Apr 4 – A Palace, a Rock Monument, and a Sunset

We awoke to sunny skies and lovely views of the water and palm trees in our resort.  

After breakfast we headed our for the southern most tip of India.  Some photos of our drive south.  We are paralleling the Western Ghats and fortunately were able to get photos of these lovely mountains. 

First stop was the tiny church, Thiruvithamcode Arappally Malankara Church or St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.  The church claims to be the world’s oldest church that still has daily prayers.  It was built by St. Thomas, known as the Apostle of India, in 63 AD.  It also claims to not have been reconstructed.

There was a line of worshipper’s to get into the tiny church to be blessed by the priest and to touch a cross that St. Thomas had carved with his own hands.

Some relics of St. Thomas kept in the chapel.  

A cloth had been pulled over the altar but the priest pulled it back briefly for Mary to see.  The others had already gone outside. 

Lighting candles at the church. 

It was a drive to our next stop.  Some beautiful scenery...

and more churches, temples, and mosques. 

Next stop was the Padmanabhapuram Palace.  The palace was bult in the early 17^th century and is considered one of the best examples of traditional Kerala architecture. 

There were beautifully carved ceilings and columns.

This dining room seated 5,000 people and there was an identical one below it that seated another 5,000.  This photo shows only half of the room.

The main meeting room for the king and his advisors.

More photos of the building and grounds.

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More Padmanabhapurm Palace
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We also stopped at the Udayagiri Fort Park.  Only the walls of the fort remain.  

A Monkey on the Wall

The interior park is a bit scruffy but shady and cool.  There were a few aviaries and a large pen with spotted deer. We mainly just roamed a bit.  An interesting tree with big pods. 

And a very colorful bug.

Teak logs.  Not sure how they got here but the guide said teak is protected and the logs can't be removed.  

We also took a walk through the part to the tomb of Dutchman Eustachius De Lannoy.  He arrived in India with the Dutch navy but eventually became an officer of the army of the local Maharaja.  He was instrumental in building the fort.  His tomb and the tomb of his family members are inside the church (although the church is in ruins now).

At lunch the restaurant had milkshakes.  And for an additional ten rupees you could get it with a scoop of ice cream floating on the flavored milk.

A drive down the road and we visited another fort, this one looked more like a fort, Vattakottai Fort, an 18^th century fort.    

Views of the distant mountains from the fort.

In the center was a large water tank. 

It had good views up and down the coastline.

Lots of Wind Turbines in the Distance

We eventually made it all the way to the most southern tip of India in Kanniyakumari.  As we drive through Kanniyakumari.

We had a short walk through some markets on our way to the ferry.

While waiting to board we had this view of the harbor and town. 

The ferry for the five minute trip over to Vivekananda Rock Memorial island.  Signs admonished riders to stay seated and take no photos.  Many were doing one or both.  But it was so jam packed that no one would have been able to enforce the signs, even if they were so inclined.

Photos of Kanyakumari from the ferry.

The legend is that Swami Vivekananda swam to the rock and meditated for three days and nights until he is said to have attained enlightenment.  There is a temple on the small island (no photos inside).

The island had a fresh water reservoir that had a 90,000 gallon capacity.  

This is a sunrise calendar that points to the direction of the sunrise on different dates. 

From the walls you could see the southern most tip of India where people were wading in the waters. 

There is another smaller island not far that has huge statue, the Thiruvalluvar Statue.  It is a 133 foot stone sculpture of the Tamil ancient poet and philosopher Valluvar (also known as Thiruvalluvar).

After settling into the hotel Tara and Paul headed out to watch the sunset from the southern tip.  The sunset was nothing spectacular but worth the visit. 

And the clouds were pretty impressive.