Rameswaram

Pic: Jyothis (Wikipedia)

Fast Facts

State: Tamil Nadu District: Ramanathapuram Famous for/as: Pilgrim, Jyotirlinga Languages: Tamil Best Season: Jan - Mar Weather: Summer 30-35°C, Winter 17-27°C Altitude: 10 m Pincode: 623xxx STD code: 04573

Rameshwaram is a holy region in Tamil Nadu region in southern India. It is one of the most renowned pilgrim places in the region. It is located on a beautiful island in the lower side of India and is separated by a small Pamban channel from Sri Lanka.

Rameswaram is the holiest pilgrimage place for the Hindus. Every year several people visit the place with holy intentions of offering sacred prayers to Lord Rama.

It falls in the Gulf of Mannar and is a peninsula. According to the Hindu mythology, this is the place where Lord Rama created a bridge across the sea to Sri Lanka. Lord Shiva too is worshipped in this place. It’s a place where Ravana was killed and hence it has a great historical foundation. It is also known as Varanasi of southern India.

It has one of the famous Jyotirlings in the place which one would like to worship as a part of Hindu culture. The place has several wonderful temples, which are a great master piece of creativity. The place has highest number of wells.

It is a holy place to perform several rituals and people from all across the globe come at this particular place to worship Lord Rama and offer sacred prayers to the holy deity. The place has wonderful sculpture of Lord Rama encarved in several walls of the temples and the statues of the lord are made with great artistic essence.

History

Rameshwaram, the holy town has associated with the Mythological tales of Rama. The name of the city itself has been derived from Rameshwara, which was an ‘Iswara’ that was installed by Lord Rama. According to the Puranas, Rama along with Sita and Lakshman came to the town to perform a sacred Puja in order to do penance for the sins for Bhramahatya.

It is believed that Rama had fixed an auspicious time for conducting the Puja, and sent Anjaneya to get the lingam from Mount Kailash. However, Anjaneya could not return in time. Thus, Sita caricatured a lingam of sand and they performed the Puja on time.

After successful completion of Brahmahata Dosham ceremony, Lord Rama along with Umadevi announced that anybody who takes bath in the Danudkodi and prays to the Shivalingam, will be known as Ramalingam. Hence, the place came to be known as Rameshwaram after the deity called Ramanathswamy.

When Anjaneya returned with lingam, he found that the Puja was nearly over and in anguish tried to remove the sand lingam from his tail. In spite of many attempts, he was not able to do so and realized the divinity of Sita. Then Ram ordered him to place the lingam that he brought on the northern side of Ramalingam. After it Rama also ordered that people should worship the Ramalingram, only after worshipping the lingam that was brought and installed by Sri Anjaneya.

Travel within city

The city of Rameswaram is a very popular destination in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This is one of the most popular tourist hotspots in Tamil Nadu, mainly because of the religious importance that Rameswaram is given by members of the religious community. A lot of pilgrims visit Rameswaram too, and the public transport system in Rameswaram is moderately developed and decently organized.   

• Bus

• Auto Rickshaw

  

Following are the major tourist attractions in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, which are worth a visit on your tour to Rameswaram -

• Ramanathaswamy Temple: Located at the heart of the town, this historic temple is one of the most important temples in South India. This magnificent temple, famous for its 1200 massive granite columns, is a fine instance of late Dravidian architecture

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• Agnitheertham: To absolve himself from the killing of Ravana, Lord Rama worshipped Lord Shiva here at Agnitheertham, situated 100 meters away from the Ramanathaswamy Temple. The water at this place is considered scared and tourists throng here for a holy bath.

• Ramjharoka Temple: This temple is perched at the highest point on the island of Rameswaram, Gandamadana Parvatham, at a distance of 5 km from Rameswaram. The shrine preserves the imprint of Lord Rama's feet placed on a Chakra (wheel).
• Dhanushkodi: Named after Lord Rama's bow ('dhanush"), Dhanushkodi is 8 km away from Rameswaram. All but the Kothandaramaswamy Temple in Dhanushkodi were completely destroyed by the terrible cyclones of 1964. This temple houses graceful idols of Lord Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Hanuman and Vibhishana (brother of Ravana).

• Adam's Bridge: This is a chain of reefs, sandbanks and islets that almost connects Sri Lanka with India. It is believed that this is the series of stepping stones used by Hanuman to follow Ravana, in his attempt to rescue Sita.