Vivekanandapuram, Kanyakumari

The Vivekananda memorial is on a rocky island about 400m offshore Kanyakumari. Here Swami Vivekananda meditated in 1892 before setting out to become one of India’s most important religious crusaders. The mandapam, which was built here in Vivekananda’s memory in 1970, reflects architectural styles from all over India. Regardless of the number of pilgrims filing through the memorial, it remains a very peaceful and reverent place. From the island there’s a fine view back over the fishing harbour and to distant mountains and wind turbines.

The huge statue on the island is of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. The statue was the work of more than 5000 sculptors. It was erected in 2000 and honours the poet’s 133- chapter work – Thirukural- hence its height of exactly 133 ft .

Once can reach the spot by ferries from the bank of Kanyakumari which takes not more than 10 mins to sail.