Return Flight from Trivandrum to Bombay:

Monday, July 27, 2026

Return Flight from Trivandrum to Bombay:

Our flight from Trivandrum on Air-India was scheduled for 9.30 am. We planned to be at the airport at 7.30 am as we were checking in our bags. With enough time to kill, we were able to buy a few gifts for my Dad (Kerala’s famous black halwa) and for my brother Russel (a box of milk pedas) before we went in search of a cup of filter coffee as we were expected to be served breakfast on board.

Time passed quickly and boarding was soon announced. We had a very smooth flight and very good service on board and a substantial breakfast of an omlette with a chicken sausage, grilled tomatoes and fries and a coffee. While everything was piping hot, nothing was really tasty…but I suppose it filled us up for the rest of our flight. I really did enjoy my window seat which gave me an uninhibited view throughout of the West coast of India—I realized how much of it is actually covered by sandy beaches, not many of which are even remotely developed.

We touched down on schedule at 9.30 am, arriving at the international airport from where we took an Uber car to get us back to our flat. We were home by 11.45 am and boy, how good it felt to enter our own home again.

Thanks for following me on this trip through Kerala—a rather strange combination of spiritualism and tourism; but one that was interesting in both parts. Until I blog again, about my next trip, may the road rise up to meet you…

Scouring Kerala’s Capital City of Trivandrum—A Medley of Museums:

Sunday, July 26, 2026

Scouring Kerala’s Capital City of Trivandrum—A Medley of Museums:

We awoke once again, after a very good night’s sleep in Rama’s Garden Hotel, showered, dressed and went down for breakfast. Both of us had the Western Breakfast (omlettes with buttered toast and jam, coffee or tea and fresh fruit—bananas and papaya). Nothing about this hotel was displeasing. We enjoyed every aspect of it, not least the excellent service we received from the staff. We decided to devote the day to touring the city of Trivandrum and enjoyed ourselves scouring a few museums that offered abundant fascination.

Seeking the counsel of Receptionist Honey, we decided to go to the Puthe Maliga Palace Museum first—it would open at 10am and stay open till 5.00pm.Accordingly, we walked to the end of our quiet hotel lane and found an auto rickshaw to take us there. Most rickshaws do not ply by meter (unlike Bombay) and one is required to negotiate a rate before getting inside. We used Uber to help us figure out the going rate and then took the local rickshaw drivers’ vehicles at Uber prices—which, we thought, were very fair. About ten minutes later, we were deposited at the gates of the Museum and made our way inside.

Touring the Puthe Maliga Palace Museum:

Once inside the museum complex, we were led towards the ticket kiosk and then asked to wait for a guide in whose company we’d be allowed inside. There were about a dozen other people with us in our tour group. The guide spoke in three languages: Malayalam (regional language of Kerala), Hindi and English. We began initially with the lower floor (or ground floor) after depositing our footwear on provided stands. The Palace was the abode of the former Travancore kingly dynasty and the complex is composed of several beautiful structures, some in a better state of repair than others. They are all of uniform color (white stucco walls with red Mangalore tiled roofs). I loved the traditional architectural lines of these buildings and took pictures outside. To take pictures inside, you need to buy a ticket for Rs. 500. We did not do that, but we enjoyed the interiors with their carved details.

Indeed, there are dozens of rooms in the main palace building with gorgeous carved teak ceilings, very interesting floors that gleam and shine but made of an organic mixture of materials containing mustard oil, etc. The Palace is renowned for 172 decorative carved horses that encircles the exterior and for the carved rosewood details on its many solid doors and windows. Of course, there are decorative items inside such as European pottery and ceramics, Belgian glass, glorious Czech chandeliers, an entire art gallery devoted to royal portraiture with aristocratic heads of the Travancore dynasty depicted by such famous European portraitists as Roerich. Another gallery is devoted entirely to arms and armor from past centuries. There is beautiful carved furniture in Victorian style, palanquins and elephant howdahs. It was certainly worth touring the palace to see the wealth of the Travancore maharajas laid out for our viewing pleasure.

Visiting the Napier Museum:

The next item on our agenda was the Napier Museum which I remembered fondly from visiting Trivandrum in my 20s. I was determined to visit it again, not least because I remember seeing, for the first time in my life, a collection of works by Raja Ravi Varma, an aristocrat from the same Travancore dynasty. It had been my first introduction to his work and I had remained deeply struck by it. I believed that the collection was still housed at the Napier Museum; and so, by making inquiries, we discovered that we would need another auto rickshaw to get there—a distance of five kilometers The sun was really hot by this point (it was almost mid-day) and walking on the unshaded streets was quite uncomfortable.

The Napier Museum is located in a vast complex of Victorian gardens that comprise the Government Botanical Gardens and the Zoo. One of the reasons that I probably remember it so well is because it is a strikingly beautiful building whose style defies categorization. Suffice it to say that a combination of red and pink brick work, rather decoratively applied to the façade plus other details such as carved, conical wooden windows and red tiled roofs give it a most dignified and distinctive appearance. It is further accentuated by a large fountain in the front and sprawling gardens that radiate from its main entrance.

Inside, the decoration on walls, floor and ceiling is just as spectacular. There are balcony-like protrusions that stick out of the top where a combination of paint, carving, stucco, etc. combine to create a confection of visual delights that enchanted me. It is a small museum and restricted to just one floor, but there are clear sections within it: Chola bronzes, granite Hindu sculpture, marble figurines, carved ivory objects, a massive wooden Temple car that would have participated in several significant public processions over the years. It was all quite wonderful, but I kept wondering where the Ravi Varma paintings were to be found.

An inquiry at the entrance led me to discover than since the past 40 years, Ravi Varma has grown enormously in stature as one of India’s best contemporary painters. As such, his collection is now housed in a building entirely dedicated to it. This, fortunately, was within the same complex and involved a short five-minute walk. This objective became the most exciting and productive aspect of our day.

Visiting the Art Gallery Containing Raja Ravi Varma’s Paintings:

There is a separate ticket to enter the Ravi Varma Gallery and this we bought easily as we were pretty much the only visitors in the museum. A total of about twenty other visitors were present through the length of our stay of over an hour.

So here’s a word about Raj Ravi Varma. He was born in 1848 into the royal family of the Travancore dynasty of maharajas in Killimanoor Palace in the city of Trivandrum. As his penchant for painting was noticed very early in life, his uncle suggested that he receive training. Accordingly, while in his late teens, he received instruction in the Western painting tradition from the Dutch painter, Theodore Jensen. He soon began to paint portraits of the Travancore royal family in the new European tradition and, upon finding that his work was much admired, he submitted four of his paintings to art competitions in Chennai and Vienna, Austria, respectively—in both places he won prizes. It was not long before Ravi Varma was invited by the royal families of other Indian states to paint their own portraits. He ended up traveling extensively across India to undertake commissioned works, mainly for princely families. In course of time, he made his way to Chicago where, at the same time, the Indian Hindu philosopher, Swami Vivekananda, was also making a mark (in 1893). Both received high acclaim in the USA. While portrait-painting remained Ravi Varma’s bread and butter, he did indulge in the painting of a number of subjects purely for pleasure, The end result is a gigantic oeuvre that includes religious deities, spiritual and mythological narratives, still lives, landscapes and, of course, portraiture—both of prominent people and the common man. Ravi Varma’s style is distinctive because it is realistic in the extreme, characterized by an exuberance of color, unfailing eye for composition and proportion and the ability to pull the viewer into a long-ago world that is both accurate and authentic. Towards the end of his life, he returned to Trivandrum where he continued to remain an active creative artist. India’s Viceroy Lord Curzon, in 1904, described him as the Lord of Paintings and presented him with the Kaiser-e-Hind gold medal. Raiv Varma, whose work and style exemplified Victorian traditions of painting, died soon after the Queen Empress did—in 1906.

As I have personally loved Ravi Varma’s work ever since I was first introduced to it in my 20s, on my first visit to Trivandrum with my parents, I found the visit to this gallery to be the best part of my day. It takes about half an hour to see replicas of the paintings in the initial rooms before one moves further into the gallery to see the actual original oil paintings themselves. These have brief but adequate curatorial notes that take us through the various phases of his achievement. There is also a second floor that takes another half hour to see. Photography is permitted and I found myself wanting to preserve most of his work for posterity—hence I kept clicking quite enthusiastically. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit to this gallery which was probably the highlight of my stay in Trivandrum (as I had expected it to be).’

Sadya Lunch at Mother’s Veg. Plaza:

By this point in time, we were ready for a sit-down and lunch as we had been on our feet for hours. Suggestions on the internet had led me to a place called Mother’s Veg. Plaza which touted the best Sadya Lunch in the city. Sadya is a traditional Keralite meal, served at festive times (usually Onam, the Keralite harvest festival) on a banana leaf. Our Receptionist Honey, at our hotel, had confirmed that this place offers the best Sadya in the city.

Accordingly, we ordered an Uber rickshaw to get to the venue which we found to be filled to bursting. It took a chaotic wait of at least 25 minutes inside a hot, crowded, noisy, large hall before we were able to bag the seats of patrons who were just finishing their meal. At just Rs. 225 per head, this is a very good value for money. It is also very well touted on all social media—which explains the mainly tourist crowd.

Once we sat down, we had a variety of items plonked down on our individual banana leaves. There was a variety of chutneys followed by a mound of thick boiled rice. Equally thick daal was poured over it, with a spoonful of ghee. Then came a number of different vegetable preparations, all traditional and all known to the diners. I have to say that nothing was very tasty or delicious and both of us began to wonder what all the fuss was about. Finally, our meal ended with a number of little bowls containing butter milk and sambar as the servers came around with two types of dessert—payassam (one made of sago or tapioca, the other made with pineapple). These were the tastiest parts of our meal. As there were other diners hovering over us, ready to grab out seats, we could not really linger over our meal, I need to point out that we were the only two people in the entire establishment who asked for spoons—everyone else used their fingers to attack their mound of rice with gusto.

With our bill having been cleared right at the beginning, we merely thanked our servers and left. It is a pity that the crowds made the entire experience highly impersonal. With lunch done and another item ticked off our Wish List, we called another Uber rick and returned to the Botanical Garden for our afternoon visit to the Zoo.

Visiting the Trivandrum Zoo:

Although I always love to visit a zoo, we might have given this one a pass but for a very important reason. It is this zoo that inspired a Booker-Prize winning novel that was later made into a film and a successful stage play (and we have read the book and seen the film and the play). The novel is ‘Life of Pi’ and the author is Yaan Martel whose father served as zoo-keeper at this zoo while he was a child. His novel is largely inspired by the zoo and its animal residents.

So, with this knowledge, we bought our tickets and entered the zoo. There is a golf buggy cart available but it operates at specific times and we were too late for the previous one and too early for the next. Hence, we opted to use our own two (awfully tired) feet to see the zoo, Honey had told us that the zoo boasts a rare white Royal Bengal Tiger and we hoped very much that we would catch a glimpse of it (if not of the original Richard Parker—the name Martel gave the tiger in his novel).

There is nothing else very special about this zoo. Our recently refurbished Bombay Zoo is infinitely better. However, towards the very end of our visit, we did see the white tiger and he is indeed a magnificent creature. He happened to be having a drink and taking a bath in the little stream of water that runs through his enclosure. He offered himself for a few photo ops and both Llew and I excitedly clicked and were rewarded for our efforts.

And once we had seen this attraction, we were ready to call it a day. We were both quite tired by this point and looked forward to sitting down somewhere. It was about 4.30 pm at this time and we realized that we’d be in time for the 5.00 pm Mass at the Church of St. Anne Forane. This was significant as today is a Sunday and it happens to be St. Anne’s Feast. So that was our next port of call.

Mass at the Church of St. Anne Forane:

Once again, Uber came to our rescue as we found our way into the church. However, while there was a large statue of St. Anne with the young Mary by her side, outside the church, we realized that the church website had given us wrong information. We were supposed to have arrived for an English Mass at 5.00 pm. As it turned out, there was no Mass at 5.00pm; it was scheduled at 6.00 pm and it was not going to be in English but Malayalam. Hence, we paid a prayerful visit to the church (one that was profusely decorated for the Feast Day with an abundance of fresh gladioli) and left.

Another Uber rickshaw took us back to our hotel which we reached at about 5.30 pm. As soon as we reached our room, we threw ourselves on our bed as we were so exhausted. About twenty minutes later, we brewed ourselves a cup of coffee and enjoyed it with a bunch of biscuits that we happened to be carrying. With this snack in us, we settled down to do our packing as we would be leaving the hotel early, the next morning. A little later, as we were too tired to get out for dinner, we requested Honey to use his Zomato account to order us Chicken Tikka Sandwiches from Subway. He readily obliged and after sharing a foot-long sub that was not even remotely tasty, we were ready to call it a night. We set our alarms for 6.00 am and fell asleep.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…

Trivandrum-Kanya Kumari: A Day Spent with a Visit to Kovalam Beach and at the Southernmost Point of the Indian Sub-Continent:

Saturday, July 25, 2026

Trivandrum-Kanya Kumari

A Day Spent with a Visit to Kovalam Beach and at the Southernmost Point of the Indian Sub-Continent:

After the adventurous bus journey we had yesterday, we decided to treat ourselves to the luxury of a privately hired car and driver for the day to take us further down the Kerala Coast and into the state of Tamil Nadu. We had both slept beautifully in our most comfortable bed and after a hot shower, we dressed and were ready to enjoy breakfast in our hotel (included with the price of our room).

Breakfast was of two types: Indian (for which I opted—it included idlis with curry, iddiappam with a chick pea stew, medu vadas with coconut chutney plus fresh fruit—little yellow elchi bananas, water melon and a choice of tea or coffee). The Western breakfast consisted of eggs any style with toast, butter and jam, fresh fruit, tea and coffee. Llew opted for the Western and enjoyed his omlette with buttered toast. Fueled with our food, we requested the helpful Receptionist Honey to find us a private cab driver to fulfil our day’s travel needs. It did not take him long to connect us with a lovely driver named Rajesh who stayed with us for the whole day. He spoke a smattering of English but was very comfortable in Hindi (unlike most people in the South) which made communication with him both very simple and easy.

And so, by 10.20 am, we were in our taxi, heading off for Kanya Kumari. It is a journey that ordinarily takes about two hours, but for some reason, it took us much longer. This was probably due to the fact that we stopped briefly at Kovalam Beach en route.

Stopping at Kovalam Beach:

Kovalam is one of Kerala’s best-known beaches. I’m not really sure why as we did not find anything particularly distinctive about it. It took us about an hour to get there from Trivandrum and once there, it kind of seemed pointless. The tide was in and the ocean was a beautiful dove blue-grey. The sand was wet even at the shore which made it possible to walk down the stairs leading to it an easy business but not a lengthy one. We stayed for a few minutes, took pictures and left. The Leela Group of Hotels has a lovely five-star hotel at one end which is quite picturesque. I found a few souvenir shops and went in search of our souvenir magnets but there were none of Kovalam Beach—only of Kerala. I was able to pick up a few shells at a fraction of the cost I would have paid anywhere in the West and those became my souvenirs for this trip.

Heading South to Kanya Kumari:

And then, more than two hours after getting back into our car and heading further down south, we arrived at Kanya Kumari (formerly known as Cape Comorin). It is the southern tip of the Indian sub-continent and it is the confluence point of three major oceans: the Indian Ocean (in the south), the Arabian Sea (to the West) and the Bay of Bengal (to the East). Rumor used to have it that there are three shades of sand to be found on these beaches, but that is incorrect. The sands of the three beaches merge together to create a single shade. However, the lighting at different times of the day can create an optical illusion that leads the viewer to believe that there are three distinct shades of blue water that come together at this point. And indeed, that was something we easily discerned. You have beautiful shades of aquamarine, cobalt and turquoise blue meeting (the sort of thing we had seen in Hawai’i) in the gigantic waves that hit the shore.

We stopped initially at the confluence of the three oceans—the point known as Triveni Sangam. More about it later. Our first destination was the area’s main attraction, the Rock Temple dedicated to Swami Vivekananda, an Indian sage and philosopher. After Rajesh parked our car, he dropped us off at the roundabout and pointed us in the direction that would lead to the stop from where we could buy tickets for the ferry that would take us across the water to the Temple, which lies just a tiny bit offshore. What also catches the eye is a gigantic statue of a deity (who turned out to be the Hindu sage Thiruvalluram), on an adjacent rock. To get from the Vivekananda Temple to the Hindu Sage’s Temple, you walk across a glass bottomed footbridge which is quite a nice experience in itself as you can see the foaming waters of the sea crashing upon the rocks below. Pretty cool!

Visiting the Vivekananda Temple:

The ride in the ferry lasts about twenty minutes, you are given life jackets (a very wise move) and deposited on the other side. It is quite orderly as the crowds make control necessary through channels that maintain order. We were very fortunate not to find a crowd in the line when boarding. In fact, we were only about the first twenty passengers that boarded. Once on the other side, we gave up our life jackets and were about to climb the rock when we were directed by some of the volunteers to a small room where we watched a short film about the temple, its origin and its construction. This was highly informative, particularly for us who do not know too much about Vivekananda, his life or work.

You take your shoes off in this entire complex and walk with socks or barefooted.The temple complex consists of three parts: the rust-colored stone temple housing a large gleaming brass statue of the philosopher. Once we saw this interior, we walked to the opposite side, where there is a replica of a stone footprint said to have been created by the goddess Kanya Kumari (after whom the site is named) in one of the Hindu epics. Vivekananda is said to have come to this site to stand on this same footprint. Hence, the footprint is well defined and well cordoned off inside a glass enclosure—you can see it but cannot photograph or touch it. Hence, the temple in Vivekananda’s honor was built right opposite. The third structure is the one to the sage Thiruvalluram and this required walking across the glass footbridge. Once inside, you climb up a few flights of stairs to arrive at a viewing gallery which brings you to the feet of the sage. We were very much reminded of our climb up the mountain called Corcovado to see the Statue of Christos Redemptor (Christ The Redeemer) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which we had done together, a few years ago. Of course, we did take pictures at this spot too and also enjoyed wonderful views of the seashore at Kanya Kumari. Interestingly, there is a Muslim mosque and a Christian church on these shores—which leads me to believe that this is considered a somewhat sacred spot in all religions.

After we had surveyed all these properties, we took a few pictures and returned to the orderly lines that would lead us back to the ferry that would take us back to the shore. It was here that we found our magnet of Kanya Kumari in one of the shops as well as bags of more shells as I became really delighted to find them at such a cheap price. It was only their weight and fragility that prevented me from buying more.

Visiting the Gandhi Mandapam:

I have to say that it was quite hot and being in the outdoors at mid-day was not entirely comfortable. As we’d had a heavy breakfast, we were not too hungry, but it was important to find shade. We made our way next to the Gandhi Mandapam, a very interesting modern structure.

This white building was specially constructed on the spot where Gandhi’s ashes were kept exposed after his death so that people could pay their respects. A few days later, some of them were scattered in the Triveni Sangam (the three oceans that envelope the peninsula of India would forever hold the ashes of the man who had brought the region into global prominence by giving up his life for it). There is a very reasonably-priced ticket to get into all these venues and there is also footwear to be left behind for safekeeping, as a mark of respect.

Inside, you will find a large, wide hall with a small structure at the far end. In this receptable, Gandhi’s ashes had once lain. All around the hall, on the walls, are a pictorial history of Gandhi’s life. I found it quite fascinating indeed as I used to teach Gandhi’s life and work in my South Asian Studies courses at NYU and seeing all these photographs on the wall took me on a sort of deja-vu trip through the various phases of his life on which I used to lecture. We took about twenty minutes in this space, collected our footwear and returned to the roundabout. As we were carrying our shells with us, we called Rajesh to pick us up and once he arrived, we gratefully got into our AC car and asked him to take us to an AC restaurant so that we could get a bite to eat. He did manage to find us a place in a hotel but the menu was most unappetizing and all we had was a cooling lassi each.

Scaling the Lighthouse for Bird’s Eye Views of Kanya Kumari:

Having cooled off a bit, we proceeded to the next item on our agenda: climbing up to the light house for 360 degree views of Kanya Kumari. Fortunately, there is a lift to get to the top. My brother Russel, reminded me, when I spoke to him on the phone from Kerala, that we had been up to the top about 40 years ago! Truly, he has a phenomenal memory! That said, I too had a feeling that I had been to the place before as soon as I entered the compound.

The lighthouse is not very tall (maybe about six storeys in height). It is a candy-striped red and white building which closes at 6.00 pm. When we arrived there, it was about 5.30pm—which left us half an hour to stay at the top and take pictures. Yes, we did get the 360 degree views of the town but, more importantly, we had a chance to see the tapering West coast of India in a clear line as it petered out into the sea. We did take a few photographs as the ebbing sun rays gilded the landscape quite magically. But then, it was time to descend back again to the arms of Mother Earth and by 6.00pm, we were summoning Rajesh to pick us up again. We had one more item to be covered and we headed towards the spot.

Viewing the Sunset from Sunset Beach:

Two of the biggest attractions of Kanya Kumari are watching the sunrise over the East coast of India and viewing the sunset over the West Coast. When we had visited, forty years ago, we had stayed over the previous night and woken up at 5.00 am (literally the crack of dawn) to view the sunrise. It is a happy family memory that I deeply cherish. This time round, we would be able to see the sunset—so stay we did until we were able to tick that item off our To-Do List.

Sunset was supposed to be at 6.41 pm. This left us about half an hour to find a parking spot and then wait to see the sunset. Well, we weren’t the only ones with such a plan. Half of Kanya Kumari was out on the beach attempting to find a good spot from which to watch the sun sink over the Western horizon. At Rajesh’s suggestion, we got to a spot where we could seat ourselves comfortably and still see the molten gold orb disappear into the sea. Rajesh also took a few pictures of us on the sand as the gilding rays of the sun brought a romantic filter to the scene. Hundreds of people gathered at the same spot to take selfies or to pose in groups as the sun began into downward descent. And then, just give minutes later, it was gone and another day came to an end on the Indian sub-continent.

Long Drive Back to Trivandrum with Dinner En Route:

And then, it was time for us to pile back into our car and get to our hotel in Trivandrum. Darkness fell swiftly over the land as soon as the sun set. We were tired and happy to have a cool, comfortable environment in which to unwind before reaching home. We requested Rajesh to stop at a fast food place such as McDonald’s or Burger King so that we could pick up a take home meal. But Rajesh had other ideas! He suggested a place called Taste of Kerala for what he said would be “excellent fish”. As Llew does not eat fish, he almost nixed the plan. But I told Rajesh that I eat fish and would like to try the famous Karimeen Polichattu (Pearl Fish Steamed in a Banana Leaf). Rajesh said that I was sure to get it at that spot. Hence, the spot became a no-brainer.

True to his prophecy, we really did enjoy an excellent seafood meal at Taste of Kerala. There was a live seafood counter from which we could choose our own favorite fish—fortunately for Llew, there was shell fish too and he chose a neat batch of gigantic shrimp. I chose the pearl fish and had them make it the way I wanted. We ordered fresh lime sodas to wash down our meal and, seated at dimly lit tables in a lovely outdoorsy atmosphere, we enjoyed our dinner. Our driver Rajesh was taken care of by the proprietors, and it seems that he is accustomed to bringing his passengers to this place. His idea was a sterling one and we were very pleased we took his counsel.

Dinner done, we had about a half hour’s run to our hotel. Rajesh dropped us at our gate and within minutes, Honey was present, to open the main door, hand over our keys and bid us goodnight as we climbed the one floor to our room and called it a night.

It had been a full and very productive day and we were amazed at how much ground we had covered, thanks to the services of our own private vehicle and driver.

Until tomorrow, cheerio…