There are two primary reasons for visiting Kanyakumari. The first is geographic and the second is religious, or the other way round depending on your interest. For us, visiting the most southerly point of mainland India was our primary reason to come. This is the place where three oceans meet and where you can see the sunrise and the sunset from the same point. There are also several temples to see, and a memorial to Vivekananda. I’ll cover what there is to do and see in Kanyakumari and also an easy Kanyakumari itinerary to follow.
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EASIEST WAY TO VISIT
Take a Day Trip to Kanyakumari
Visit the stunning sights of Kanyakumari, including Poovar, Padmanabhapuram, Suchindram, and Vivekananda Rock.
Although Kanyakumari was officially renamed Kanniyakumari in 2016, you’ll still find lots of references to it as Kanyakumari. This most southern city in India is in the state of Tamil Nadu and has been inhabited for some 4,000 years and derives its name from the Goddess Kanniyakumari Amman. It was the Dutch East India Company who shortened the name to Comorin, and then when India was under British rule, Kanyakumari was known as Cape Comorin and it’s also known as India’s ”Land’s End”. Kanyakumari has been documented in visits by travelers since 276 B.C. when the Phoenicians visited and by those as famous as Marco Polo and Ptolemy, so we’re in great company.
Practical Considerations for Visiting Kanyakumari
How long you want to spend in Kanyakumari depends on what you want to see, you can easily see the highlights in a day trip to Kanyakumari, or see some of the surrounding area if you have longer. However, as ever, it’s best to plan a route and an itinerary for your visit to make the most of your time in Kanyakumari. Here are a few of the things to organize before you arrive in Kanyakumari
Arriving in Kanyakumari
You’ll either arrive in Kanyakumari at the bus stand, the train station, or in a private transfer. The bus stand and the railway station are about 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) apart, which isn’t that much of a walk if you’re not taking an auto-rickshaw, but remember this is tropical heat here. Most people come to Kanyakumari from either Madurai or Varkala via Thiruvananthapuram. I’ve covered how to get to Kanyakumari later in this article.
How to Get Around Kanyakumari
This isn’t a particularly big town, and it’s relatively easy to walk between the attractions that I’ve mentioned, but how comfortable that’s going to be, depends on the time of year that you visit. Auto-rickshaws or tuktuks are generally easily available as are taxis. You can also take a local bus. We found walking got us everywhere that we needed to go.
Best Area to Stay in Kanyakumari
One of the unique things to do here in Kanyakumari is to see both the sunrise and the sunset from the same spot, you’re at the point where three oceans meet and the most southerly tip of India. My recommendation is to find a hotel that has a balcony where you can see both the sunrise and the sunset, it really is the most comfortable way of doing it. Sunrise here is from 05:35 to 06:15, and seeing that from your room really is the best option!
The Hotel Viswa Grand is a great option, with air conditioning, an indoor swimming pool, and a perfect roof terrace for watching both sunrise and sunset. Some rooms have sunrise views too. You can check rates and availability here.
How long do you need in Kanyakumari?
You can see the main attractions in Kanyakumari in one day, which makes it an ideal day trip from Thiruvananthapuram, although if you want to see both the sunrise and the sunset you’ll need to stay at least one, if not two nights. I recommend staying one or two nights, to catch the sunset on your first day, the sunrise on your second, and then either head on to your next destination or stay that night and take a bus or a train the following morning.
What to do in one day in Kanyakumari
Assuming that you are already in Kanyakumari for your one day itinerary, the best thing to start with is the sunrise. This is the most southerly sunrise in India – and it’s the only place that you’ll see the sunset in the same place, on the same horizon. As the sunrise times here range from 05:35 to 06:15, I recommend getting a hotel with a balcony near sunrise point, so that you don’t have to go too far to watch it!
After sunrise, don’t miss breakfast, because a South Indian breakfast is excellent. My favorite is Idli with sambar, I could eat that every day.
Next, you’ll want to head straight to the Vivekananda Memorial Rock, it’s usually quieter visiting in the morning. The memorial opens at 08:00, and you can catch the ferry there for 50 INR (200 INR if you want to skip the line). The ferry leaves from the Vivekananda Dock Boat Boarding Point that I’ve marked on the map. There’s also a 20 INR entrance fee to pay.
When you’re finished visiting the memorial, head back on the ferry and check out the viewpoint from just along from the ferry boarding point.
Your next stop is the Kanyakumari Bhagavathy Amman Temple – this temple is to the goddess after whom the city takes its name and dates back more than 3,000 years.
You’ll see from the map how close all these Kanyakumari attractions are, and your next stop is the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Kanyakumari. Gandhi visited Kanyakumari twice and following his death one of the 12 urns of his ashes paused here in the exact spot of the memorial before being scattered in the ocean.
Your second to last stop on this one day itinerary of Kanyakumari is to visit the Tsunami Memorial. It remembers the nearly 8,000 people in Tamil Nadu who died in the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The memorial is located on Kanyakumari Beach.
And that brings you to the final stop on this itinerary for Kanyakumari, head to Sunset Point to watch the sunset on India’s most southerly point.
Attractions to put on your Kanyakumari Itinerary
Now that I’ve outlined some of the options for a Kanyakumari itinerary here are a few more details about all those attractions in Kanyakumari that you shouldn’t miss.
The Southernmost Point of India
This is the specific reason that we came to Kanyakumari, to see the point where the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean meet each other. It’s known as the Triveni Sangamam, or the confluence of three rivers, and is also a sacred place. This name comes from Sanskrit. Tri (three) Veni (confluence) and Sangam (union).
It’s not quite as wild as I anticipated, but I’m glad we came to see the specific place they meet.
Sunrise in Kanyakumari
If you stay the night in Kanyakumari you shouldn’t miss seeing the sunrise here. I’ve marked sunrise point on the map, but pick the right hotel and you’ll be able to see it from your room. The Hotel Viswa Grand has a rooftop terrace where you watch both sunrise AND sunset.
The Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari
One of the top things to do in Kanyakumari is to visit the Vivekananda Rock Memorial on a small island just offshore.
Vivekananda was a Hindu monk born Narendra Nath Datta, in 1863 to an aristocratic Bengali family in Calcutta. A chief disciple of the 19th-century saint Ramakrishna, he was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. He also helped bring Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
He toured India extensively and then the United States, where he represented India at the 1893 Parliament of the World Religions. His introduction of Hinduism in his best-known speech began, “Sisters and brothers of America”
Vivekananda is said to have attained enlightenment on the rock, hence the memorial, which was built in 1970. Take a short ferry ride to the rock, which is about 500 meters (1640 feet) from the shore. It is usually quieter to visit the rock in the morning.
- Address of the Vivekananda Memorial Rock: Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India
- Opening Hours of the Vivekananda Memorial Rock: 08:00 to 16:00
- Ferry Price to get to the Vivekananda Memorial Rock: 50 INR per person, although you can pay for a skip-the-line ticket at 200 INR per person.
- Entrance Fee to the Vivekananda Memorial Rock: 20 INR
Sunset Viewpoint in Kanyakumari
If you’re staying at the Viswa Grand Hotel, then you’ll be able to see the sunset from the roof terrace, but otherwise, the sunset beach is a good place to watch and to see a slice of local life too. Sunset in Kanyakumari ranges from 17:57 to 18:42
The Kanyakumari Bhagavathy Amman Temple
This temple is dedicated to Devi Kanyakumari, an adolescent virgin goddess form of Parvathi. Dating back more than 3,000 years, this temple can be found in Hindu legends, the most popular of which tells that the demon Banasura could only be killed by a virgin girl. Taking the form of Kumari – the virgin girl, the goddess Parvathi killed the demon.
The Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Kanyakumari
This memorial was built in honor of Gandhi, who visited Kanyakumari in both 1925 and 1937. Following his death in 1948, his ashes were kept in 12 urns, and one was brought to Kanyakumari, where it was kept at today’s memorial before the ashes were scattered in the ocean. The memorial was finished in 1956. The central spire’s height of 79 feet is the age that Gandhi was when he died. It also has a unique architectural feature, being designed so that on 2nd October (Gandhi’s birthday) the sun’s rays fall on the exact spot where his ashes were kept.
- Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Kanyakumari Address: NH44,Kanyakumari,Tamil Nadu,629702,India
- Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Kanyakumari Opening Times: 07:00 until 18:00 every day
The Thiravalluvar Statue
This 41 meter (133 feet) statue, is found next to the Vivekanand Memorial Rock and was dedicated in 2000. Thiravalluvar was a Tamil scholar and poet known for the “Tirukkural”, which is a collection of couplets that cover morals, love, politics, economics, and spirituality. You can see from the photo that the statue dwarfs the memorial rock.
The statue’s 133 feet in height represents the 133 chapters of the Tirukkural. The statue is hollow
- Address of the Thiravalluvar Statue: Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India
- Opening Hours of the Thiravalluvar Statue: 09:00 – 16:00
The Tsunami Memorial of Kanyakumari
One of the reasons we’ve come to Kanyakumari is also to pay our respects to those who lost their lives in the 2004 Tsunami, as we did in Peraliya, near Galle in Sri Lanka. This 4.9 meter (16 feet) high steel structure is of two hands. One holds a hope lamp and the other holds a large wave at bay. It’s meant to represent how we human beings should and can stay hopeful during the darkest of days. The Tsunami Memorial is next to Kanyakumari Beach.
In the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the state of Tamil Nadu was the worst affected in India, with more than 4,500 kilometers (2796 miles) of coastline impacted. 7993 people lost their lives in Tamil Nadu. And more than 123,000 houses were destroyed.
Map of Kanyakumari Attractions and Things to Do
You can see the full map of things to do in Kanyakumari here.
How to get to Kanyakumari
The closest airport to Kanyakumari is Thiruvananthapuram, which has flights from India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and the Middle East. However, most people arrive either from Varkala, Thiruvananthapuram, or Madurai, where there are good bus and train connections.
How to go from Varkala to Kanyakumari
We traveled down from Varkala, taking the train, for an easy journey. It was our first foray on Indian trains. It takes between 3 and 4 hours to go from Varkala to Kanyakumari on the train. The easiest way to buy tickets for this train is to book here via 12goAsia.
There’s no direct bus from Varkala to Kanyakumari, you’ll have to change at least once, hence the train is the better option.
How to go from Madurai to Kanyakumari
You can take the train or a bus from Madurai to Kanyakumari. We originally wanted to take the train from Kanyakumari to Madurai, but had to change our travel plans and take the bus instead. It’s around about the same time to take either the train or the bus from Madurai to Kanyakumari – 4 hours give or take. Again, the easiest way to travel this route is on the train, rather than the bus (we just didn’t book far enough in advance to get train tickets). Book your train tickets from Madurai to Kanyakumari here.
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Final Words on Our Kanyakumari Itinerary Suggestions
The most southerly city in Kanyakumari is an easily accessible city located where the three oceans meet. It’s a unique location in India where you can see the sunrise and the sunset on the same horizon with a history dating back more than 4,000 years and some particularly important attractions, and temples it’s worth a visit to explore.
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