Shankumugham Beach

Shankumukam beach
neighbourhood
Shankumukam beach
Coordinates: 8°28′52″N 76°54′45″E / 8.48112950°N 76.91237030°E / 8.48112950; 76.91237030Coordinates: 8°28′52″N 76°54′45″E / 8.48112950°N 76.91237030°E / 8.48112950; 76.91237030
Country India
State Kerala
District Thiruvananthapuram district
Languages
  Official Malayalam, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)

Shankumugham Beach is a beach in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, south India. The beach is on the western side of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) city and very near to Trivandrum International Airport.

The vast stretch of white sand and the serene atmosphere, away from the crowd in the city, provide all the ingredients for relaxation and for spending an ideal evening. There is also a “Star Fish Restaurant” with eating kiosks and open-air theatre with car parking facilities. Good food can be enjoyed at the Indian Coffee House, just across the beach, which is also a vantage point for enjoying the sunset. Unfortunately, the beach is not well maintained with garbage littering the entire area.

Arattu mandapam

Shanghumugham beach is considered as the ‘Arattukadavu’ of Sri Ananthapadmanabhan - The presiding deity of the city. Thousands of Hindus perform ‘Bali Tharpanam’ during special occasions. Shanghu mugham is the prime location for Ganesh Nimarjan at the time of Vinayaka Chathurthi.

On the Arattu day at Thiruvananthapuram, images of Lord Padmanabhawamy, Lord Narasimha, and Lord Krishna are taken in procession to the Laccadive Sea at Shanghumugham beach. His Highness the now-titular Maharaja of Travancore will lead the procession with the royal sword in hand, who will be escorted by members of the Royal family, armed guards, temple authorities, mounted police, and officers. After the ceremonial bath in Shanghumugham, images are taken back in procession which marks the conclusion of the festival.

The skating school here offers the coaching on skating. Adjacent to the skating school is an indoor sports complex which provides facilities for Badminton and Table Tennis.

Sagarakanyaka or Jalakanyaka

The sculpture of Jalakanyaka - Mermaid by Kanayi Kunhiraman is an added attraction. This giant statue is more than 35m long. The 'Jawaharlal Nehru Park of Traffic signs for children' is situated here, which is helpful for the children to understand the traffic rules while playing in the park. The park also provides cycling facilities for small children.

The military airport of the Southern Air Command of the Indian Air Force is situated at Shankumugham Beach.

Veli Tourist Village is near from the Shankumugham Beach boating facilities are offered at this picnic spot. Speed boats, restaurants and well landscaped gardens are available.

How to reach

Picture gallery

External links

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This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, January 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.