Dakshin Vihar – a Travelogue of trip to Kanyakuamari and other places

Traveling and visiting new places has been always a part of learning and education. A proverb in Kannada says, ‘Read the books; Roam around the world’ (kOsha Odu dEsha suttu). We Indians also have concept of Teerthayatra, visiting holy shrines; a unique blend of traveling and spirituality, which is a lifetime wish of each Hindu. The idea of Teerthayatra is not just religious endeavor, but also binds India and Indians in a single cultural thread.

As part of education as well as Teerthayatra a bunch of Bangalore RSS IT Milan Svayamsevaks with four senior Pracharaks; Shri Narayan Sherve, Pranth Saha Baudhik Pramukh, Dr Suresh Nayak Pranth Karyakarini Member and IT Milan margadarshak, Shri Nataraj and Shri Nagabhushan Pranth Karyalay Pramukh and Bhandar Pramukh respectiviely, went on a Sahal to Kanyakumari and other places last week (13 to 17 March 2013).

The daylong journey from Bangalore on train Kanyakumari Express took us through terrains and along the beautiful back waters of coastal Kerala. Morning we were served a delicious breakfast of Appam, Vada and Chatni by Sri Raveendraji Jilla Pracharak and others Svayamsevaks of Trissur  Few hours later at Chenganur station Sri Girishji with other svayamsevaks  were waiting with lunch packs. The lunch packed in plantain leaves, contained traditional Kerala big rice, chatni, curry, pickle, sambar etc. Both breakfast and lunch were prepared in homes of Svayamsevaks; besides gratifying our tongue and stomach the food also served us to feel the care our fellow Svayamsevaks of Kerala showed on us.

We reached Kanyakumari around 8pm on 14^th March and stayed in Vivekananda Kendra, where already rooms were booked for us.

Our next day began with Suryanamaskar and Prarthana at Sunrise on the sea shore of Kanyakumari. After breakfast we roamed around Vivekananda Kendra, had darshan at Kumari Amman temple, and visited Swami Vivekananda Rock memorial. And later in the evening during sunset took a dip in holy sangam ie the confluence of Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean.

Kanyakumari also known formerly as Cape Camorin is the southern most place of mainland India.  As visualized by Swami Vivekananda himself while meditating on the rock where a majestic and beautiful memorial stands now, it is the feet of Bharatma, continuously being washed by waves of three seas. In the Indian Ocean nearly 500m from mainland, lies the Vivekananda Rock on which Swamiji had meditated for three days in the month of December 1892 before launching his mission to west. The construction a memorial in was conceptualized during his birth centenary year, 1963 and it was dedicated to Nation in the year 1970. Inside the beautiful Vivekananda Mandapam a captivating tall bronze statue of Swami Vivekananda is installed. A meditation hall is also attached to memorial. The rock on which the memorial stands has been regarded as a sacred place also. As per the mythical tradition it has been known as 'Sripada Parai', meaning the rock that has been blessed by the touch of ‘the sacred feet’ of the Devi Kumari. A mandapam known as Sripada Mandapam adds to the sanctity of the place.

There was a dispute on the ownership of the rock before 1963 since Christian Church claimed it as St Xavier rock and went on to erect cross on it. It led to protest from Hindu people and finally the Tamilnadu Government had decree the rock as Vivekananda Rock and gave permission only to put up a tablet declaring that the rock is associated with Vivekananda. An undercurrent of building a memorial was prevalent among the masses and a district level Kanyakumari Committee was under functioning for the cause. The committee felt the necessity of an All India level committee consisting of prominent people. At this juncture Sri Eknathji Ranade filled the gap on behest of Sri Guruji, Pa Pu Sarasanghachalak of RSS. Without the able and dynamic leadership of Sri Eknathji it would have been impossible to build and take the rock memorial to a glory on which it stands today. Another important milestone along with the memorial, which is again a brainchild of Sri Eknathji, is Vivekananda Kendra- a living memorial, which carries out the Swami Vivekananda’s work of man making and nation building. The Kendra founded on 1972 has it’s headquarter in Vivekanandapuram on seashore of Kanyakumari and carries out its social service activities throughout India. Both the Rock Memorial and Vivekananda Kendra are the live examples of vision, missionary zeal and dedication of a true Svayamsevak Sri Eknathji Ranade. We visited his Samadhi at Kendra and paid our homage.

At Kendra we met and felicitated Sri Lakshmanan, who had bravely removed the cross illegally constructed on Vivekananda Rock and at a young age of 23, leading a group of 10-15 young men strongly protested the forced occupation of the rock by Christian Church. We could here from Sri Lakshmanan himself the story of the tense period when the Christian Church tried to take the rock into their captivity and erect the cross on it. It is because of courage and dedication of people like Sri Lakshmanan, the sacred place where Swami Vivekananda had revelation is saved for us.

Filling ourselves with immense gratification at Swami Vivekanandas Dhyanabhoomi and Mananeeya Sri Eknathji’s Karmabhoomi we left that night to Rameshvaram a place of historical importance and contemporary political contention triggered because of Sethu Samudram project.

Rameshvaram is situated in Pamban Island joined to the mainland by a 2.5KM long Pamban Bridge.  According to Ramayana Lord Rama along with Sita and brother Lakshmana prayed Shiva here in Rameshvaram, to absolve any sins that he might have committed during his war Ravana. Another legend also tells Lord Rama prayed Shiva before constructing a Sethu to Lanka. Shiva is the presiding deity of this huge Ramanathswamy temple. The temple in current structure is built by Pandyans in 12^th century.  There are some 21 wells whose water is considered sacred and devotees take holy bath from water of these wells. Rameshvaram is also the Karmabhoomi, we can find lot of people performing post death rituals on the seashore.

After the darshan of Lord Ramanathswamy we visited Dhanuskoti from where the mythological Ram Sethu begins. There is no road connecting to tip of Dhanushkoti, it was washed away in tsunami of 1963 as well as 2004. We could see the remains of Dhanushkoti railway station. Only Mahindra jeep and metadoors can take near the tip of Dhanuskoti. We cannot see the Ram Sethu since it is under water only 1m to 10m deep. The 30km long bridge of chain of limestone shoals joins Pamban Island with Mannar Island of Srilanka and separate Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar. It is said that road connectivity on the bridge was existed till 15^th century. On the way to Dhanushkoti we stopped at a temple where the legends tell that the coronation of Vibheeshana as the King of Lanka was held, after the Ravana was killed in the battle.

Later in the afternoon we left to Madurai hiring a private bus and spent the night in Sangh Karyalaya. Next day early morning after Pratahsmaran and Prarthana we visited Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple and had darshan.

Madurai is a temple city, Meenakshi Sundareshvara Temple or Meenakshi Amman Kovil is a historical temple located on the southern bank of river Vaigai. Mythologically the temple is said to have built by Indra; the reference to temple is found in 7^th century itself. The temple in current structure is built around 1623-1655. The temple is dedicated to Parvati known as Meenakshi here and her consort, Shiva known as Sundareshvara. The beautiful temple architecture houses 14 Gopuram each of height 45-50m. The central gold plated Gopuram houses the presiding deities of the temple complex. On the way to darshan of Sundareshvara Swamy a majestic Natarja sculpture is installed.  The specialty of this Nataraja in Madurai temple is that unlike other Chola Nataraja sculptures this is shown carved dancing with his right leg raised. The temple complex has a hall called "Aayiram Kaal Mandapam" or Thousand Pillar Hall (it contains 985 instead of 1000 carved pillars). It looks the temple was the prime centre of art and culture in olden days. Due to constraint of time we couldn’t spend much time at the temple. I feel one need minimum a week’s time to watch and feel the beautiful sculptures and carvings.

Our final destination of visit was Tanjavuru where a monumental example of grand temples of Chola era is present. The temple is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Great Living Chola Temples". Built in 1010AD by Rajaraja Chola on behest of his Guru, the granite carvings of temple ‘Peruvudaiyar Kovil,’ also known as big temple stood as a beacon of stone art in India. The main gopuram also called Vimana has Kalasha on or the apex structure which is made of two monolithic granite of 40tonns each. It was a mystery for centuries how this mega stone is raised to the apex of the Gopuram which is 66m height? A 16feet high Nandi sculpture of single stone attracts as we enter the huge temple campus. The main deity of the temple Brihadeshvara lingam is to its name very big; it is 12 feet high and 5 feed in radius. Since it got the tag of UNESCO world heritage tag we won’t find any shops or bargainers inside the temple complex and also it is quiet clean, well maintained and less crowded.   

Our four day long travel through historical and sacred places around Tamilnadu concluded with darshan of Brihadeshvara. We traveled back to our karmabhoomi that night on Myaladuthurai Express. Through our yatra we saw many places, visit many, hear many stories and incidences; overall it gave the glimpses of rich diverse and unbroken cultural heritage of our motherland and its people.  Also we could feel ourselves the significance of Theerthyatra, the sacred touring.

No travelogue is complete without mentioning interesting bites happened during the trip, here are few:

Nataraj ji had booked our railway tickets and were not confirmed for the travel of journey from Kanyakumari to Rameshvam and also from Tanjavuru to Bangalore. So whenever he gets time he would  catch hold of a mobile and start checking the status, and update us the latest waiting list status.

One of our svayamsevaks was blessed with the capability to sleep with snoring within 2mins wherever he sits. So while on night travel from Kanyakumari to Rameshvaram, we were on RAC and somehow in night he found a free upper bearth and slept there. Morning at Rameshvaram station every got down, but this person was missing! After a quick search we found him having a sound sleep alone inside a completely empty coach and the train was supposed to leave within next 2 seconds.

Nagabhushan ji is man with nice humorous sense. His quick witted statements used to burst us with laughter. We were standing and sitting in darshan queue in Madurai temple. Tired of waiting, one of us told ‘Bhushanji kuch keejiye’. Bhushanji in a polite way replied ‘Tretayug me Ram the, dvapar me Krishna the, aur… Kaliug me Bhushan’. With sudden twist everyone burst into laughter which eased our fatigue.

Link to photo directory (Photos by Sri Raghavendra Bhat): http://tamilnadumar2013.shutterfly.com/