Pune - Kanyakumari ..... on the wheels !

Being a CRAZY DRIVING ENTHUSIAST, I always dreamt of going on a long road trip with my travel buddy (Hyundai i20). Last year when I saw a photo of my friend clicked at Dhanushkodi - the last land of India with his bullet, I decided to click the same photo with my i20. To add to it, there was one more thing lingering on my bucket list from a long time was the Vivekanand Rock memorial situated at the southernmost point of India Kanyakumari. I thought this was the perfect opportunity to fulfill my dreams together and I started planning for a road trip  Pune - Kanyakumari - Pune.

After reading a lot of blogs on the internet and exploring different route options, I came up with  3 options covering different routes and shared the detailed plans with my friends. The plans were very much detailed, including the route, stay options, km traveled, Avg. Cost etc. There were few crazy friends like me who were impressed and got excited about the plan. Finally, the plan was confirmed by 4 of us (Me, my wife, my friend, and his wife) and we did all the bookings on time as it was vacation time. Along with the shopping, this time there was one more important thing to do is to get my Car checked, serviced and up to date with all documentations. (RC Book, Insurance, PUC, FAST TAG, etc). After all that is done, we were all set for the excitement and fun coming our way.

Pune - Kolhapur - Shimoga - BR Hills - Madurai - Kanyakumari - Dhanushkodi - Dindigul - Bangalore - Kolhapur - Pune

Day 01 - Kolhapur - Shimoga (400 Kms)

On 20th Dec evening, we started from Pune and reached Kolhapur at night. We spent a night at my friend's place in Kolhapur and from there the actual journey started on the morning of 21st December at around 6.30 AM by taking the blessings from Shri Mahalakshmi. The destination for the day was around 400 km away so we were moving at a constant speed without stopping too much so that we can cover up the distance in early hours. As it was NH4, the road was excellent and having very little traffic. After continuing for around 200-250 Kms on the National highway, we left the main road and started onto the small roads passing through the villages of Karnataka. Both sides of the roads were having lush green Sugarcane farms with full-grown sugarcanes. It looked like the whole region was having ample rain and was perfect for farming.

While looking at the map, we found that there was an old and historic Ikkeri Aghoreshwara Temple on the way and we decided to make this our first attraction of the trip. As we reached the temple, it was around 4PM in the afternoon and the temple was shining in the bright sunlight. It is a typical south Indian style temple of Lord Shiva and was built in pure black Rocks. It has a wonderful architecture & sculpting having intricate carvings on the pillars. The Majestic Nandi/Shivas Bull in front of the temple was a special mention. As there was not much rush, we could explore every part of the temple in detail. After spending an hour at this place we started towards Shimoga which was just 1.5 Hrs drive from there. We reached our hotel (Blue Crystal) in Shimoga at around 7 PM. The hotel was clean, neat and well maintained as expected and the staff was good at speaking Hindi that made us more comfortable.  All in all a day very well spent and it was a perfect start for our trip.

Day 02 - Shimoga - BR Hills (320 Kms)

We all were too much excited about this journey because the last part of the journey was going to be through the dense forest and we had to reach there before 5 PM. We started again early morning at around 6.30 and were welcomed with a beautiful sunrise view. This road was also not a national highway but it was in very good condition. On the way, we had an authentic south Indian breakfast of Idli, Wada, and Dosa at a famous UDUPI restaurant. The food served on a banana leaf was making it very special and it was very delicious (Esp. Nariyal Chutney and Medu Wada). After getting our stomachs full, we headed to Sri Ranganathswamy Temple - Shrirangapatana,  A beautiful temple of god Vishnu and another Architectural masterpiece. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside the temple because of a long darshan queue as it was a weekend. As we were running short on time, we decided not to wait in the queue and instead we visited the Dariya Daulat Palace - Summer Palace of Tipu Sultan on the way. The palace has a very good collection of wall paintings, displays of dress & weapons, and photographs of the Tipu Sultan period. This is also the death place of Tipu Sultan. This is not a very big palace and it can be covered in 30-45 mins.

After visiting the palace we went on for the most exciting journey of the day to BR Hills. the last 20-25 Km road along the hill is through the dense and lush green forest. As soon as we entered this area, we started feeling the silence of the jungle. There were very few vehicles passing by and that helped us explore the beauty of the place. There were lots of Sharp turns and steeps on the way and that's why this road gets closed after 6 PM. As we reached the top of the hill, suddenly we started feeling the cold breeze and were literally shivering. The sun was just about too set and the views from the top of the hill were breathtaking. After visiting the Ranganathswamy temple at the top which was under construction currently, we spent some time experiencing the quietness of the place. It was just a perfect peaceful place away from the city crowd to spend a couple of days. KSTDC Hotel Mayura was also very welcoming. They had arranged some Folk dance performances from the local Tribal group. Doing a few dance steps with these people was really fun.

Day 03 - BR Hills - Madurai (340 Kms)

As usual, we started at around 6 from this place. As we reached the car parking, we found that our car got complete washed because of the heavy dew. It was pitch dark and foggy at that time and we were told that the initial 25 Km route is again through another forest area of K Gudi National Park. Entering such a dense forest so early in the morning was thrilling and a different experience altogether. As we were passing through the forest, few sun-rays started entering the park enlightening its beauty. There were few animals like barking deer, Jackal, Sambar deer, Spotted deers, and Wild bores along the way saying very good morning to us. Passing through that road reminded me of our Jungle safaris in Bandhavgarh and Ranthambore except that we were not blessed to see Big Cats/Big elephants this time. We took a good hour and a half to cover this 25-30 km but every minute there was a total worth.   After passing through this area, as we came near to Karnataka-Tamil-Nadu Border, there was a terrific Ghat section that climbs down the hill. The ghat was very steep and it was having 27 HAIRPIN turns in all. The valley views from the cliffs were again terrific full of lush green forest areas and it reminded me of some of the great valleys in Ladakh region. We were surprised to see such a valley in the southern part of India but again it was a different and thrilling driving experience. I felt very lucky that I refused to swap the driving seat with my friend in the morning. 

After climbing down the hill as we were approaching the Karnataka-Tamil-Nadu border, the road was very bad for around 50-60 km. It was a nightmare driving on this road which was also having a lot of truck traffic (Maybe because of the border area). As we entered Tamil Nadu, the road conditions were again very nice. Our car got a puncture in the rear-wheel when we were about 150 km from Madurai. Thankfully the puncture was not very big and we were able to pull it on till we got to an authorized MRF Tyre shop. We got it repaired and put on a Stephanie to be on a safer side and continued our journey to Madurai. We reached Madurai at around  3 PM. The famous Meenaxi Temple was within walking distance from our hotel so went there immediately after getting freshen up. The first view of a huge Gopuram of Meenaxi temple was amazing. There is 4 such Gopuram from all the sides of a temple. As expected there was a huge rush for entering the temple and we had to stand in a queue for around 1.5 Hrs to get into the actual Parvati temple. The size and scale of the temple are quite overwhelming. The sheer number and complexity of the thousands of carvings both inside and out are incredible along with some beautiful paintings on the ceiling. The 1000 pillars mandapam also was too good. The temple looks even beautiful in the lights so seeing it in the night is altogether a different experience. We got a very good darshan in both Shiva and Parvathi temples and we were blessed to witness the Abhishek to the original Shiva Linga which happens only on PRADOSH day. 

We spent around 2-3 hours in the temple including the queue but when we came out of the temple were felt very satisfied and blessed. It was a little hectic day but we felt very relieved after coming back to the hotel and got charged up again for the exciting Kanyakumari journey the next day.

Day 04 - Madurai - Kanyakumari (250 Kms)

This was a small but exciting drive as it is going to take us to one of the Destinations of the journey at the southernmost point of India - Kanyakumari. As expected the drive was very smooth as it was completely on National highway and we reached Kanyakumari at around 11 AM. First, we visited the Suchindram Thanumalayan Temple on the way. Musical pillars in the temple were the main attraction of this place. We could hear a variety of sounds (like Sa, re, Gam, Ma, Pa) from different pillars in the temple. It is again one of the architectural wonders. The main idol depicts the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh. This temple is also famous for the idol of Nandi made of shells and around 18 ft tall idol of Hanuman.

After exploring the temple and the area around, we headed to our hotel which was very close to the main attraction of the trip - The Vivekanand Rock Memorial. after reaching the hotel and resting for some time we went to the Kanyakumari temple (temple of Parvati Devi) situated right next to the seashore. We were very lucky here to get Darshan just in 15-20 mins. From the temple itself, one road goes directly to the beach of Kanyakumari and Sunset point. As we came out of the temple, we were mesmerized by the view in front of us. The great Vivekanand memorial situated at the island just 500 meters away from us surrounded by complete blue water was looking just amazing. As the weather was a little cloudy and the sky was darker,  few sun rays coming out of the clouds and falling exactly on the memorial were making it even more beautiful. We took almost 100 photographs of the same view and still was not satisfied. That first view of the memorial was undoubtedly the best moment of the trip and we realized why the total drive of 1600 km worth just for this place. After exploring the place from all possible angles, we just sat down at one place and spent around 15-20 mins just looking at the memorial and we realized why Vivekanand Ji must have had a thought of meditating at this particular place. It was such an inviting place that one could not resist going there after seeing it. After an hour or so we were able to see Sun setting into the clouds turning the whole sky into the shades of Orange and Red. After Sunset, the lights on the memorial were turned on and we were stunned to see the completely different look of the same place. Perfectly lighten memorial was looking beautiful on the dark blue background. The cameras were all set to capture these scenes making the count of photos around 200. After spending around 3 hours at this place (We could have spent a full night also there), all the fatigue and tiredness of travel went away and we were full of energy and enthusiasm and we headed back to our hotel with the feeling of serenity and peace of mind. It was the best day of the trip so far.

To be continued here ...

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