Varkala and the sin-destroying beach
A few weeks ago, with moderate encouragement from my sister, I found myself at the seaside town and health resort of Varkala in Kerala. After an hour’s taxi ride from Trivandrum we found ourselves at Papanasam Beach (Paap = Sin, Nasam/ Nasham = Destroy). There are two legends about this beach. The first is that Brahma (creator of the universe in Hindu mythology) instructed a Pandyan king to build a temple here to wash away sins. The second legend is that Narada, at the request of some pilgrims who confessed wrongdoing, threw his valkalam (piece of cloth) and it landed here where pilgrims now come to dip in the holy waters. This post is about the sandy beach and the lovely surroundings which you cannot miss. A more tongue-in-cheek take on Varkala is saved till my next post! If slowing down is what you need (and I sure did) then this was the perfect place for it. Luckily we arrived towards the end of the tourist season so ...