Rameshwaram - A Travel Through Time

If you have not been to the temple town of Rameshwaram, birth place of the great scientist Late APJ Abdul Kalam, then make haste, journey through time to this beautiful gem. Its an overnight train journey, but best enjoyed in the day time when one can experience the 3 km train journey through the open sea on both sides, with waves lashing on the huge old rocks and massive stone pillars - think of bungee jumping, where you jump without any support save for the ankle clasp. We visited this holy town in early March 2016.

Belonging to the Ramanathapuram district, the town of Rameshwaram, translated to mean, Lord of Rama, is a holy place dedicated to Lord Shiva, known as Ramanathaswamy, hence a place of convergence for both the Shaivite and Vaishnavite sects. The place is rich with mythological trails. It is believed that Lord Rama built the bridge, Rama Sethu with floating rocks to Lanka to rescue his wife, Sita. Most places of interest in this town have these huge rocks floating in the tank, making it almost impossible, not to believe the story of Ramayana. Further, Rama prayed to Shiva to relieve him of the sin of killing during the war with Ravana.  People come to offer Shrarth or final offerings to their ancestors. Built in the 12th century, the temple is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and praised in hymns by the famous Shaivaite saints Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar.

People from the north of India make the largest number of visitors, so the locals speak Hindi quite fluently. It never fails to humble me when I meet enterprising minds, who adapt to make a living inspite of an incomplete education, due to tough economic conditions.  I always wonder how much we can do with all the advantages we seem to enjoy. 

A massive tourist destination, be mindful of touts who charge extra for services including pouring water from the 22 wells in the main temple. Everything in the temple and its vicinity is well organised and you can simply follow the general instructions.  

As soon as we reached Rameshwaram, we first went to the ocean or Agni-theertham to offer our ablutions to the sun and our ancestors; from there we proceeded to the temple to have the holy water from the tanks. You need to purchase the INR 20 ticket for the bath. 

The crowds were huge, but the walk to the 22 tanks was very well organised and the volunteers who draw the water and pour it on your head did an amazing service ensuring all pilgrims left with contentment of mind and spirit. It is truly an amazing experience. We then changed into fresh clothes and visited the main temple, Lord Ramanathaswamy and His consort, concluding a crucial part of the pilgrimage.

We retired to our hotels, Daiwik, which is a rip-off both in price and service. There are much more reasonable and well maintained places around the temple. Further food in the local restaurants is much more tastier with a value for money. 

For the rest of the day, we engaged an auto driver at an expensive price INR 1500/- I think, since we had no choice of transport to get around Rameshwaram and Danushkodi.   The latter is much more dearer to me since my art teacher's name is Arcot Danushkodi and I absolutely had to visit the ghost town, left lifeless in the 1964 cyclone.  



We visited historical temples such as the Gandhamadana Parvatham which was carried by Hanuman when he went in search of medicinal herbs for Lakshmana. Rama's footprint has been preserved pointing towards the direction of Lanka in search of Sita, followed by the Kondandarama temple, where Rama conducted Vibhishana's coronation. The main temple pillar is in ruins, hence the main sanctum was built above without disturbing the pillars. A few steps to the water, mythology states that Rama built the bridge to Lanka which has since gone underwater, but the floating rocks are housed in another temple which we visited later at the Panchamukhi Anjaneyar (five faced Hanuman). 

Prior to that we went to the Villondi Theertha, believed to be the sacred place where Rama dipped his bow into the salt water to quench Sita's thirst. Next we headed to the Lakshmana Theertham, dedicated to Rama's younger brother Lakshmana and then over to Jatayu Theertham, the place where the great eagle, sacrificed its life saving Sita from Ravana, the demon king of Lanka.  

Next day, we went to Devipattinam, where the Navagrahas are housed in the tank into which the sea water comes in during high tide and recedes during low tide. So the timing is very important. The piligirmage is considered complete only when you finish the worship of the nine planets.


We made an interesting addition to our itinerary, a visit to an important Vaishnavite temple Thirupullani, a 10-12 km drive from Ramanathapuram, dedicated to Adi Jagannatha with His consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi. You can see the unique Dharbaranya Rama, where Rama is seen in a reclining pose over a bed of Dharba grass, Pattabhisheka Rama (Rama coronated), Santhanagopalakrishna sannidi and Pattabhisheka Rama, when Rama was coronoted as King of Ayodhya. The sculptures are beyond our imagination and lend themselves to such artistic beauty you cannot describe with mere words.

From there, we drove down to Danushkodi. We had to alight at a certain drop-off point and from there, we got into mini vans that drive you into the beach and through the waters right up to the town that once existed. The drivers charge you fancy prices depending on the crowd and number of people in the group. You will also notice the train track that is now reduced to a figment of history. Danuskodi, has endless waterbodies, a beautiful place where the water birds thrive.  You can spend a good hour or so there and head back.
Enroute, we visited the memorial of the eminent scientist and former President, Dr APJ Kalam and his house, which has since turned an abode capturing his accomplishments and contributions in the field of science. 

Finally, we made a pitstop at the Pamban bridge road to watch the train go over the tracks across the ocean. The water is an icy cool blue like Maldives, maybe even better. It is truly an architectural marvel. The drastic change in landscapes is hard to miss. The bridge is connected as a link and whenever ships pass by, the bridge opens up to allow them to pass and folds back to its original position as a rail line!

The three day trip was fascinating and spiritually uplifting. It brought me back in time when my parents and grandparents used to tell me the story of the Ramayana and here I was walking through memory lanes decades later!