Rameswaram- ‘Kasi of south’

Ramanathaswamy Temple

Rameswaram, the ‘Kasi of south’ is related to our epic the  Ramayana. It is one of the twelve ‘jotirlingams’ in our country as propounded by Sankaracharyya . Among the holy shrines in India, much importance is given to mainly four places namely Badrinath in the  north, Puri in the  East, Dwaraka in the west which are dedicated to lord Vishnu  and the last one Rameswaram in the  south dedicated to lord Shiva. 

Around Rameswaram,  many tanks and temples are scattered  . It is because that Sri Rama and his army installed lingams at many places in order to worship  lord Shiva to get rid of  the sins for killing Ravana the king of Sri Lanka.   On one hand this place offers the pilgrims spiritual relief, where as general tourists like us are charmed by its scenic  beauty.

Rameswaram is an island. It has been divided by narrow sea from the main land. The rail bridge built upon this narrow sea connects Pamban railway station with Mandapam railway station.

Places to see in Rameswaram
Ramanathaswamy Temple :

Ramanathaswamy temple , situated close to the sea on the eastern side of the island. This temple stands out as a typical Dravidan in style with  magnificent three corridors with massive sculptured pillars lining them. The corridor is the longest one in Asia. It is 197 metres long on East-West, 133 metres on South-North. On both side of the corridors are plateform of  5ft. high on which stand stone pillars of 25ft. high. There are about 1212 pillars found here.  The temple has two Gopurams of 130 ft and 80ft high on eastern side and western side respectively.

Mahalakshmi  Theertham, Savithri Theertham,  Gayathri  Theertham, Saraswati Theertham, Sethu Madhava Theertham,  Gandhamadana Theertham, Kodi Theertham, Gaya Theertham , Kavatcha Theertham, Gavaya Theertham, Nala Theertham, Neela Theertham, Sangu  Theertham, Sakkara Theertham, Bramahati Vimochana Theertham, Sooriya Theertham, Chandra Theertham, Ganga Theertham,  Yamuna Theertham, Siva Theertham, Sathyamirtha Theertham, Sarva Theertham  all these 22 Theerthams   inside Rameswaram temple complex itself and each Theertham has its own significance.

The renowned corridors and vast structures of the temple and Gopuram was built by Sethupathis, rulers of Ramanathapuram in 12th century. Udayan Sethupathi, Thirumala Sethupathi, Raghunatha Sethupathi and Muthurama Sethupati are some notable rulers who built this holy temple.

The legend says that Hanuman was sent by lord Rama to bring a lingam to worship at an appointed auspicious hour. As Hanuman’s arrival was delayed, Sita moulded a lingam out of sand for Rama’s timely worship. This lingam the main deity being worshipped as Ramanathaswamy . The disappointed Hanuman was later consoled by Rama by installing the lingam brought by him a little north of Ramanathaswamy Temple.

magnificent  corridor

Agnitheertham Beach:

Calm and quite Agnitheertham beach is hardly 100 metres from Ramanathapuram temple. It is believed that lord Rama  to get rid of the sins done by killing Ravana a brahin  took a holy dip in the water of the sea at Agnitheertham.  

Ferry-service is available near Agnitheertham Beach. One can enjoy the beauty of the sea and the long view of the temple is splendid from the sea. One can view the total structure of the entrance of the temple while sailing in the sea. Ferry fare is not at all expensive.

Agnitheertham Beach

 Gandhamadana parvatham (Hill):
A hillock situated 3 kms to the north of the temple is the highest point in the island. There is a two-storied Mandapam, where Rama’s feet (Padam) is found as an imprint on a chakra. From the top of the hill a beautiful view of the town can be seen.
Legend says  that standing on the Gandhamadan hill, Sri Rama and  Sita looked over the Sri lanka the beautiful country of Ravana. The place on which Sri Rama and Sita stood was called Gandhamadana. Hanuman was the first person to watch Sri Rama and Sita viewing Sri lanka from Gandhamadan hill., that is why the Hanuman is call as “Sakhi Hanuman”. 

Gandhamadan hill-Ramjharokha

Lakshman Theertham :
Lakshman theertham is in the town near the main temple and is very big and beautiful. Lord Shiva temple is present on the bank of the temple. It is believed that Balaraman got cleansed off his Brahmma harthi dhosham here.

Lakshman theertham

Five Hanuman Temple :
Idols of  Rama, Sita and Hanuman brought from Dhanushkodi during 1964 cyclone are kept here. One can see floating stone which used to build the sethu Bridge. According to Epic Ramayana lord Rama went to Sri lanka from Rameswaran to rescue Sita from Ravana the king of the Sri lanka. Hanuman and his monkey brigades built a bridge with big rocks, this is called Setu Bridge or Ram setu.
Kothanda Ramaswamy Temple :
Only Bibhishana temple in India is situated at Kothanda, 12 km. from Rameswaram. This journey is very enjoyable. Last 2km. road goes through a lagoon with sea water on both sides of the road. It is said that Bibhisana, the brother of  Ravana surrendered to Rama here. One can have a splendid View of the sea (Bay of Bengal) from the Bibhisan Temple. 

Bibhishana temple

Bibhishana temple

 Sea-viewing from Bibhishana temple

Dhanushkodi :
Dhanuskodi is the closest point of Sri Lanka. It is 20 km. from the Rameswaram. During the British rule in India for commercial purposes Tamilians here went  to Sri Lanka to work at Tea-Estates. Train facility, telegraph office, temples and churches were all available here. It is said that there were  about 20 villages around Dhanuskodi.  Dhanuskodi was destroyed by a huge cyclone in December 1964. Originally Pamban Railway line was extended up to Dhanuskodi before cyclone. Now a days,  one can find the village of fishermen standing  on the beach enjoy a  very nice scenic beauty of the vast sea.
Tourist can travel by tempos by the side of seashore and get exiting experience. These tempos run from the place where the road ends and sandy path begins. It charges Rs/50 per head but only thing is that one  has to cover the distance standing and holding a rope. So it would be better if you book four wheel driven vehicles for this journey. You will get it from the hotel of Tamil Nadu Tourism with the cost of Rs/400 to Rs/500. It would be a memorable journey for you. You will see different birds and wild  ass standing on the sea side.

Dhanuskodi

Dhanuskodi

Dhanuskodi

Dhanuskodi

Pamban Bridge :
Pamban Bridge is the only sea bridge on the Bay of Bengal. It is the second longest sea bridge in India which stands on 145 pillars and its length is about 2.3 km. The construction of this bridge was started in the year 1911 by the East India company established by the British. The construction of the bridge is completed in the year 1913 and it was opened for the traffic in 1914. India’s biggest Road bridge is situated beside the Pamban railway bridge which was started in the year 1974 and completed in the 1988. It was inaugurated by the Ex-prime Minister Rajib Gandhi. This bridge is known as ‘Indira Setu’ named after Mrs. Indira Gandhi our Ex- Prime Minister.

Pamban Bridge

Pamban Bridge

  Festivals at Rameswaram :
Maha Sivratri (February,March- 10 days)
Vasontotsavam (May, June-10 days)
Ramalinga Prathista Utsav (June-July-10 days)
Thiru kalyana Festival (Julu- August- 17 days)
Navaratri-Dasara (August- september- 10 days)
Skanda Sashty (september, October-  6 days)
Arudhra Darshanam (December-January- 10 days)
Shopping in Rameswaram :
Wonderful handicrafts items attracts tourists to Rameswaram. The markets in Rameswaram have avenue shops selling exotic decorative masterpieces, which are very popular. Many shops near the temple of Rameswaram sell exquisite showpieces made of seashells, beads, palm leafs, etc. Different types of brash items specially  used in  puja purpose are also available there.

How to reach:
Rail- Train service are available for Rameswaram from Chnni, Maduari, Tiruchirappalli, Kanyakumari, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar and okha.
If you start  your journey from Chenni you must avail 16701 Chenni-Rameswaram Express, which depart from Chenni at 21.40 and reaching Rameswaram at 11.45 .  It will reach you Rameswaram through Pamban bridge  at day light and you can enjoy the journey through Pamban Bridge. I myself  availed  this train.
Road- State Transport corporation and state Express Transport corporation buses connect Rameswaram with the rest of the state.
Local Transport- City buses are available to connect Railway station, Ramanathaswamy temple, Pamban, Dhanuskodi etc. Cicle Rickshaws and Auto Rikshaws are also available. It would be convenient  if you book  auto Rickshaw for local  sight seeing. It may cost Rs.100/ to Rs. 150/.
Air- Madurai is the nearest Airport 174 km. away connecting Chenni, Mumbi and Bangalore. 

Sea viewing from hotel balcony

Accomodations:
There are many hotels available in Rameswaram. We stayed at  Hotel Tamilnadu, near Agnitheertham beach.  It is away from town and calm. It is also near to sea.  Still  now we cherish our stay in a Sea facing  room of the TTDC hotel in Rameswaram. 

Rameswaram as I have seen