We were in a group with many Indian pilgrimages and we had a guide who was speaking mostly in Tamil and sometimes in Hindi. Altough I’m fluent in Hindi, his Hindi was almost impossible to understand because of his Tamil accent and Tamil vocabulary.
Pamban Bridge
Pamban Bridge
After crossing the amazing Pamban bridge, we arrived in front of theRamanathaswamy Temple and decided to leave our group. They only went fordarshan, had lunch and went back to Madurai. And we wanted to explore Rameshwaram and visit Dhanushkodi. Ramanathaswamy Temple is the largest temple at the island of Rameshwaram and it’s dedicated to the Lord Shiva.
Ramanathaswamy Temple
It’s considered a holy pilgrimage site for many Hindus and it’s one of the 12jyotirlingams. Together with Puri,Dwaraka and Badrinath it is one of the holiest places in India known as Char Dham. According to Ramayana, Lord Rama worshiped Shiva at this place after killing Ravana at Sri Lanka. Hanuman was supposed to bring a lingam from Himalaya for worshiping but because it took a long time, Rama’s wife, Sita, built a small lingam which can be seen inside the sanctum. Nowdays there are two lingams in the sanctum – one small built by Sita and one big (vishal lingam) brought by Hanuman.
Temple hall
Temple hall
Before having a darshan one is supposed to take bath at 24 holy water tanks , 22 of them being situated within the Temple. First and the most important situated at the sea shore is Agni Theertham, about 100 meters from the main entrance.
Agni Teertham entrance
A good idea is to take a guide for the Temple tour otherwise you will probably get lost inside the temple and miss the most important things. Non-hindus are generally not allowed in, but if you allow a pandit to put a holy mark on your forehead, you are allowed to go inside. There are many places around Rameshwaram connected with the Ramayana and if you want to see all of them than one day trip to Rameswharam is not enough.
Temple chariot
In the afternoon we decided to visit Dhanushkodi, which is only 30 km far from Sri Lanka. There was a railway station to Dhanushkodi but it was ruined in the 1964 cyclone and more than 100 passengers drowned in the sea. The cyclone ruined almost everything and now Dhanushkodi is known as Ghost town.
Dhanuskodi village
Dhanuskodi village
The place is called Dhanuskodi because it is believed that Lord Rama marked the place for building of the bridge with one end(kodi) of his bow (dhanush). The chain of rocks known as Rama’s bridge begins there. There is a place where you can also see the floating stones used for building the bridge.
It takes about an hour to reach Dhanuskodi from Rameshwaram by autoriksha.Jeep/car/riksha can take you only to the beginning of the Dhanuskodi and to reach its end you have to walk about 1-2 km. The driver will probably tell you that it’s not allowed to go there because they don’t want to wait that long. If you decide to go there the good idea is to be in the group. Swimming is not allowed because of the sea currents. Don’t be suprised if you see a police there.
Dhanushkodi is a small fishing village, very peaceful and calm. We met there only a few locals and a few sadhus. They reminded me of the words of Mother Teresa:
We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature-trees, flowers,grass-grows in silence, see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence…We need silence to be able to touch souls.
Villoondi theertham (Thrayambakeshwarar Temple)
Villoondi theertham is a famous tourist attraction in Rameshwaram . It is one of the beaches and also one of the 64 theerthas (sacred water body) in Rameswaram. It is situated 6 Km far from Rameswaram main bus stand. Villoondi theertham beach is a calm place with the silent tides. There is a good water spring situated inside the sea ,it is the main attraction of this place. (Sometimes sea water mixed with that spring water and makes it saline).
There is a small Shiva shrine near to the Villoondi theertham . The shiva lingam here is named as Thrayambakeshvarar.
Mythical story of Villoondi Theertham:
There may be some scientific reasons for the existence of pure water spring inside the saline water body, but there is a mythical story from Ramayana which states the existence and the reason for the good water spring inside the sea in this place.
After rescuing his wife Sita from Ravana, Rama and his crew flew from Sri lanka to the Rameshwaram, at Rameswaram they perform rituals and poojas by installing a shiva linga.
After performing the rituals and took bath in the theerthas (Sacred baths) Rama with his crew flew to his birth place Ayodhya by means of pushpaka vimana (A flying machine acquired from ravana) . On the way to his abode, the crew asks for water in thirst.Rama suddenly took his arrow and shot it into the sea , the place where his arrow pierced in the sea, emerged a spring. By that spring, the crew quenched their thirst and thank Rama.
The word “villoondi “ literally means “the place pierced by arrow “ and Theertham means sacred water in Tamil language.
Pamban Railway Bridge
The Rail bridge:
Pamban railway bridge was the first Indian bridge which is built across the sea. It is generally referred as The queen of Indian bridges. The efforts for built a bridge across Pamban channel (Palk strait) was proposed by 1870’s by british government however the construction of Pamban bridge was commenced on 1911 and commissioned on 1914.
The following Table depicts the short historical notes on Train service to Rameswaram island
1902 Train service started from Madurai – Mandapam 1906 Railway Tracks laid between Pamban and Rameswaram 1908 Train service started between Pamban and Rameswaram 1911 The cantilever Rail bridge across the sea was commenced 1914 The pamban Rail bridge has been completed and train service started
Until 1988 Pamban rail bridge is the only connection path between Rameswaram and the main land of India.
This bridge starts its service of connecting Rameswaram island from the date of February 24, 1914. It is a cantilever bridge(In this bridge two cantilever arms fitted in the piers extending from either sides and meeting at the center without supports, this kind of structural design is termed as cantilever structure).
The bridge spans a length of 6776 feet (2.065 meters) and has 143 piers. There is a double leaf bascule in the center of this bridge. This bascule section opens up and let the ships and boats to cross the pamban bridge over the sea.Based on the records averagely there are 10 to 15 large boats or ships (coast guard boats, cargo ships, container ships etc.,) pass beneath this bridge every month.. The bascule was designed by “Scherzer” a German engineer, the bascule part of the bridge is called as “Scherzer rolling type lift span” and have the length of 220 feet and weight of 200 tonnes (each leaf weighs 100 tonnes separately). Till datethese heavy weight leaves are lifted manually by workers operating levers on either side.
The environment where The Pamban rail bridge stands is said as worlds second most corrosive environment and also this region is a Cyclone prone and high velocity wind zone.
Pamban railway bridge was the first Indian bridge which is built across the sea. It is generally referred as The queen of Indian bridges. The efforts for built a bridge across Pamban channel (Palk strait) was proposed by 1870’s by british government however the construction of Pamban bridge was commenced on 1911 and commissioned on 1914.
The following Table depicts the short historical notes on Train service to Rameswaram island
| 1902 | Train service started from Madurai – Mandapam |
| 1906 | Railway Tracks laid between Pamban and Rameswaram |
| 1908 | Train service started between Pamban and Rameswaram |
| 1911 | The cantilever Rail bridge across the sea was commenced |
| 1914 | The pamban Rail bridge has been completed and train service started |
Until 1988 Pamban rail bridge is the only connection path between Rameswaram and the main land of India.
This bridge starts its service of connecting Rameswaram island from the date of February 24, 1914. It is a cantilever bridge(In this bridge two cantilever arms fitted in the piers extending from either sides and meeting at the center without supports, this kind of structural design is termed as cantilever structure).
The bridge spans a length of 6776 feet (2.065 meters) and has 143 piers. There is a double leaf bascule in the center of this bridge. This bascule section opens up and let the ships and boats to cross the pamban bridge over the sea.Based on the records averagely there are 10 to 15 large boats or ships (coast guard boats, cargo ships, container ships etc.,) pass beneath this bridge every month.. The bascule was designed by “Scherzer” a German engineer, the bascule part of the bridge is called as “Scherzer rolling type lift span” and have the length of 220 feet and weight of 200 tonnes (each leaf weighs 100 tonnes separately). Till datethese heavy weight leaves are lifted manually by workers operating levers on either side.
The environment where The Pamban rail bridge stands is said as worlds second most corrosive environment and also this region is a Cyclone prone and high velocity wind zone.
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