Rameswaram - "Varanasi of the South"

Rameswaram is a town in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 50 kms from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge. Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai. Together with Kashi, it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part of the Char Dham pilgrimages. 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. Both the Vaishnavites and Shaivites visit this pilgrimage centre which is known as the Varanasi of the south.

I travelled to Rameswaram from Madurai by bus - a travel time of 4 hrs (Rs 110) through the towns of Manamadurai, Paramakudi, Mandapam and Pamban.  The bus terminus of Rameswaram is located 3kms from the temple which is the center of the town.  Bus No.1 runs from Rameswaram bus terminus to the popular Ramanathaswamy temple (Rs 4).  

I booked a lodge very close to the Eastern entrance of the temple.  There are a number of boarding options available - as well as dharmasalas for people travelling on a tight budget.  There are rest houses with decent toilet and bath facilities for those who are covering Rameswaram in a single day.  Hotel Tamil Nadu runs a decent boarding facility very close to the sea shore which is walkable distance from the temple.  The hotels arrange sight seeing trips for groups - we decided to take a Dhanushkodi package covering Dhanushkodi (25 kms from Rameswaram) and Kothandarama temple (10 kms from Rameswaram) for Rs 1000.  A jeep was arranged for the purpose by the hotel.  

   

Dhanushkodi is situated in the South-East of Pamban. Danushkodi is about 29 kms west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The Dhanushkodi railway line running from Pamban Station was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone and a passenger train with over 100 passengers drowned in the sea.  Hindu scriptures says that at the request of Vibeeshana, brother of Ravana and ally of Rama, Rama broke the Sethu (Sethu is the Sanskrit word to denote a bridge or causeway) with one end of his bow and hence the name Dhanushkodi, Dhanush meaning Bow and Kodi meaning end. It is also said that Rama marked this spot for Sethu with one end of his famous bow. Bath in holy Sethu at the junction of the two seas (Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean) normally precedes the pilgrimage to Rameswaram. A series of rocks and islets found in a line are shown as remnants of the ancient Setu also called as Rama's Bridge.


            

Dhanushkodi has the only land border between India and Sri Lanka which is one of the smallest in the world-just 50 yards in length on a shoal in Palk Strait. Before the 1964 cyclone, Dhanushkodi was a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage town. Since Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) is just 29 kms away, there were many ferry services between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar of Ceylon, transporting travellers and goods across the sea. There were hotels, textile shops and dharmashalas catering to these pilgrims and travellers. The Railway line to Dhanushkodi–which did not touch Rameshwaram then and destroyed in the 1964 cyclone-went directly from Mandapam to Dhanushkodi. Dhanushkodi in those days had a railway station, a small railway hospital, a higher secondary school, a post office, customs and port offices etc. It was here in this island in January 1897, Swami Vivekananda after his triumphant visit to the west to attend parliament of religions held in USA in September 1893, set his foot on Indian soil from Colombo.

         


Even though there was a railway line between Pamban and Dhanushkodi and a passenger train used to ply regularly, after the storm the tracks were damaged and in course of time, were covered by sand dunes and hence had to be abandoned. One has to reach Dhanushkodi either on foot along sea shore on the sand dunes or in jeeps and in tempos of fishermen.

Regular bus facility is available only up to a certain distance from Rameshwaram via Kodhanda Ram Kovil (Temple) and many pilgrims who wish to perform religious rites at Dhanushkodi have to depend on private vans who charge anything between Rs80 and 100 per passenger depending upon the number of passengers and type of vehicle. 

  

Dhanushkodi is covered with white sands all around and the travel ends at the meeting place of the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean.  You can see the Rama Sethu at a distance.  The entire trip to the edge of the Rameswaram island takes about an hour.  

After returning from Dhanushkodi, we took a bus to reach Pamban bridge.  The Pamban Bridge is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait and connects Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland India. It refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter. It was India's first sea bridge. 


  


It is the second longest sea bridge in India (after Bandra-Worli Sea Link) at a length of about 2.3 km.  


  

The beautiful hues of the sky at twilight coupled with the sea and passing of a train provided splendid captures for my camera. After spending a reasonable amount of time on the bridge, I returned back to our lodge and took rest for the night.

  

The next morning, we visited the Ramanathaswamy temple.   It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where the three of the most revered Nayanars, Appar, Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the temple with their songs. The temple was built during the 12th century and widely expanded during the Nayak period in the late 16th century. The temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. The Temple is also one of the 12 Jyothirlinga temples, where Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam meaning "pillar of light".  

  

The story goes that after Rama defeated Ravana, he asked Brahma for a way to wash away his sin of killing Ravana.   Brahma suggested Rama to create a temple for Shiva and worship him.  Sita playfully created a shivalinga out of sand while Rama had already sent Hanuman to Kailash to procure shivalinga.  Brahma was impressed with the creation of Sita and suggested Rama to worship the sand shivalinga.  When Hanuman returned with two shivalingas from Kailash, Rama asked Hanuman to remove the sand shivalinga and replace it with one of the shivalingas he brought from Kailash.  Hanuman tried to remove the sand shivalinga - but it refused to budge.  So Rama asked Hanuman to place one of the shivalingas to the right of the sand shivalingas.  Today, the shivalinga of Kasi Viswanathar to the right of Ramanathaswamy has to be worshipped before takes blessings of Ramanathaswamy.  The other shivalinga can be found next to Hanuman's shrine in the temple.

We attended the spatika linga abhishekam - a unique event that happens everyday from 5 AM to 6 AM.  You need to buy tickets for Rs 50 to get darshan of this abhishekam.  

Like all ancient temples in South India, there is a high compound wall on all four sides of the temple premises measuring about 865 feet from east to west and 657 feet from north to south with huge towers at the east and west and finished gate towers on the north and south. The temple has striking long corridors in its interior, running between huge colonnades on platforms above five feet high.  

  

The outer set of corridors is reputed to be the longest in the world being about 6.9 m height, 400 feet in each in the east and west and about 640 feet in north and south and inner corridors are about 224 feet in east and west and about 352 feet each in north and south. Their width varies from 15.5 feet to 17 feet in the east and west about 172 feet on the north and south with width varying 14.5 feet to 17 feet. The total length of those corridors is thus 3850 feet. There are about 1212 pillars in the outer corridor. Their height is about 30 feet from the floor to the center of the roof. The main tower or rajagopuram is 53 m tall. Most pillars are carved with individual composition.

There are sixty-four Theerthams (holy water bodies) in and around the island of Rameswaram.  According to Skānda Purāṇa, twenty-four of them are important.  Bathing in these Tīrthas is a major aspect of the pilgrimage to Rameswaram and is considered equivalent to penance. Twenty-two of the Tīrthas are within the Ramanathaswamy Temple.  The number 22 indicates the 22 arrows in Rama's quiver.  The first and major one is called Agni Theertham, the sea (Bay of Bengal).  You need to pick up tickets worth Rs 25 to take bath in the 22 theerthams within the temple premises - this includes service charge for the people who pull out water from these wells for bathing.  You are not allowed to enter the shrine of Ramanathaswamy in wet clothes and there are change rooms available within the temple premises.  

  

After visiting the temple, we took an auto to visit Ramar Paadam (Rama's footprint).  It is a temple on a small hillock where it was believed that Rama landed immediately after winning Ravana in Lanka.  From here, we could see the entire town of Rameswaram.  

     


We returned to the temple area to have lunch and proceeded to the railway station which is around 3kms from the temple.  We took the Rameswaram-Chennai train that left at 5 PM and reached Chennai at 6 15 AM the next morning.  We captured some more magical moments at the Pamban bridge - this time we were inside the train as we looked out at the road bridge.  This capped off a worthy trip through the relics of Dhanushkodi and the ethereal Rameswaram.

Magnificient Madurai

Madurai is a temple town located 450kms south-west of Chennai.  It is the third largest city of Tamil Nadu and is located on the banks of River Vaigai.  Madurai is famous for its temples built by the Pandyan and Nayak kings in the Dravidian style of architecture.

Chennai is connected to Madurai by as many as 11 daily trains.  However, due to the migration of a huge crowd from Madurai to Chennai for work opportunities, the route is usually crowded during weekends.  I took one of the trains and alighted at the Madurai junction.  There are frequent buses  from Madurai junction to the Periyar bus stand and Maatuthaavani bus stand - the two major bus terminals in Madurai.  I reached my relative's place in an auto and got ready for a spiritual sojourn.    I took a bus to Periyar bus stand.  Within 15 minutes of walking distance from the Periyar stand and relatively close to the railway station, stands the towering gopurams of the Meenakshi temple.

           

  

The Meenakshi temple is dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi with a sanctum for her consort Sundareswarar.  Historically, the Sundareswarar shrine is older and larger of the two temple complexes.  Four immense gopurams crown the gateways at each direction.  Each tower is encrusted with more than a thousand splendidly painted sculptures, depicting an assortment of mythological and auspicious themes.  It is traditional to enter through the south gopuram and worship the Goddess before her consort.

  

There is a free queue while you can also purchase special entrance tickets of Rs 15 or Rs 100 in case you do not want to spend time waiting.  Non-Hindus are not permitted to enter the shrines of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar.  

          


The interiors of the temples are embellished with numerous sculptures that have been recently polished adding to their splendor.  The temple authorities have maintained the premises extremely clean and we could see development works in constant progress.  


  

Of special mention in the temple premises is the "Aayiram Kaal Mandapam" or the Thousand Pillared Mandapam.  The temple art museum is also housed in the same area.


  


There are many shops within the east gate of the temple, selling everything from plastic toys to bronze images of the Goddess.  The temple is usually open from  5 AM to 12 30 PM and from 4PM to 9 30 PM.

  

From Meenakshi temple, I walked straight down to Periyar stand and took bus number 44 to reach Alagar temple.  Situated 18kms away from Madurai in the nearby hills called Alagarmalai, Alagar Koil is a Vaishnavite temple having extensive sculptures in the hall and other mandapams of the temple.  It is revered as one of the 108 abodes of Vishnu glorified by the hymns of the Alwars.  The temple is surrounded by the ruins of a historic fort and is located in a very picturesque spot.  The impressive main tower at the entrance, believed to have been built by the Pandyan kings, has some beautiful sculptures depicting scenes from the epic. 


  

According to historical records, Malayadhwaja Pandyan, son of Kulasekhara Pandyan, who is said to have established the Pandyan kingdom, appears to be the earliest known monarch who patronised this temple. Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan, who reigned during the period 1251-1270 A.D., beautified the 'vimana' of the 'sanctum sanctorum' with gold plates. Later, during the reign of the Vijayanagar king Krishnadeva Raya, the temple was endowed with revenues from two villages for conducting regular festivals. After the end of Pandya rule in Madurai, the Nayaka kings became the chief patrons of this deity. The famous Nayaka king Vishwanatha, who ruled in Madurai during 1558-1563 A.D., made magnificent donations to this temple. 

  

The main deity of this temple is called Paramaswamy and the processional idol is called Alagar and also Sundararajan. This beautiful idol is made of pure gold and is a fine example of craftsmanship of the ancient period. The shrine of Kalyana Sundaravalli, the divine consort of Alagar, is in the southern enclosure. There is another shrine in the north dedicated to Andal who is said to have visited this place with Periyalwar from Srivilliputtur. Other important shrines are those of Sudarshanar and Yoga Narasimha. 

The hill by the side of the temple is about 300 metres high and is famous for its holy springs called Silamboru and Noopura Gangai. According to local tradition, this spring is said to have originated from the anklets of Maha Vishnu during His incarnation as Trivikrama. The 3 kms path on the hillock to the temple of the summit, where bathing facilities are available, offers some beautiful natural scenery to the visitors.

On top of the hillock is Pazhamudir Solai, an important temple for Lord Kartikeya.  This is one of the six of the holiest of Murugan shrines refered to as the Aarupadai Veedugal.  Unlike the other five temples, there is no grand edifice surrounding the central shrine of worship. However, this is a holy shrine venerated by the Skanda puranam and by Nakkeerar’s Thirumurugatrupadai of the Sangam period. Arunagirinathar's  Thirupugazh also reveres this shrine.

  

You can reach this temple from Alagar Koil by the mini bus service provided by the Alagar Koil Devaswam board.  These buses run at regular intervals and charge Rs 10 per person for one way.  After getting back to Alagar Koil from Pazhamudir Solai, I took the return bus (number 44) to Periyar stand and then back to my relative's place for some well needed rest.

Late in the evening, I left for Thirupparankundram situated 8 kms away from Madurai.  Hailed as one of the most sacred temples in Tamilnadu, it has been held in reverence for over 2000 years by the Tamil world. It is home to Subramanyar and to Paramgirinathar. It has been revered by the Tevaram hymns of the Nayanmars and by the Tiruppugazh hymns of Arunagirinathar.   Thirupparankundram enshrines Murugan as the leader of the armies of the Gods, and as the Lord of Devasena, the daughter of Indra, the King of the Gods.  Lord Shiva and his family, Lord Vishnu and his family, Narada and other sages witness the marriage of Lord Murugan with Devasena.

       

Thirupparankundram features rock cut shrines as well as mandapams lined with elaborately carved pillars.  This temple is another of the Aarupadai Veedugal of Lord Murugan.  The temple has a free queue and a special entrance queue for Rs 20.  The temple premises was very clean - which was what I found across all the temples visited in Madurai.  Shops selling variety of articles adorned the pathway to the temple.

  

On the whole, I found the temples in Madurai, leaps ahead of the other temples I had visited recently - in terms of cleanliness, maintenance of sculptures and ease of worship for devotees. 

The best time to visit Madurai would be post-monsoon, between October and February.