Guided by Azhakappan – sent to us by Mohan – we were driving further south. At Mathur Thottilpalam we got a great view on the Western Ghats, tasted freshly cut coconut, pineapple, and fried banana chips. On our way back to the car Renu plucked a banana flower, from where we tasted nectar.
Afterward, we went to Padmanabhapuram Palace, the palace of the Travancore Kings. We were excited by its beautiful architecture. We spent so much time there that we had to decide between skipping the lunch and hesitating to reach the last boat at Kanyakumari Vivekananda Rock and having lunch and going to see Suchindram temple in Nagercoil from the outside. Due to the long ride to the southernmost point of India (1:40 hours one direction), we were going to the temple.
The temple is just amazing. It unbelievable what the people here created more than 1.000 years back. As there is a ceremony on December 25th, some believers were preparing a colossal chariot, which the will pull through the town during the ceremony. As this hasn’t been enough, our guide managed that we could see the temple itself!
For the temple, everyone has to take off his/her footwear. Additionally, men are only allowed to enter without wearing a shirt. As we had to leave all personal belongings in a locker at the entrance, we can just tell you what we were allowed to experience when we meet you back home. Right now we want to leave by merely saying unbelievably!
Finally, on our way home we saw a man with an elephant on the street. We learned that elephants are still used in temple ceremonies and for working, respectively.
