Photo of the week: Words of wisdom at the Vivekananda Ashram

When I visited Kanyakumari 2 years back to visit the southernmost point of mainland India (more about it here), I stayed at the Vivekananda Kendra (website link here) – which is an Ashram (which is a hermitage/monastic retreat which offers simple and peaceful accommodation facilities for vistors). The stay was very pleasant and enriching- it felt like going back to the basics – I didn’t do anything particularly spiritual like meditation or fasting, but the simplicity of life was simply enchanting.

The ashram was also very clean, spacious and pretty – with words of wisdom literally spread around in form of notice boards with quotes like these..

Indeed. How often do we stop and think about these things?

Have you visited an Ashram or a monastery before? How was your experience?

Wednesday Wanderings: Divine intervention at Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of India called me to it for a special reason.  However, most people visiting are there for a different reason – religion.

A temple at the meeting point of three seas, at the tip of the land of a subcontinent is almost destined to be a holy place, spreading its holiness through folklore and blogs.

But then, am not so easy to convince in such matters. Not so easily persuaded you see (unless it is 1. chocolate, 2. making travel plans). So, Kanyakumari conjured up a special surprise for me the day I went..

Divine intervention?

All I say is we live on a beautiful planet. 🙂

Let’s preserve it.

When you can see your whole country in front of you..

In a recent post, I mentioned how I chose Kanyakumari to be my latest travel destination. The objective was to reach the southernmost point of India completing the “tip-to-tip” traveling across the country ‘fantasy’.. Well, I did it. And when I reached the Triveni Sangam (translated as : Confluence of the trio (of seas)), I felt a deep sense of exhilaration.

I even made an impromptu video with my digicam capturing the atmosphere at the special spot, and yes, I do sound a bit breathless.. I was excited! 🙂

I hope you enjoy the video..

How I chose my latest travel destination : Simple logic!

This June, I went on what I (used to?) call ‘the trip of a lifetime’ – a trip to the dreamy deserted land of Ladakh. Ladakh is a part of the state of Jammu & Kashmir, the northernmost state of India.

What this entailed was a flight to Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. And then a road-trip from Srinagar to Leh, the capital of Ladakh, via National Highway NH-1D. The road went through beautiful green hills and valleys, 13000 feet high passes and weird sandstone landscape, war memorials and Buddhist monasteries.. but in the context of this post, what is more important is – I passed through the northernmost point of India reachable by a public road. Look at the map below (map courtesy Wikipedia):

Well, it was an amazing trip, and I’ll most likely be harping about it for months to come..
You might question – how is all this relevant to choosing a travel destination? It’s quiet simple. I travelled to the northernmost point of India (atleast one I could reach). What’s next?

Obviously – The southernmost point of India! Kanyakumari!

So I went to Kanyakumari – at he the confluence of the three mighty seas – the Indian Ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea – the southernmost point of mainland India.

I don’t know how people define a ‘traveler’ or why anyone likes to travel? But for me, it’s pretty simple. I just love to see new places, it’s the journey, it’s the thrill to reach a new destination that gives me the motivation to travel. The choice of going to Kanyakumari – for some it might defy logic, but it makes perfect sense to me. Doesn’t it? 🙂

After all, now I can claim with pride – I have traveled from tip to tip of India! 😀

Wednesday Wanderings: Sunrise at Kanyakumari

Here’s some mid-week travel inspiration..

At Kanyakumari, the southernmost point of India.

(Click on the photograph to get the high resolution version)