Rameshwaram: A holy abode for Indians

Submitted by aurora on

Rameswaram is a town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on an island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is less than 40 kilometers from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. Together with Kashi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus. Hence, it is a bustling pilgrim centre. It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. According to legend, this is the place from where Lord Rama built a bridge Ram Setu(also known as Adam's Bridge) across the sea to Lanka to rescue his consort Sita from her abductor Ravana.The religious island is spread in an area of 61.8 square kilometers and happens to be in the shape of a conch. The Ramanatha Swamy Temple occupies major area of Rameshwaram.The presiding deity here is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy, it also happens to be one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.The masterpiece of South Indian architecture boasts of the largest temple corridor in India.

Different rulers built the Ramanatha Swamy Temple over a period of time starting from the 12th century. The temple comprises twenty two wells where the taste of the water of each well is different from the other.The grandest part of the temple is the 1219 m pillared corridor consisting of 3.6 m high granite pillars, richly carved and well proportioned. The perspective presented by these pillars run uninterruptedly to a length of nearly 230 m.Ramnathswamy temple was built in the 17th century. Situated close to the sea on the eastern side of the island, this temple is famous for its 1200 gigantic granite columns. The 54 metre tall gopuram (gate-tower), 1220 metres of magnificent corridors and the flamboyant columns embellish and render fame to the temple. The water in each of the 22 sacred wells in the temple tastes different.100 metres away from the temple is Agnitheertham, where Rama worshipped Lord Shiva, to absolve himself from the killing Ravana.The imprint of Lord Rama's feet placed on a Chakra (wheel) is found in this shrine which is at the highest point on the island at 2 km from Rameswaram.Dhanushkodi named after Rama's bow, is at the eastern end of the island at a distance of 8 kms from Rameshwaram. The boulders around the sea between Srilanka and this place known as Adam's bridge, are believed to be used by Hanuman to reach across Srilanka. Dhhanushkodi was completely destroyed by the cyclones of 1964.Sethu Karai is a place 22 km before the island of Rameshwaram from where God Ram is claimed to have built a Floating Stone Bridge Ramasethu till Rameshwaram that further continued from Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka as mentioned in the great Hindu epic Ramayana.

Submitted by rajat on Tue, 12-May-2009 - 10:17

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It is home to Kalam The bridge that you see is an important link between Rameshwaram and mainland. The 40 wells, taking bath in which is considered very auspicious. Worth including Sethusamudram project details.