Photo: Adam Jones Adam63 · CC BY-SA 3.0

The Cape · Town

Vavathurai Shore

வாவத்துறை

The working seafront of a fishing parish.

Move across the photo, or drag it on a phone, to look around.

You arrive

You walk a little way from the temple crowds and the shore changes its character. Boats are drawn up where the souvenir stalls would be, and the smell of fish and drying nets replaces the camphor and flowers. This is a place of work. A church stands near the water, the rocks of the memorial lie just offshore, and the people moving around you are mostly busy with the sea and its daily demands.

Vavathurai Shore · Photo: rahul kharade · CC BY 3.0

01 / 02

Along the boats

You pick your way along the shore, past boats and tackle, keeping out of the way of anybody working. Look at the hulls and the nets, and at how close everything is kept to the tide. The Vivekananda memorial stands on rocks just off this stretch of coast, and it looks quite different from here, a backdrop to working lives. Ask before you photograph anybody, and do not step on nets.

Vavathurai Shore · Photo: Anurag darpan · CC BY-SA 4.0

02 / 02

St. Arockiya Nathar Church

Near the shore stands St. Arockiya Nathar Church, the Catholic church serving a parish made up largely of local fishing families. Stop and look at how close it sits to the water, then walk around to see it from the seaward side. Its presence tells you who lives here. Go in quietly if the doors are open, and let the sound of the waves follow you to the door.

Being here

You see

Boats, nets and a shoreline church, with the memorial just offshore.

You hear

Surf and working voices.

You smell

Fish, salt and drying nets.

You feel

Wet sand and uneven shore underfoot.

Look around

The story

Wikipedia describes the Vivekananda Rock Memorial as standing on rocks off the mainland of Vavathurai, which places this shore directly opposite the monument most visitors have come to see. St. Arockiya Nathar Church stands on the Kanyakumari shoreline, and its parish is made up predominantly of local fishing families. The available sources disagree on some details of its dates, though a 2010 launch by the then Bishop of Kottar is reported. Wikimedia Commons groups photographs of this coast under the Kanniyakumari harbour category. There is little published history of the harbour itself, so the shore is best understood simply by going there, keeping out of the way and watching the day's work.

Sources: Wikipedia: St. Arockiya Nathar Church, Vavathurai · Wikipedia: Vivekananda Rock Memorial

Close by

Sea

Sunrise Point

Dawn comes up between the rock and the statue.

Sea

The Ferry to the Rocks

The short crossing that takes you off the end of India.

Museum

Government Museum, Kanyakumari

A small, cool collection of temple sculpture and regional crafts.

Temple

Kumari Amman Temple

The goddess who gave India's southern tip its name.

Photo: PP Yoonus · CC BY-SA 3.0

Continue the journey