Rameshwaram ! more considered as a religious destination, however I went as a tourist and explore during my recent Southern Sojourn and also visited its temple and worshipped as well. What a grand Darshan I had - evening aarti, peaceful and without the pull and push of the crowd and stood there for close to 15 minutes !!
Rameswaram means "Lord of Rama" (Rāma-īśvaram) in Sanskrit, an epithet of Shiva, the presiding deity of the Ramanathaswamy Temple. According to Hindu epic Ramayana, Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu, prayed to Shiva here to absolve any sins that he might have committed during his war against the demon-king Ravana in Sri Lanka. According to the Puranas (Hindu scriptures), upon the advice of sages, Rama, along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the lingam (an iconic symbol of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya incurred while killing of the Brahmin Ravana.
Hence Rameshwaram is considered one of the sacred places for the Hindus and one of the 12 Jyotirlingas. Since going all the way upto Kanyyakumari, why to miss Rameshwaram ?
Yes, after our Trichy visit, I proceeded ahead towards Rameshwaram taking the National Highway 336, 536 and 87 via Pudukottai, Karaikudi and Ramanathapuram.
The moment you turn left on to NH87 from NH536, you get to know that you driving on the narrow stretch of land extended towards east and protruding into palk straits with waters on both North and south sides.
Soon we cross the approx 2KM long Pamban Bridge, where the Rail bridge opens for the ships to cross, a new rail bridge is under construction as well. Train services are now suspended. The land narrows further as we reach Rameshwaram and further Dhanuskodi.
The moment we enter the Municipality area of Rameshwaram, suddenly somebody stops you and charges Rs.100 for entry into Rameshwaram as Municipality charges. Some receipt is handed over which cannot even be read properly. Not sure whether it was real or have been fleeced ?
Straightaway we go to the Hotel for checkin as it was around 3.30PM - Hotel SDM Golden very close to the temple, decent enough with neat beds and clean washrooms. Hotel was suggested by one of our friends and didn't dissappoint us.
The Hotel manager asks us to get freshened up immediately and make a move by 4 PM, as the road to the 'Arichal Munai' - Dhanushkodi - lands end - and also the Kothandarama temple etc would be closed for access by 5 PM.
No more waiting, we depart for our first halt Arichal Munai i.e. Lands end, however we come to know that the last entry is upto 5PM or even 5.15PM, however local police would ask to vacate the place by 6PM.
Arichal Munai is the maginificent place where the two water bodies Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean Meet. This place is the last land in the Dhanuskodi town. At this point you can see the water surrounded on all three sides, one side with gushing palk strait. Now there is a 12 km long road from the deserted Dhanuskodi town to this place, and it is said Srilanka (Thalai mannar) is just 18 km away.
The wind speed here is too high and one has to be very careful with their eyes and ears.
Next destination is Kothanda Rama Swamy temple
the temple is also covered on three sides by the sea, during high tide time, one can see water every where here. Believed to be more than 1000 years old and one of the structures not destroyed during the 1964 cyclone.
Outside the temple, there is a well, where the floating stone is displayed for the public to see.
While we start our return journey, the light house attracts the people and now it is open to the public to go up and have a view from top. It is said on a clear day, one can see the Srilanka town clearly.
Next to the light house is the damaged properties of the Dhanuskodi town during the 1964 cyclone, the railway station remains, municipal hospitals and damaged houses etc. The entire town was damaged in the cyclone then. Its history now, a train full with passengers was also thrown off the bridge and submerged in the sea then.
The Dhanuskodi route done, we enter back the Rameshwaram city and straightaway go to APJ Abdul Kalam Museum enroute. The everlasting memory of India's great leader and former President, and a renowned scientist, who always reflected the simplicity, depth and calmness of Rameshwaram through his life, is remarkably showcased in his memorial.
The memorial is built at the site where he was laid to rest and attracts tourists from across the India and world.
From Museum to his home, preserved as it is and maintained by DRDO, its a worth a visit. Not to be missed if you are going to Rameshwaram.
It was already 7PM and we head back to the Hotel which is closeby and the Hotel Manager suggests us to visit the temple for the evening Aarti around 7.45 pm. So we head to the temple around 7.30 pm, the public have all gone and only few are left in the temple now, it was an easy walkthrough and no rush. No need for any special ticket, a normal free darshan queue was enough for me to stand right in front of the temple, after going through the two of the four longest corridors in the world.
Darshan done, it was time for dinner. Rameshwaram, is it in South India or somewhere in North ? Almost every eatery were offering Rice, Daal, Roti and other North Indian stuff. May be the number of North Indian visitors were more.Hindi was spoken and understood well in the city almost at all places.
Next day morning started with breakfast of Puri and sabzi and visiting remaining locations, starting with Ramar Padam temple. Temple is in a small hillock, which has got the divine feet of Lord Rama, it is also said Hanuman crossed the sea from this place only. It was highest point at one point of time.
From Ramar Padam to Lakshman teertham - a beautiful pond which has mythological significance as Lord Lakshman took bath in the pond and installed a Shiva linga next to it and worshipped for forgiving his sins and took bath in the teertha.
Next to it is Panchmukhi Hanuman temple. we visited there and prayed for betterment for everybody. Alongside they had also kept a floating stone on a water container on display. While the temple was being run by a trust, it was announced there that they were going to construct a big temple for hanuman ji and collecting donations. The cash receipt showed some trust name, while the QR code for UPI payment led to some individual name. The guy standing over there wasnt able to answer the same and started abusing me for questioning him. Tourists should be careful while donating funds for temples. Dont know which is good or which is not.
Apart from these there were quite a few other temples and Rama teertham maintained by a private entity and sita teertham as well.
After going through all these places, it was time to say good bye to Rameshwaram and move to our next destination, Kanyakumari.
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