India 2012 - Kanyakumari
Kanyakumari is a small town at the most southern tip of the indian subcontinent.
Today it is a very popular tourist spot - for Indian tourists especially - and hosts several memorials like the Gandhi Memorial, Swami Vivekanada Memorial and Thiruvalluvar Statue as well as the 3000 years old Bhagvavathy Amman Temple which is dedicated to the goddes Kumari Amman and mentioned in the old Hindu texts like Ramayana, Mahabaradha and Purananooru.
Gandhi Memorial Mandapam
Mahatma Gandhi was assasinated on January 30th 1948 in Delhi at the age of 79. In accordance with Hindu tradition his body was cremated in Delhi. But differing from tradition not all his ashes were immersed in water.
The ashes of his body were divided into small portions and distributed among his family and friends or sent on tour through india before they were used in a public ceremony and finally immersed in water.
One of the urns that "went on tour" was immersed at the southern tip of India at Kanyakumari. Today the spot where the urn was on display is marked by a memorial
building. The central plinth is said to be the exact place where it was kept. The building is designed in a way that on Gandhis birthday, October 2nd, the first sunrays touch the
plinth.
Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda (1863 - 1902) is one of the most influential Hindu monks in recent history especially in terms of introducing Hinduism and its philosophy to the world. His name by birth was Narendranath Datta and since 1881 he was the disciple of guru Ramakrishna and later founded the order of Ramakrishna.
Since 1970 one of the two rock islands south of Kanyakumari hosts a memorial in honour of Swami Vivekananda. Since 1888 Narendranath had travelled through India as a travelling monk for five years. When he came to Kanyakumari he swam to this rock and after several days of meditation without food and water he reached enlightment - so the legend goes. Later in 1893 he went as a delegate of the Hindu faith to the Parliament of the World's religions in Chicago USA.
Thiruvalluvar Memorial
Thirvalluvar ist the spiritual father of one of the greatest philosophical text collections of ethics and moral in Tamil language, the Tirukkural. It consists of 3 sections with altogether 1330 poems in 133 chapters. Each poem consists of 2 lines with exactly 4 and 3 words only - this type of poem is called Kural and represents the most important kind and form of Tamil poems.
It is not exactly known when Thiruvalluvar lived. But research on his works and the texts of other authors referencing the Tirukkural leads to the conclusion that he lived around 2nd century BCE.
In tribute to poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar a statue with a hight of exactly 133 feet was erected on a small rock island in front of the shore line of Kanyakumari. It has a total weight of 7000 tons and it was officially opened on January 1st 2000.
The pedestal on which the statue stands represents the section about "virtue". The statue itself represents "wealth" and "pleasure". Hence virtue is the base of wealth and pleasure.
Sunrise @ Kanyakumari
Every morning before dawn thousands of people gather at the most southern tip at the shoreline of Kanyakumari - respectively the Indian Subcontinent - to await the first rays of the sun...
Our Lady of Ransom
Our Lady of Ransom is a catholic church with a dedicated strong gothic portugese style. It is located in the heart of Kanyakumari near the shoreline and the old harbour.
The catholic parish at Kanyakumari consist of about 3000 families.
They claim that St Thomas of the twelve apostels showed around in his time - a theory said to be supported by archeological evidence.
Another famous visitor was St. Francis Xavier in 1542. His earthly remains are on display in Old Goa.
