Rameswaram - Dhanuskodi

Rameswaram is located near the Gulf of Mannar which separates Rameswaram Island with Mannar in Srilanka. Rameswaram island is in the shape of a Conch (Shanku) and is connected with Indian mainland via the Pamban Bridge.


According to the Hindu Puranas, upon the advice of Rishis (sages), Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana, installed and worshiped the Sivalinga here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya (killing of a Brahmin).(Ravana, the son of Vishrava and the great grandson of Brahma). Rama fixed an auspicious time for the installation and sent Anjaneya to Mount Kailas to bring a lingam. As Anjaneya could not return in time, Sita herself made a linga of sand. When Anjaneya returned with a linga from Mount Kailas the rituals had been over. To comfort the disappointed Anjaneya, Rama had Anjaneya’s lingam (Visvalingam) also installed by the side of Ramalinga, and ordained that rituals be performed first to the Visvalingam.

More information on Rameswaram can be found on the Wikipedia Link.

How to get there:
Rameswaram is well connected through trains and buses all across Tamilnadu. Nearest Airport is at Madurai which is around 175KM from Rameswaram. We took the Rameswaram Express from Chennai that reached Rameswaram at around 4:45AM. Just across the Railway station is Hotel Vinayaga which is the only better Hotel in Rameswaram. It has a lift, A/C Rooms, Excellent Room Service and a Vegetarian Restaurant.

The only problem for South Indians is that Hotel Vinayaga doesnot offer South Indian food and we found out that majority of the people who come to Rameswaram are North Indians !! But, the quality of food is really good and we sticked to Biriyani and Pulav. The railway station is clearly visible from our Room. From the Railway station to Temple, the auto guy would take around Rs.40/-

The Ramanathar Temple:
The temple was developed by various kings starting from 12th Century onwards. Since there is no attack from Muslim Kings on Rameswaram, the Temple stands as it is. This temple is visited by both the Vaishnavites and Shivites. The temple comprises twenty two wells where the taste of the water of each well is different from the other. One has to take bathe in all these 22 wells.
Outside the temple, guys would approach you to help you take bath. They would charge Rs.100/- per person and they would bring along a bucket with which they would take the water out of each well and pour it on you. It is advisable for you to take dry clothing as entry for Darshan is restricted for people who are wet !!

There are separate changing rooms for Men and women inside the temple so that we can change the wet clothes. Our first day went off taking bath at all the 22 temple wells and then again another Darshan in the evening.

Dhanuskodi:
I can say that trip to Dhanuskodi from Rameswaram is one the most memorable ones in my entire life. There is an old railway station at Dhanuskodi that got washed off in the typhoon of 1964. Dhanuskodi is around 20KM from Rameswaram.
The guys at Hotel Vinayaga have booked a 4X4 Jeep to Dhanuskodi for us costing Rs.1100/- for the trip that would last for 3-4 hours. I got creeps when the guy started filling Diesel in a plastic can which he kept near my feet.

The guy explained that the diesel tank has a hole and this is his temporary setup.

Lucky to inform that nothing on-toward happened because of this "arrangement".
This is a single but well paved road that goes all the way till an Observation point near Dhanuskodi Railway station. We have to take a left turn onto the sandy backwaters of Bay of Bengal. We traveled around 10KM on this sandy (some places, watery) road till we reached Dhanuskodi beach.

We didn't see a single soul all through the route but we have seen some local fishermen walking through the backwaters. The tarred road which we took, half a kilometer on the left is the Bay of Bengal and half a kilometer on the right is the Indian Ocean. The one good thing here is that this entire half kilometer on either side is covered with trees.

The weather was very clear and there were no rains to ruin our day. I think this is the best season to visit Rameswaram. Rainy season is pretty far off. At the sametime, the weather is not as sticky and sultry as it is in Chennai. If you are visiting Rameswaram, plan in such a way that you are spending two days there covering Dhanuskodi too.

It is said that Lord Rama on his way to Srilanka asked the King of Ocean to help him and so, you can clearly see that there are hardly any waves on the Bay of Bengal and you would feel that you are watching a huge swimming pool which has no borders. It looked so beautiful. Whereas we can see 7ft - 10ft waves crashing on the beach during the day time. Imagine how it would be during the nights and on full moon nights.
From Dhanuskodi only Lord Rama had laid the Ram Setu - bridge connecting Dhanuskodi on the Indian side with Srilanka's Mannar Island.

Geologists say that there is a natural coral bridge that exists between Dhanuskodi and Mannar on which Lord Rama might have laid a bridge made up of stones. So, whatever is written in the Ramayana is proved by the satellite images that show natural coral bridge which has comparatively shallow waters, the route which Lord Rama might have exploited on his journey to Srilanka.
Tamilnadu state under an Atheist Government planned to develop a shipping route cutting across the Ram Setu that would help big ships to connect both sides of the state. Presently Ships have to travel down to Srilanka's Southern coast and again up to the Indian coast.

Forgetting about the historical importance, this would have been a disaster during a Tsunami which has proved during the Tsunami of 2004 that killed more than 2.5 lakhs throughout South East Asia, South Asia and as far as North Africa. South Tamilnadu was mostly saved due to the Ram Setu (also called as Adam's Bridge).

Under pressure from historians and religious heads and also the central Government, Tamilnadu Government had to back down and since been people have thrown out that Government. The starting of Ram Setu is clearly visible to the naked eye from the edge of Dhanuskodi. Lot of people take bath at the confluence of Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean here at Dhanuskodi.

Kothanda Ramar Temple:
We started back after spending an hour on the confluence of Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. On the way back, the Jeep driver took us to Kothanda Ramar Temple where Lord Rama had proclaimed Vibheeshana (brother of the Demon King, Ravana who kidnapped
Lord Rama's wife, Sita).

This temple is located in-between the Backwaters of Bay of Bengal. There is a road leading to this temple which is surrounded by shallow waters. Vibheeshana was proclaimed as the King of Srilanka after he surrendered to Lord Rama. Despite people warning against aligning with an opponent, Lord Rama tells them that it is Human to help someone who surrenders.

We have observed the presence of Police who were checking every vehicle that is going on this road. I think the pressure on them eased after LTTE Chief, Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed during the war with the Srilankan Army. They did a decent job by peeping into the Jeep and checking us out.

Abdul Kalam House:
After our lunch, we hired a Jatka (Horse drawn cart) and visited the house of India's former President, Mr.Abdul Kalam who was born and brought up in Rameswaram. Since it is not made a monument, his extended family is still living in that house and so, we were not allowed inside. Took some snaps from the outside and felt happy.

In the night, we took the train Cape Express to Kanya Kumari.

This is one of my most memorable journeys along with my journeys to Kedarnath - Badrinath in the Himalayas and the Thar Desert in Rajasthan State.