Tiruvananthapuram
A little late in the afternoon we reached Tiruvananthapuram. A quite city, this seems to be both traditional and modern. The road journey from Kanyakumari to reach here was challenging and a new experience. The service roads from the National Highway here are not flat, one needs climb up and down steep roads.
Treebo West Fort Divine
We booked our accommodation at Tiruvananthapuram before Chennai at Treebo. With amble parking space and wonderful ambience this was such an instant hit with us that we immediately decided to extend our stay here for one more day. With spik and span room we had a fantastic 2 days stay at this place. This is near the west gopuram of the temple hence the name.
Padmanabaswamy temple
The temple opens at 3:30 am in the morning with Vishvaroopa darshan and closed by 8 pm at night. So woke up at 2:30 am and walked bare foot to the temple's west entrance. Men had a separate queue while women went their entrance faster due to less in count. Dress code is in practice, Men will have to wear Veshti only, shirt is left in the cloak room for Rs.15. Women will have to wear saree; in case of wearing churidhar they have to tie a dhoti over it to cover the legs till the feet. Lord Anantha Padmasamy here is in Ananthasayanam with Lord Shiva near his neck. As we got to the sanctum, a queue was formed and we were rushed for darshan through three door. Here its the Lord's legs first. The dress code tradition followed here is a bit intimidating so we went through the temple corridors which are similar to any other Kerala style architecture and came out of the temple in less than 30 mins.
Chenkal Siva Parvati temple
After some rest and a good complimentary breakfast at Treebo we left for sight seeing. With the help of google maps and navigating through downtown service roads we reached the Chenkal Siva Parvati temple. 100 feet Shiva lingam here is the speciality. At first we went to the Vinayaka temple and worshipped 32 different Lord Vinayaka followed by Lord Siva and Parvathi along with Lord Muruga. In next 30 mins we were out of the temple towards our next spot.
Poovar Boating
It became a nightmare to reach this place as google map just couldn't help, at last which we were near the place, near the auto stand we were diverted to the boating place were the auto driver was given a commission and we were charged Rs.3500 for the boating and ended up paying another Rs.500 to boat driver. Poovar is the location where the backwaters from sea, river, a lake and the ocean meet and surrounded by marsh land. This is the USP of Poovar. During an hour of boat ride we were also left near the beach for sometime. Here too no one is allowed to go near the shore. There is camel ride and street food here. Near by there is a veg and a non-veg hotel on the water side. Numerous resorts near by provide a great view of Poovar. We had spent some 1.5 hours here.
Lulu Mall
To get a taste of urban Thiruvananthapuram we went to the Lulu Mall here, the largest in the country. Our lunch was at the food court here today. The hyper mart was super exhaustive with middle eastern style stalls. Different types of cereals, nuts, sweets, meats, etc. We went around he mall and would have covered around 40% of it, called it a close. The parking lot was fully marked, making it super easy to find out spot. Parking fee was paid through Fastag itself. After some 2 hours we were out of the mall.
Attukal Bhagavathi temple
Within the city this temple is popular especially with women devotees. We took an auto from Treebo to reach this temple for Rs.40. Mobile phones are not allowed here, we have to leave them in the cloak room. Also men not in dhoties cannot go near the sanctum. Here too like any other sanctum in Kerala temples is very small for just one priest to go inside. As it neared 6 pm, an elaborate pooja was performed. Women stood in the right side and men on the left side as in traditional way. This was the way in Chennai few years ago but not anymore. After a good darshan we left from there in less than 30 mins.
Military Ganapathi
Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple is believed to remove bad eyes. Since it was with the Travancore army it was later moved to the army in free India too and hence the name. Here too dress code is strictly followed. Men in pant & shirt cannot go near the deity after a certain point. Elai adai and appam was given as prasadam, separate queues for women and men for that too. Lots of coconuts were broken here by devotees.
Chala Bazaar
Just outside the Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple is the main road, crossing which we get to the street market called as Chala Bazar. We walked through it for sometime 30 mins to get a glimpe.
Maha chips
We did our banana chips shopping here to carry them back to Chennai. This shops claims to make snacks only in coconut oil. Neat and clean store promised quality.
Vettucaud church
The next day morning before leaving Thiruvananthapuram we hired a metered auto to Vettucaud church. It was a huge church, aesthetically built and architecture dates back to five centuries. It was worth the visit of 30 mins.
KuthiraMaliga
We got dropped at KuthiraMaliga by the auto. This is another palace like the Padmanabapuram palace. The third palace is still with the Travancore family. Since the palace is adorned by wooden horse statues throughout the ceiling it came to be known as the KuthiraMaliga. We had to get entrance tickets to the palace and the adjoining museum to go inside. At the palace we had a guide we showed us across the rooms. We could witness ivory thrones, sword, kings belongings, etc. At the museum too another guide explained the pictures. We could see here the pre independence and post independence photos on the connection of the Travancore Kings with the Indian Administration. It was quite a walk, we walked back after almost 2 hours.
With this we checked out from Treebo and drove straight back to Chennai for a continuous 11 hours to reach home late night.
Over all a different journey, getting an experience of traditional southern India and spiritual fulfillment.
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