Road Trip to Tip of India – Bangalore to Kanyakumari

In April we went on a road trip from Bangalore to Kanyakumari in our Fiat Palio. The 3 of us started off early in the morning at 4 pm to beat the traffic and headed on NH 7 which is a 4 lane highway. The road is excellently maintained although we need to pay tolls (total of Rs. 640) at frequent intervals.  The route was Bangalore-Salem-Namakkal-Karur-Dindigul-Madurai-Tirunelveli-Kanyakumari, total of 681 kms which we covered in 9 hrs. We reached Kanyakumari in 9 hrs with short breaks for breakfast at Arya Bhavan(near Dindigul) and lunch(packed to save waiting time in restaurants!) As the weather and road conditions were good we could cover every 100km in approx 1 hr each. 

As we arrived near Kanyakumari, we were clearly in a Windmill country – lots of windmills spinning  in the backdrop of mountains. Reached Kanyakumari at 2.00 pm and checked into Hotel Tamilnadu which is on Light House Main road very near to the sea shore.  We freshened up and immediately went to take the ferry to visit Vivekananda Rock.

Reached Kanyakumari at 2.00 pm and checked into Hotel Tamilnadu(maintained by Tamilnadu Tourism) which is on Light House Main road and very near to the sea shore.  We freshened up and immediately went to take the ferry to visit Vivekananda Rock.  The memorial stands on a rock about 500mts from Vavathurai, India’s sourthernmost tip.  On this rock is also the Devi Sripadam – the footprint of goddess Parvati where she meditated on one foot to wed Shiva. The Trisea colors are very clearly visible here and it gives a high to be standing a few meters outside the tip of peninsular India.

In the evening we witnessed the beautiful sunset and walked on the Kanyakumari beach road which is littered with vendors selling sea shells and spices. Lot of eateries serve idlis and ghee road dosas-  Tamilnad specialties. 

The next day we woke early to catch the beautiful sight of sunrise. Thereafter spent some time in Tsunami Memorial and Gandhi Dham where Gandhiji’s ashes were kept before immersion in the trisea. After a sumptuous breakfast of ghee roast dosas we headed to Suchindram Temple which is 15 kms away. It is the only temple where the trinity (Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma) is represented in a single idol.

Around noon we hit the Tirunelveli highway to reach Rameswaram.  Route was again on NH 7 -

Kanyakumari – Suchindrum – Tirunelveli – Sivalaperi -  Ramanathapura – Rameshwaram

Total 300 kms  - 4 hrs 53 mins  The roads  in Tamil Nadu are good. From Tirunelveli to Sivalperi it is a nice countryside drive passing through state highway.

By 5pm we were on the magnificient Pamban Bridge which connects the island of Rameshwaram to the hinterland of India. Views of tiny boats in the ocean bathed in the hue of the setting sun and the train whizzing across the ocean is simply breathtaking.  Rameswaram is considered as Dakshin Kashi and the famous Ramanathaswamy temple is located here.  The diety is the shivalinga worshipped by Rama after his return from Lanka. The temple is an architectural marvel famed for its huge corridors.

On day 3 we woke up early and started in a jeep at 6.30 am to visit Dhanushkodi which is about 20 kms from Rameshwaram. The road is very good till we hit the sand and from there on it is a bumpy ride in the jeep to land’s end on the white sand, interspersed with water and with Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal  on either side.  Dhanuskodi is a ghost town with about 400 people inhabiting it.  A cyclone hit the village in 1964 and the overturned rails, shattered railway station are still evident.  The place has no electricity or any medical facilities whatsoever. Once we get off the jeep, we walked for about 2-3 kms in the sand, literally till the land ended!  It was a wow moment! There were 2 oceans at arm’s length ! Sri Lanka is just 23 kms from here.  It is from here that Sugriva’s army constructued the Rama Setuve (bridge) to rescue Sita.

After returning from Dhanushkodi, at noon we hit the road again to go to Madurai which was 200kms away. Road conditions being very good, it was a smooth drive to the temple town. The Madurai Meenakshi temple is renowned for its architecture with awesome sculptures. 

Thereafter we came out of the crazy traffic of Madurai town and headed home back to Bangalore in the now familiar NH 7.

We had reached the tip of peninsular India in Kanyakumari,  been to the island of Rameshwaram, reached land’s end in Dhanushkodi, marvelled at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai and were back at home in 3 days after driving a total of 1700kms.