Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu

from Kataragama to Kailasa - at Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
One of the 52 Shakti Peethams, and one of the Durga Alayas. Very significant for the pilgrim tracing the path of Shiva...
Devi is here as Kanya Kumari, steadfast in her intention to be a maiden, after Shiva missed the auspicious moment of the wedding when he started from Suchindram. That is a beautiful story. The temple with the golden covering is the one dedicated to Kanya Kumari and the taller one is at Suchindram.

Kataragama - the southernmost Shiva temple

a perspective truly representative of the South Asian Subcontinent
pilgrims walking from Nallur (in the northern region of Sri Lanka) to Kataragama (south Sri Lanka) along the East Coast to reach in time for the Esala festival at the sacred temple town. A panorama of devotees of Shiva, Kartikeya, Devi and Ganesha from Sri Lanka and all the way north to Mount Kailash, and uniquely on the same longitude... 81 deg East.