Thiruchendur was an after thought. It was not on our agenda initially..when we drew our journey plan,we had only madurai, rameswaram , palani and kodaikanal on our lists.We only had a week, and anasuya was aggressively campaigning for three days at kodai."what are u going to do there for three days?"her father , much mystified , asked her."How long can we keep looking at trees?". you see,.. my husband believed in quantity...He was that type of tourist to whom the more number of placec you see, the better.so, when srinivas "s family also joined us, we changed our plans, much to anasuya"s disgust allotted only one day for kodai, fitted in the cape and because it was on the way, thiruchendur got into the schedule.
On our return ,sundaram drove his qualis just after three km or so from kanyakumari ,veered slightly to the right and stopped before what looked like the ramparts of a ruined fort, said it was VATTAKOTTAI FORT and told us to go in..ItWAS an old fort,....only parts of it"s basement still standing there..... lawns were neatly kept ....and a party of school children were being marched out by their teachers as we went in.when you climb the rather wide large stone steps(set at the inner most side of the fort) you reach the upper terraces from where you get a breathtaking view of the sea.To the both sides of us,seeming to extend to infinity, lay the palm lined shoreline.....It was interesting how beaches seemed to vary, though on the face of it it was all just sea and shores......the one at dhanushkodi was wiiiiild, at cape it was just touristy,....here at vattakottai, it had a luxurious look, almost like a carefully preserved private beach.We inwardly thanked sundaram for bringing us there.Otherwise we could have missed it.It was lovely ,and we wished we coud go and play with the waves.
To go to thiruchendur, we had to go back the way we came the previous day, till the town of thirunelveli,wherefrom we took a diversion to the right.We had lunch at thirunelveli at RAMPRASAD"S,.sundaram recommended it as the best for veggies, and Sure enough, we found it was.I thought i had seen many eateries,but this one took the cake as far as numbers go,..It served a record no of almost twenty items, i wondered if anybody could really do justice to such meals.
Compared to the other roads we have travelled previously,the one to thiruchendur was more eye pleasing,.greener,..It went through some fine orchards, and banana plantations that i wondered if they had better water resources there.
Thiruchendur itself, dry and dusty ,looked like a big village or a smaller town,whichever way you chose.The temple,s location was beautiful.Just on the edges of the sea,one felt the waves would come in and touch the feet of the lord, if a really gusty wind came in. It had a large, outer prakaram, and very dark interiors.There was a heavy rush of pilgrims too on that day at 4.30 or so in the afternoon. People in hundreds were waiting in the queues,while hundreds were bathing outside in the sea.
As usual we went for the special darshan,and as usual we were handed over to someone,...this time ,he was very young priest,a frail looking young man with handsome features... Only he looked as if he needed some vitamin injections..He insisted on speaking english...and hurried us through the queues,to the sanctum,and then asked us to climb a railing...yes...really....From there we caught a glimpse of the lord...for few seconds i suppose....then again to the right....another moorthi....this one was better visible,..the lord, even for those few seconds made us feel it was worth it. .....he was so resplendent....with the vibhuthirekhas,..with his lovely ornaments, and the goodhumoured smile..He is said to be in a generous mood here, still flush with his victory over the demons...and before one can say JACK ROBINSON,..the darshan was over..well ..well... The rush was so heavy...we felt we were fortunate enough for this at least.The young priest then took us outside and repeatedly enquired if we were happy.We assured him we were.
Later we went to the beach and stood there for sometime looking at the bathing pilgrims, at the evening sky, at the small boats sailing away , while the kids played with the waves.
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