Trip to Vembar - An adventure in the Coastal Village

During the second week of March, we make a trip to Virudhunagar - my hometown. From there, we had planned a 2-days trip to the remote southern coastal village, named "Vembar" (Tuticorin District). This is my maternal ancestral place of worship. Every year, about 5000 odd people go there to offer prayers to our family deity (I love those trips... the last trip I remember was over 12 years ago). We were twelve of us this time in a cozy van. Traveling on the bumpy road (about 3 hours) we recollected memories of the earlier get-togethers. We halted at several places for snacks and to manage the downpour of summer rains !!

Back in history, there are some lineages of the Pandiyan Kings associated to Vembar. The people who live here are well versed in the traditional shipbuilding, navigation knowledge, pearl fishery, fishing and salt-making. We had to stay in the special thatched 'tents' constructed for this function. We worshipped the deities, spread across the barren lands. On the second night, we had to stay put in the van, since the tents were soaked due to heavy downpour. It was a real tough night!!

The best part of the trip was the bath in the clean sea (Bay of Bengal). We went to the beach twice and had fun. On the shore, vendors were very busy auctioning their daily catch. We could find all kinds of marine life - ranging from various fishes (Sharks et al), giant prawns, Sea cucumbers, Crabs, Sponges and many more. We saw a giant ray fish (whew) and an Octopus (a small one though)!!

Being a nature-lover, I was amazed by the unpolluted beach. Walking by the seashores, we 'caught' four live starfishes from their natural habitat. Bunches of visitors were awestruck by our 'catch'. Starfish (or Sea stars) are marine invertebrates (they are NOT actually fishes) belonging to phylum Echinodermata (bio. students?), class Asteroidea (!!?!!). They exhibit a radial symmetry, typically with five "arms" which radiate from body. They do not have movable skeletons, but instead possess a vascular system, having numerous "tube feet", which function in locomotion and feeding.

There were lots of fishing boats bobbing on the water. We took an "adventure" ride (none of us knew swimming) inside the sea, with the local fishermen acting as our tourist guides. The sea looked a deep blue, calm and almost scary.

On the way back from Vembar, we worshipped that 42-Feet tall statue of VetKaaliamman - a breath-taking, vibrant, beautiful statue in the open space (and hence the name of the Goddess. ‘Vettai Velli’ in thamizh means open, without shelter). The thundershowers continued to give us company (and the 4 starfishes in a bucket), till we came back to my hometown.

This trip is sure to be etched in all our hearts forever...

- Bharath