At the southernmost tip of India, where the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal meet, lies Kanyakumari, an important south India pilgrimage site. Kanyakumari is also known as Cape Comorin.

Pilgrims visit the place to bathe in the sacred waters and to worship the goddess Devi Kanya, an incarnation of Shiva's wife, who conquered demons and secured freedom for the world. The Kumari Amman temple, here, is dedicated to Parvati, the virgin goddess who did penance to obtain the hand of Lord Shiva. It is one of the few temples in the country where the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu, and Isvara are worshipped.

Two rocks reach out of the ocean, southeast of the Kumari Amman temple. One of these is Sri Padaparai, where the footprints of the virgin goddess are to be seen. On this rock, Swami Vivekananda is said to have sat in deep meditation; and here stands the Vivekananda Rock Memorial, built in 1970.

Kanyakumari district is bounded by Tirunelveli district in the north and northeast, by Kerala state in the northwest and confluence of Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean in the west and south. The coastline is almost regular except for some points of land projecting into the sea at Cape Comorin at the southernmost tip of the Indian peninsula.