[Assam] South India Pilgrimage

Fri Jan 11 10:40:17 PST 2008

The best place to visit/stay in Kanyakumari is
Vivekananda Kendra . We stayed there in a earlier
visit (did not get acco during last trip). Do not
expect luxury but you will like it.  However,  advance
booking is must.
In fact,  out of all south Indian cities, I liked
Kanyakumari (and  Mysore) the most ... may be because
I found people (even touts)  very friendly and
helpful.  

Somehow, I did not find Trivandrum or Kanyakumari to
be that dirty. May be my expectations were low. I have
been there a couple of times. Or it might depend upon
which place you visit. 

BTW,  Kovalam is definitely good but my vote goes to
Goa beaches even when I compare to some of the beaches
in US.  Goa has a lot of variety and though it seems
to have been a bit dirty in recent years, it is
cleaner then most other places.

Alpana-ba,  did you visit the Art gallery in
Trivandrum .... the paintings by Ravibarma. 

>>>Women too were required to wear a dhoti. A
>>concession is made for them>though, they could wear
>>it over the sari/mekhela/etc. And of course
>>they>could keep wearing the top.

>>I need to make a little correction on what Ramgopal
>>has just said....

Women are allowed to enter the temple ONLY with Sarees
(or Mekhela-Saador, I assume). But if they are wearing
Salwar-Kurta, pants, etc., they have to wrap around a
dhoti over that outfit. 

That's how the shops outside the temple survive, I
guess. 

So, it's all about money.

And yes, visiting the Vivekananda 'temple' - was like
a chore to be finished. Meditation? what is that?

In order to make spiritual progress you must be
patient like a tree and humble like a blade of grass
- Lakshmana

> Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:20:07 -0600> To: assam at
assamnet.org> From: cmahanta at charter.net> Subject:
Re: [Assam] South India Pilgrimage> > I have not
entered a temple since I got defecated on by vultures
( I > mean REAL vultures-the birds) outside Kamakhya,
which I did not enter > after taking a peek into the
dark abyss with my fellow boarders> from Don Bosco,
one Sunday afternoon, when we hiked up Narakasur Hill
> ( or is it Nilachal?) in one of those mandatory long
marches that DBS > was well known for. The filth
always turns me off. I remember the > repulsive
environment at Puri from an architectural tour in
1964. > What I could never understand is how the
environment of a place for > prayer or spiritual
redemption can be as vile as Hindu temples in > India
are and how the devotees accept them as either the
norm or > inevitable.> > > Was it not an unusually
enlightened :-) Sankaracharyya or some Hindu >
intellectual who wondered why he has to go to a Temple
if the gods > are omnipresent or something to that
effect? A very astute question > I thought :-).> > I
do understand that there might be some value to
rituals as a > vehicle of faith.> > > But like this?>
> > What gives?> > > > > > > > > > At 10:43 AM -0600
1/11/08, Ram Sarangapani wrote:> >On the way heading
back from our trip to Kovalam beach (and Kerala), the>
>driver convinced us that a trip to the Padbhanama
temple was really the> >thing to do... you know, good
for the soul, etc.> >> >Trivandrum is also one of
those dirtiest places on earth not to visit> >again,
if possible. The temple (an old one) occupies probably
an entire city> >block or more.> >> >Well, we parked,
and about to visit, when we were told that it was>
>imperative for us to wear dhotis to enter the temple.
The men, were required> >to wear only a dhoti - no
pants, shirts, ganji, wallet, and of course shoes.>
>Women too were required to wear a dhoti. A concession
is made for them> >though, they could wear it over the
sari/mekhela/etc. And of course they> >could keep
wearing the top.> >> >The touts who sell some
threadbare dhotis are also around to make it easy.>
>The driver advised to keep all our clothes, wallets
etc in the car, and for> >us to finish our darsan.
That kind of scared me. This was a rental car. What>
>if the driver decided to take off? I only had a few
Rs. in my hand - no> >passport, id or whatever. Gave
me the shivers ... but lucky for us the> >driver was a
good man.> >> >Anyway, while the temple itself was
impressive, inside it was sheer chaos.> >There were
touts wanting you to part with your Rs.> >There was
one guy, right at the gate, armed with a huge bamboo
staff. He> >came running to inspect Alpana's bag - no
wallets, cell phones etc. The> >cabbie, again came to
our rescue - he held these for us.> >> >Inside there
is this other guy, who sells 4 small earthenware lamps
(with> >oil) for Rs 100 or something. These are in a
plate, you take the lamps, pour> >out the oil in a
container, which the oilman, I guess resells (back to
you> >if possible).> >> >This is similar to other
places of worship/interest in Kanyakumari (another>
>dirty place to place on the list). The Hanuman temple
is also full of> >crooks. And the last place to
meditate is the Vivekananda Rock. It was too>
>crowded. It even has a "meditation room" - only that
too is crowded, and> >reeks of body odor. The rock
itself is clean and nice, if only there were no>
>tourists around :) :)> >> >Lest, I am misunderstood.
Its not so much that the temple as rules or that>
>someone has to make a living. I am all for that. The
rules, though need to> >have a purpose, and be
logical. Touts ought not be running (and ruining>
>temples).> >> >Some tips: The GRT resort on the way
to Pondicherry is really good,> >beautiful. Kovalam is
great - really a tropical paradise, but Trivandrum &>
>Kanyakumari are really overrated.> >> >--Ram>
>_______________________________________________>
>assam mailing list> >assam at assamnet.org>
>http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org>
> > _______________________________________________>
assam mailing list> assam at assamnet.org>
http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
_________________________________________________________________

      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ 