one of the cliff is known as Vivekananda Rock. It is the site for the Vivekananda Rock Memorial which was built in 1970. On the rock adjacent to it is the towering statue of the great Tamil Poet Tiruvalluvar. It is 133 ft tall and one of the biggest statues in Asia.

Near to the Kanniyakumari Temple is the Gandhi Memorial, which was built on the spot where the urn containingGandhiji's ashes were kept for a public darshan before immersing a part of it in the Oceans. This memorial resembles an Oriyan Temple, and its uniqueness is that every year on October 2nd. the sun's rays fall on the exact place where the urn was kept. The Tamilnadu Government has arranged ferry services for a visit to these three places of tourist interest.

Kanniyakumari is a very popular tourist spot. It draws visitors not only from India, but from other parts of the world. Photographers find it a delight, because of the lush green vegetation, majestic hills of the Western Ghats and the emerald coloured border of the seas.

Visitors arrive in their hundreds, to watch the early sunrise and the sunset. In fact, this is the only place in India, where one can see both the sunrise and sunset. Because of the meeting point of three water bodies - the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea - the spectacular sunrise/sunset sight is considered very special. On Chitra Pournami (full moon) days one can have this celestial view of the sun and moon, face to face at the same time on the same horizon. At this point of time the beach becomes a beautiful sight with multi-coloured sand of sunset yellow and pearl white of the moon rise.

Nagercoil, is the capital of Kanniyakumari district, which is 22 kms from Kanniyakumari, and Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala is ata hailing distance of 85 kms.There are two national Highways that serve this beautiful spot - NH 7 & NH 47. Kanniyakumari was under the rule of the Kings of Travancore under the overall control of the British till 1947.
Thiruvidancore joined the independent Indian Union in 1947 and the Royal rule came to an end. In 1949 when the present Kerala was reconstitued as Travancore-Cochin State Kanniyakumari became part of that reconstitued Travancore-Cochin State.

Kanniyakumari was prosperous, with the highest literacy rate in those times (even now)and by a popular ? agitation, a demand was put up that it should merge / amalgamate with the adjacent Madras State. The progenitor of this monstrosity is Thiru M.A. Nesamani. In the initial stages the Central Government at Delhi soft pedalled this issue but when the demand was intensified, it caved in, and eventually Kanniyakumari was integrated with the Madras State in 1956 as per the language-based reorganisation of States.

People of this district[one of the 30 and the smallest] celebrate both Tamil and Keralite (Malayalam) festivals, apart from religious festivals. Tamil Pongal festival and Keralite Onam festival are both popular in the district.

Kanniyakumari District has important religious sites for all three major religions in the district, viz., Christianity, Hinduism and Islam.

Why don't you make a visit?

Rajaputhran.

PS: Photographs courtesy siplaquamarine@sobha.co.in. VP.