Vizhinjam (pronounced approximately as Vuh-yin-yam – that's not 100% accurate but, as with so many languages, the Malayalam sounds that make up this place name do not exist in English) is a primarily fishing village south of Kovalam. It is colourful, unpretentious and much more 'real India' than Kovalam. Go early in the morning and you'll discover that many inhabitants still use the ocean as their toilet (not much different than us in Victoria I guess – except we nonchalantly flush our waste away in the bathroom rather than depositing it directly on the beach and letting the waves take it). Many of the houses are rudimentary and as you wander by you'll often hear a woman haranguing someone (probably a man) and understand how the term 'fishwife' originated!
Vizhinjam is supposed to be developed over the next few years as a deep water container port – I'm not sure if that involves dredging the harbout or not – but the process seems stalled at the moment. It's something to do with competing bids I think. The community is made up of mostly Muslims and Christians and the two most prominent features are the mosque and the church.
The yellow and white mosque is not open to non-Muslims but it is very attractive even from the outside. In the second to last photo – the one before the photo of the church – you can see a second mosque under construction to the right of the existing mosque. You can see one of its minarets just to the right of the third clump of palm trees.
The church of prominence in Vizhinjam is Our Lady of Good Voyage. Its foundation stone was laid in 1949. It is a candy-coloured confection of a place of worship that somehow seems perfect for the background of green palms, blue skies and sparkling ocean. The church is quintessentially Indian with its simple architecture, brightly coloured paintings adorning the altar and similarly coloured statues hung with garlands of flowers. There are only a few rows of movable pews at the back of the church – most worshipers remove their shoes (as you would in a mosque or Hindu temple) and sit on the floor.
Vizhinjam is a very photogenic place with a harbour crammed with colourful boats, a church that looks like it's carved out of rock candy and a mosque set like a jewel in a stunning seaside setting.
