~ by Shobha Gallagher
On this shore, the vast grey-blue Arabian Sea is the great oceanic cleanser of karmic sins. This is the sacred face of India’s Varkala beach in Kerala. Groups of families squatted on the sands before bare-chested Hindu priests as they chanted Sanskrit mantras and prayers for the souls of their loved ones who had departed from this world.
Photo Credit: keralatourism.holiday
The sanctified items of the rituals were then carried in plantain leaves by the family members towards the sea where it was all immersed and released in the holy waters. This ritual is believed to purify souls on their onward journey. Even a dip in these waters is believed to cleanse the body and soul of “doshams” (imperfections and sins). And so, for the locals, Varkala beach is also known as “Papanasam” (redemption from sins).
Varkala’s Diverse Worlds
Situated about 52 kilometers north of Kerala's capital city of Thiruvananthapuram (former Trivandrum) on the southwest jaw line of peninsular India, Varkala’s diverse little worlds coexist as quaint bedfellows.
This holy shore land for the Hindus and pilgrim destination with ancient temples dating back about 2000 years, also harboured a stretch of mineral-rich beach where sand-dusted international tourists lolled lazily under colourful umbrellas or rode the waves on surf pads and boards.
Some of the original settlers still resided at the far end of the beach, They perhaps chose to stay refusing to sell their land at exorbitant prices when Varkala reinvented itself as a unique sea resort destination especially for the backpack and budget tourists from Europe.
A curved red-brown palm fringed cliff face protectively cups this stretch of quality soft-sand beach. On top of this cliff, a host of multi-cuisine restaurants, cafes, eateries, curio shops, cyber cafes, luxury and budget resorts, Ayurvedic massage parlours; tourism offices, mini-India shops selling artifacts and new age paraphernalia, vies for the best vantage view of the Arabian Sea.
Photo Credit: Anand S on Unsplash
Near the rocks below, three bare-chested local men and a woman in a sari faced the crash of waves. They disappeared beneath the foamy waters to pull out the clams and shell fish stuck to the rocks and then turned towards the churning waters once again. This was their livelihood.
In the distance, fishermen either shoved their rustic boats into the frothy waters or pulled in their catch - crabs, giant lobsters, tuna, barracuda, quid and prawns. They sold them fresh almost immediately to the highest bidder.
Photo Credit: Iris Holidays
The smaller crude boats, “ketumaram”, (the Malayalam word for “tied logs”) consisting of two to three logs of wood bound together by coir ropes looked fragile as they bobbed on the rough seas. But the fishermen knew their waters, their sea and her lethal temperament.
Before Varkala even twinkled on the tourist map or featured in the Lonely Planet, it was Kovalam beach that was the grand master of Kerala’s international tourism. Strangely, it was from Kovalam that Varkala was discovered and became a charming beach destination especially for Europeans. Now shops and café owners compete to make quick capital in the short tourist season from November to March when the pound-n-dollar scents the salted air.
Photo Credit: remotetraveler.com
An Ancient Pilgrim Place
It is when the wave of high tourism has ebbed, that the holy hours of Varkala emerge. At the break of dawn following the auspicious new moon day in the Malayalam month of Karkidakam (the monsoon months from end-July and early August), thousands of Indian pilgrims make their way to Varkala to offer “vavu bali", a ritual to honor their relatives and ancestors who have passed on.
Through the year, crowds of pilgrims throng to Varkala’s hilltop temple, Sree Janardhana Swamy. Built in the 12th century, this ancient place of worship is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and the powerful monkey-God, Hanuman. The spring that gushes from the cliff here is believed to have curative powers.
Ancient pilgrim place throbbing with history, international tourist resort, a commercial hub with its beach-fest ambience during peak season, holy shores where departed souls are cleansed on their journey to the world beyond, Varkala unfolds its many robed layers.
Photo Credit: tripoto.com
A Fishing Village and Homeland
Meantime a belligerent lungi-clad fisherman of the village at the far end of the beach, snapped in English at a sun-bronzed tourist. “No photographs,” he fumed. Perhaps he feared that the last piece of beach land would dissolve with mega bucks leaving no imprints of a one-time secluded world of nets-and-fish on the sands.
Photo Credit: Rahul Chakraborty on Unsplash
