Trip to Kanyakumari, Rameswaram and Madurai: February-March 2026

I had visited Rameswaram and Kanyakumari, first in December 1975 and with my family in December 1980. It is now almost 45 years from my last visit that I felt an urge to revisit these places just to recapitulate my memories and also to see as to how these places have transformed over the last four and half decades. I was suggesting to my son to let us plan a trip to these places with our family - say some time in December 2026. Since it was too early to firm up, I left it at this stage merely a food for thought. However, within few days of this thought, my daughter informed me that her family had decided to make a short visit to Kanyakumari and Rameswaram along with her in-laws and invited me and my wife to join them. I felt that an offer in hand was better than the planned trip of December 2026 which may or may not fructify. So, we agreed to join on the trip with my daughter's family. We were 8 persons in the travel group. After discussion, we planned the broad itinerary as under:

Date & Date	Destination	Time	Mode of Conveyance	Distance (Kms)
26/02/2026 Thursday)	Leave: Mumbai Reach:Thiruvananthapuram (TRV) Visit Shree Padmanabha Swamy Temple (SPST) Thiruvananthapuram  to  Kanyakumari	14:40 16:50 18:00 to  20:00  20:00 to 22:30	} Indigo }6E490   Tempo Traveler	06      96
Stay in Kanyakumari at TTDC on February 26 and 27, 2026
27/02/2026 (Friday)	Visit Sunrise point, Vivekanand Rock Memorial, Thiruvalluvar Statue, Kanyakumari temple  In the afternoon visit Suchindram temple (15 kms), Kovalam Beach (3 kms), Balaji temple and Swami Vivekanand Kendra	06.15 onward 09:30 to 13:00 15:00 to 20:00	Tempo Traveler
28/02/2026 (Saturday)	Visit Triveni Sangam in the morning (walking distance). Leave: Kanyakumari Reach: Rameshwaram (with lunch break). Visit Abdul Kalam Memorial, 3-4 temples etc.	07:00 onward  09:30 18:45	Tempo Traveler	310
Stay in Rameshwaram at TTDC on February 28 – March 01, 2026
01/03/2026 (Sunday)	Visit Ramnathswami temple in early morning for kund bath and darshan. Afternoon visit Kothandarama Temple and Dhanushkodi Land’s End for sunset view and back	05:30 to 12:30 16:15 onward	Tempo Traveler	20+20
02/03/2026 (Monday)	Leave: Rameswaram Reach: Madurai (with lunch break) In the afternoon, visit Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace, Meenakshi temple, Thousand Pillar Mandapam	09:00 13:30 15:00 to 19:30	Tempo Traveler Tempo Traveler	176
Stay in Madurai at Courtyard by Marriott on March 02, 2026
03/03/2026 (Tuesday)	Leave: Madurai Reach: Madurai Airport Leave: Madurai AP Reach: Mumbai (T2)	10:00 10:30 12:50 15:00	Tempo Traveler } Indigo }6E420	12

I have picked up some of the pictures taken during our six days of travel which I have attached with appropriate captions to give a feel of a photo-travelogue.

Day-1 (Thursday, 26 Feb 2026)

We arrived at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TRV) in the evening. This is the author waiting at the baggage claims before exiting the airport to board our hired Tempo Traveler which will be with us for six days till the end of the trip.

I took this picture when we reached in front of Shree Padmanabha Swamy Temple at around 6.00 p.m. There is a dress code to enter the temple. For women, they must wear saree or half saree. If they are in salwar-kameez or long skirts, they must wrap themselves with a mundu (dhoti). For men, they must wear dhoti or mundu reaching up to heels and should not wear shirts or banyans. Dhoti/mundu  can be hired from the shops in the vicinity of the temple. Our womenfolk had commenced their journey with saree, while the menfolk had to change to dhoti which we had already carried in our baggage. We changed in a room in the vicinity of the temple and kept our belongings including the mobiles/cameras and the purse in the cloak room of the dress changing room.

This pictured was clicked after we came out of the temple. We had a special darshan of Shree Padmanabha Swamy by paying Rs.100 per head for which there was a shorter queue. It took us about 20 minutes to complete the darshan of Lord Vishnu in Anantha Shayanam posture, reclining on serpent Anantha. The darshan was from a distance of about 25 metres. With traditional lights, it was not possible to properly view the deity. Perhaps during daytime, especially after sunrise in the morning, the devotees may have a better view because the deity is facing east.  After darshan, we commenced our onward journey to Kanyakumari (95 kms) with a dinner break at Punjabi Dhaba. The dinner was good. We reached TTDC Hotel, Kanyakumari at around 10:45.

Day-2 (Friday, 27 Feb 2026) 

This was our cottage in TTDC Hotel, Kanyakumari where we stayed for two nights. This is a large property covered with dense tall trees giving a feel of staying in the midst of a forest. At the same time, it is located within the walkable distance of seashore (200m) and Triveni Sangam (500m).

We had a sunrise view within the premises of TTDC, Kanyakumari with the background of the Vivekanand Rock Memorial, Thiruvalluvar Statue, Bhagwati Kanyakumari temple and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial. The bonus was a fully grown peacock sitting on the fence of TTDC property. The TTDC property seems to be a roosting point for many peacocks which were seen roaming in the premises because of many tall trees. In fact, we waked up early morning mainly due to loud whooping sound of peacocks. 

To have a proper sunrise view over the Bay of Bengal, we walked about 200m from TTDC Hotel to reach the seashore. At the other hand of the seashore, again within the walkable distance is a 5-story Viewing Tower.

 

View of Vivekanand Rock Memorial (Left) and Thiruvalluvar Statue (right) from the boarding point for ferry service to Vivekanand Rock Memorial. In-between is a connecting glass bridge over the sea which became operational in December 2024. Prior to this, the tourist used to take another ferry service from Vivekanand Rock Memorial to the Statue.

Two different views of Kanyakumari town after alighting from the ferry on Vivekanand Rock Memorial. Our Lady of Ransom Church can be seen in both the pictures.

The view of Vivekanand Rock Memorial from the ferry alighting and pick-up point. Swami Vivekanand visited the rock on December 25, 1892, by swimming and mediated on this rock for three days.

View of Vivekanand Rock Memorial from Thiruvalluvar Statue.

Side view of Thiruvalluvar statue as we crossed the glass bridge. Thiruvalluvar was a Tamil poet and philosopher.  The height of the statue including the base is 133 feet. The statue was unveiled on January 01, 2000.

In the afternoon, sharp showers for about 15 minutes forced us to delay our departure for Suchindram which is about 15 kms from Kanyakumari for a visit to Sthanumalayan Swamy temple. Sthanumalayan means Trimurti. Sthanu=Lord Shiva, Mal=Vishnu and Ayan=Brahma. In this temple, Trinity are represented by a single lingam which is an unique temple in India. There is a dress code in the temple, more or less the same as followed in Shree Padmanabha Swamy temple. Photography inside the temple is prohibited. There is also a 22 feet tall Hanuman statue carved out of a monolithic stone. In this temple, there are musical pillars. Overall, this is an impressive temple with interesting carvings worth a visit. 

I had heard of the famous Kovalam beach, south of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. For the first time I came to know that there is also Kovalam beach which is located about 3 kms west of Triveni Sangam in Kanyakumari.  A white dot at the far end in the first picture is the setting sun shrouded in the overcast sky. I personally felt that this was a far better place to view the setting sun over Arabian Sea than from the over-crowded Sunset Point located about 2 kms east of this beach.  The sky was overcast. So, sunset could not be seen from any place in Kanyakumari on this day.

Balaji Temple, Kanyakumari. The temple is located on a small hilltop very close to the shore of Bay of Bengal. In the night, lightings on Vivekanand Rock Memorial and Thiruvalluvar statue look grand from this place

Statue of Hanuman in the premises of Swami Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari. The Kendra has a gallery of paintings of Ramayana stories on the ground floor and Bharat Mata temple on the first floor. Mobile and camera are not allowed. Swami Vivekanand Kendra is spread over 100 acres, encompassing various activities. The Kendra also offers accommodation for visitors for all the categories of tourists. One would require at least three to four hours to witness all the activities carried out by the Kendra.

Day-3 (Saturday, Feb 28, 20026) 

While leaving the TTDC premises by walk to visit Triveni Sangam, we came across many peacocks in the TTDC premises. The tall trees in the premises afford them a good shelter,

Once again, we had opportunity to view the sunrise over Vivekanand Rock Memorial and Thiruvalluvar statue, this time from Triveni Sangam.

Triveni Sangam, Kanyakumari. This is the place where the waters of Bay of Bengal on the left, Indian Ocean in the front and Arabian Sea on the right merge. Triveni Sangam in Kanyakumari is the southernmost point of mainland India.

After returning from Triveni Sangam and finishing the breakfast, we commenced our long tempo traveler journey of 310 kms to Rameswaram. On the way, we bought from a roadside shop in Kanyakumari three varieties of bananas - red, yellow and miniature Elaichi type bananas.

Road bridge connecting Mandapam and Rameswaram goes parallel to the new rail bridge on the left with a passenger train. When I had travelled to Rameshwaram in 1975 and 1980, there was no road connectivity. The only connection was a single track British constructed rail bridge over Palk Strait. All bus services from Rameswaram used to start from Mandapam. It was only when the road bridge over the sea was constructed and became operational in 1988, the road connectivity between these two places started. The trains on the new rail bridge on the extreme left started running from April 2025.

The new rail bridge with vertical lift seen from the road bridge over Palk Strait connecting Mandapam and Rameswaram to enable vessels to pass through under the rail bridge.

Panchamukhi Hanuman Temple, 2-km before Rameswaram. In this temple, there are a few floating rocks, the type of which were supposed to have been used for construction of Ram Setu. Before visiting this temple, we rushed to get entry into Abdul Kalam Memorial before it closes at 05:30 pm. The Memorial is full of pictures connected with the life of former President, Abdul Kalam. Photography is prohibited inside the Memorial.

Laxman Teertham Pond, Rameswaram. Adjunct to it, there is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Laxman installed a Shiva lingam to worship him for the atonement of his sins. Photography inside the temple is prohibited. 

As we finished visiting the nearby temples and Abdul Kalam Memorial, the sun sets over Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi road, and it is time for us to reach our final destination of TTDC, Rameswaram which is about 2 kms from this point. In the night, some of us visited Agni Theertham and the East and North gates of Ramanathaswamy temple just to reconnaissance the place of visit for the next day early morning bath in Agni Theertham and 22 kunds inside the temple.

Day-4 (Sunday, March 01, 2026)

We woke up around 05:30 am. I accompanied some of our family members to a holy bath at Agni Theertham in Bay of Bengal by 06:00 am after which they walked to Ramanathaswamy temple in wet cloth to complete the bathing rituals in 22 kunds inside the temple. I did not go inside the temple for bath.

There was a long queue of the bath takers on the left of the north gate of Ramanathaswamy temple. But the queue was moving very fast. Our family members entered the temple through north gate. I did not venture to take bath this time as I had done that ritual two times in 1975 and 1980. So, I returned after other family members entered the temple through north gate. On the way, I took a picture of the main East gate of the temple (below). After the completion of bath in 22 kunds in the temple, pilgrims take the exit from the south gate of the temple.

The main East gate of Ramanathaswamy temple, Rameswaram.

While returning to TTDC Hotel, at around 7.00 am, the crowd of pilgrims had swell for taking bath in Agni Theertham since it was Sunday.

TTDC Hotel, Rameswaram. Reception is on the right and the restaurant on the left. Rooms are in the two-story building with lift facility behind this structure.

Once inside, TTDC Hotel premises, I got a beautiful view of sunrise over the Bay of Bengal with ferry jetty on the left for boarding the joy boat rides.

Once our other family members completed their bathing rituals, they returned to TTDC Hotel around 08:00 am. After the fresh bath in the hotel room, we all went together to Ramanathaswamy temple by walk through East gate to take the darshan. Being Sunday, there was a large crowd of pilgrims for general darshan. Even for Rs.50/- special darshan there was a long queue. So, we took the VIP darshan route of Rs. 100/- per head. In the picture, one can see a long queue for even special darshan on the left. Except in the sanctum sanctorum of the various temple inside, one can take pictures of outer corridors of the temple on mobile.  

It took about 30 minutes to complete the darshan of the lingam of Ramanathaswamy. This is the first photo after darshan when I am standing with the background of one of the fames corridors of the temple.

The above three pictures show the elegance of painted corridors of Ramanathaswamy temple. The last one is the exit corridor through East gate. Ramanathaswamy temple is spread over 15 acres with one of the largest corridors inside the temple complex with over 1000 delicately carved pillars, many of which are painted. The temple is one of the 12-Jyotirlingas in India. It is also one of the Chaar Dhams of India, the other three being, Badrinath in the north, Puri in the east and Dwarka on the west. 

There is a connection between Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and Ramanathaswamy temple in Rameswaram through Hindi pilgrimage traditions. Pilgrimage to Kashi is considered incomplete without visiting Rameswaram. Devotees traditionally bring holy water from the Ganges at Kashi to bathe the Shivalingam at Rameswaram, forming a complete spiritual journey of liberation (Kashi) and salvation (Rameswaram).

After the completion of darshan, we had a vegetarian buffet lunch in an upscale restaurant, 'Ahaan' in Daiwik Hotel, about 4 kms from the temple, near Rameswaram Bus Stand on Rameswaram-Madurai Road.

In the afternoon, we started our last lap of journey in Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi which is 20 kms from Rameswaram. It is a wide two-lane road of which the last 10 kms of road is built on the sandbanks of the backwater of Bay of Bengal on the east and the backwaters of the Indian Ocean on the west which were submerged after 1964 cyclone, resurfaced after tsunami in 2004. National Highway Authority of India completed the road construction in 2016 on the sand bank after strengthening both sides with staked rocks and in some places with concrete walls. 

After travelling about 10 kms on Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi road, one-km diversion to the left took us to Kothanda Ramaswamy temple (also called as Vibhishana Theertham). It is a small temple having the idols of Ram, Laxman, Hanuman and Vibhishana. Photography is not allowed in the temple. It is said that this was the place where Vibhishana joined Ram's army. Significantly, this was the only temple which survived the 1964 cyclone while destroying the entire Dhanushkodi village in its vicinity.

When we were about 500m short of the Land's End (called Arichal Munai), we left our vehicle because of the traffic jam (being Sunday) and started walking on the right side of the road through the beach to reach the Land's End. Incidentally, the Dhanushkodi road is open for vehicular traffic between 6.00 AM to 6:00 PM and the timings seasonally get adjusted depending upon the sunrise and sunset timings. When we traveled, the closing time was 5:30 PM.

The first picture I clicked after reaching the Dhanushkodi Land's End. At this point, the road takes a 'U' turn.  At the far end, one can see a lagoon in the middle of the sea. It is believed that Dhanushkodi Land's End was to be the spot which Lord Rama marked the location to build the Ram Setu (bridge) to Sri Lanka. From this point, Sri Lanka is at a distance of about 22 kms.

It is me on the Land's End with 'U' turn road with Ashoka Pillar in the background and the Bay of Bengal in the far-end. This place is so much in demand for group photo session that it was almost impossible to click the picture without other tourists in the frame. As the sun set in, the tourist crowd slowly started leaving the place and I got the opportunity to stand for the signature photo.

Dhanushkodi beach clicked from Land's End. Due to low tide, tourists can walk on the beach about one km further at the far end toward Indian Ocean while tourists in the foreground enjoy the low level of sea water from the Bay of Bengal. During high tide, much of the beach is submerged.

The first picture above is of Dhanushkodi beach and the setting sun over the Indian Ocean clicked from Land's End. In Dhanushkodi, sun rises over Bay of Bengal and sets in over the Indian Ocean. During high tide, the waves come up to the rocks in the foreground. The second picture is from Dhanushkodi beach itself where the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean merge. Unfortunately, due to low tide, we could not see the waves from both the seas meeting together. 

Day-5 (Monday, March 02, 2026)

Today was virtually the last lap of our trip as after breakfast, we commenced our journey to Madurai (176 kms). Actually, Madurai was picked up in our travel schedule to catch a direct flight to Mumbai. In the process, we did get about half a day to explore Meenakshi Ammal Temple and Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace. Otherwise, Madurai requires at least two days to explore it fully.

After a morning coffee in TTDC's restaurant, I took a walk along the seashore. I got the opportunity to view one more day of sunrise over Bay of Bengal with the jetty for boarding for the joy boat ride.

I was not expecting a large pilgrim crowd at Agni Theertham  being the start of the weekday. I got the answer as Monday is regarded as Lord Shiva's day and as such a big pilgrim crowd was expected to visit  Ramanathaswami temple for darshan.

We had an early breakfast in TTDC restaurant which was included in the tariff. Some of our family members are returning from the breakfast to get ready for check out. Our rooms were on the first floor (corner) of TTDC, Rameswaram with a lift facility.

After breakfast, we commenced our journey to Madurai. On the way, I alighted on the Pamban bridge with Amit to take picture of new railway bridge on Palk Strait with vertical lift to pass the ships below the bridge. There were many vessels seen on the Palk Strait. When we were about 7 kms short of reaching Madurai, we felt that it was better to take a lunch break in the outskirt of Madurai than in the city due to parking problem. We took South Indian Thali lunch at Temple City restaurant which was good, especially the boiled rice with ghee and rice Podi. We reached Madurai around 1:30 pm and checked in the Courtyard By Marriott. After taking some rest in the hotel room, we started our first visit to Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace (5 kms) since Meenakshi temple will reopen only at 4:00 pm. From here, Meenakshi Temple is at a distance of about 2 kms to its west.

Entrance to the Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace, Madurai. On the right is the watchtower of the Palace which is closed for the public due to renovation. The Light and Sound show is held every evening at 6:45 pm in English and at 8:00 pm in Tamil which lasts for about 45 minutes. However, due to the renovation work going on, Light and Sound show is not being held as of now. 
  

The Courtyard of the palace. Only the front facade of the courtyard is painted while the side facades and the exit facade are left in their original colour.

The facade of the entrance to Thorne Hall which is also called the Dance Hall. As per the description board of the Archaeological Survey of Tamil Nadu in the premises, the palace was constructed by King Thirumalai Nayak in 1636 on the design made by an Italian architect in Indo-Saracenic style. Originally, the palace was made in two segments - Swargavilas and Rangavilas. However, now only the Swargavilas part has survived in which the Darbar Hall (Dance Hall) and Natakashala remains intact. 

It is believed that much of the part of the palace was demolished by one of the grandsons of Thirumalai Nayak taking many of the artifacts and wooden carvings to build his palace, the Chokkantha Nayak Palace in Tiruchirappalli. During the rule of East India Company, Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace was used as military barracks. 

The interior facade through which one goes to see the Thorne Hall of the palace with the Thorne seen at the far end.

The Thorne in the Dance Hall.

The Throne is placed in the Dance Hall above which is a painted arcaded dome with a ceiling height of 12 metres. The second picture is of dome in detail.

Multi-coloured paintings on the ceiling of Dance Hall which looks like the Persian carpet.

The intricately carved dome in the left-side corridor of the palace clicked from the Dance Hall with mono-colour paintings.

The left-side corridor of the palace clicked from Dance Hall. The corridor has many circular giant pillars. 

It took us about 45 minutes to complete the visit to this marvelous palace which I found to be very interesting despite the fact that only about 25 per cent of the original palace has remained intact. It is a must visit for those interested in architecture.

We visited Meenakshi Ammal temple around 4:30 pm which is located 2 kms west of Thirumalai Nayakkar Palace. We took special darshan which took us about one hour. The temple is so vast that it took about two hours to come out of the temple around 06:30 pm even though I am not sure whether we have seen the temple in its entirety. Camera and mobile inside the temple are not allowed. The temple was going through an extensive renovation with many parts of the temple covered with scaffolds including all the gopurams. So, even if the photography was allowed, it was not worth clicking photos with scaffolds. We ended the temple visit with a glass of the famous Madurai drink, Jigarthanda.

Day-6 (Tuesday, March 03, 2026)

We had a sumptuous buffet breakfast at Courtyard By Marriott after which we checked out the hotel and started our last journey on Tempo Traveler with the driver, Venkatesh at around 10:00 am. Tempo Traveler with driver Venkatesh was hired from Kumari Travels and Tours, a Kanyakumari based tour and travel company. He was with us for six days from the pick-up at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport to drop at Madurai Airport. Throughout the trip, Venkatesh was cooperative and helpful. Moreover, he could communicate with us in Hindi.

The flight to Mumbai left on time @12:50 hours and reached Mumbai almost 30 minutes before scheduled arrival time of 15:25 hours. With this we ended an enjoyable trip with lasting memories.