At the very tip of India

On the southern most tip of India was Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari. I visited this wind swept pilgrimage destination before the rows of souvenir stalls were constructed. I sheltered under a stone structure erected near the ocean but was interrupted by hawkers selling bottles of sand. Chanting like mantras, they claimed the bottles’ contents came from sand by the three seas—the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean which converged at India’s southern point.

The very structure I stood under, Kanyakumari. Photo courtesy Kainjock, Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kanyakumari_Temple.JPG

Having grown up not far from the sea, this was my solace. I’m not sure it would be any more when I see photos of hundreds of people lined up to cross to the off shore temple.

Featured image: Courtesy Mujeebcpy, Wikimedia Commons