Rameshwaram - Part 2

Day 2 - 20th December 2022

This being the only full day we had at Rameswaram, we decided to start early to make the most of it.  Dhanushkodi was our first stop.

Waiting for the hotel’s restaurant to open was a bad idea. Instead, we stopped at a small tea shop enroute.

For entertainment we were treated to some Tamil devotional music thanks to the nearby temple’s loud speakers. We quickly breezed past all the attractions in Dhanushkodi we would visit later. The road was beautiful and straight – jet black road with water on both sides.

We stopped only when the road did – at Arichal Munai! This is literally the end point of India 

Some folks were traveling from the Arichal Munai to a sand dune rising from ocean. Take a look below. From far it looks like the vanara sena crossing over to attack Lanka 😊.

Speaking of Lanka, have a look at the message I received on my phone.

At Arichal Munai, the Sri Lankan mobile towers were nearer!

We spent a few minutes at the end point but as the sun came up, the place started getting crowded.

Dhanushkodi is a ghost town 20 kms away from Rameswaram. It was a bustling town before the 1964 cyclone destroyed everything in its path (including a moving train). Besides Arichal Munai (which has very good road access now), the ruins of the old town are a favourite with tourists.

Having seen a cloudy sunrise and spent some time at Arichal Munai peering to see if we could spot Lanka (one can’t with the naked eye even on a clear day), we lazily started to drive back stopping every few hundred meters to take snaps or just to step out of the car, take in the view and feel the cool sea breeze.

The first ruin we visited was that of the railway station. The pic below is of what remains of the engine yard.

Seeing us, a ‘swamiji’ stepped out of a makeshift ‘house’ and invited us in to check out his collection of floating stones (the one used by vanara sena to build a bridge to Lanka). We tactfully declined.

Sidenote – though Dhanushkodi is a ghost town, there are many who travel from nearby villages early in the morning to sell their wares and make a living. They make it a point to leave as soon as the sun sets. I saw quite a few tempo travellers bringing in the daily migrants to ‘work’.

A lady was setting up shop (conch shells, necklaces and knick knacks) close to the swamiji’s place. She was less pushy and directed us in the right path.

The remnants of the church seemed to be fighting a losing battle against the ravages of time.

The altar was one of the few structures that was not fully blown away by the cyclone. Humans seemed to have done a better job defacing the altar.

A couple of other things we noticed. Firstly, there were a lot of dogs everywhere in the ghost town. They were minding their own business and not harmful in anyway.

The other thing was that on the long thin stretch of land in between the ocean; on one side (to the north) the sea was gentle and the waves gently patted the shore. The currents on the other side were strong and the waves angrily dashed against the shore.

On the way back, as the thin finger of land started getting broader, we reached the next stop – the Kothandaramaswamy temple. This is believed to be place where Vibheeshana, the younger brother of Ravana sought refuge with Rama. This temple is located at the end of a thin outcrop of land amidst the sea.

From there we headed off to Jada Theertham. This is supposed to be the spot where Rama and Lakshmana washed their hair (Jada) on their return from Lanka after killing Ravana. It was after this purification act that they went to the Rameswaram temple to pray to Lord Shiva.

To get to this spot, we had to travel through 1 km of ‘kachha’ road. But the effort was worth it as this was in the middle of a quiet forested area. Untouched by civilisation, the lonely temple and the adjacent tank (theertham) were very peaceful.

The only sounds we could hear were the occasional shrill cries of peacocks with a smoothening background score of waves crashing on to rocks somewhere nearby.  I quietly followed the calls to reach a clearing where I got a good glimpse of half a dozen peacocks.

Another thing we noticed was that there were lakhs of dead or dying therattas (millipedes) on the sandy ground we had to cross to get to the temple.

We headed back to town and had a tasty south Indian breakfast at our new found favourite local restaurant (Aryaas R).

We visited the crowded but beautiful Panchamukhi Hanuman temple which was 100m away from the restaurant and enroute was the Rama theertham.

If Rama is around then Lakshmana would surely be there too! The clean Lakshmana theertham was close by. Next to it was a beautiful and colourful temple.

Rameswaram has scores of theerthams other than the 22 in the main temple complex.

We were sorry to see the famous Sita theertham in a dilapidated condition.

The next stop was the Kalam house which my father was looking forward to visit.

Photography was not permitted beyond the entrance.

It houses artefacts from Kalam’s life - photos, medals etc. A small but nice museum celebrating the life of the great man and like him very simple!

On the second floor is a memento shop run by the ex-President’s family members.

We headed back to the hotel and my father rested for a while. I walked to visit the nearby Hanuman temple and theertham. 

We did not venture out for lunch and made do with whatever the hotel had to offer.

After resting for a couple of hours, we headed off in a new direction to cover attractions in that area.

It was theertham time again! We visited – to name a few - Brahma theertham, Arjuna theertham, Bhima theertham, Nakula theertham, Sahadeva theertham and Jadayu theertham. Most were small enclosed tanks while some were larger lakes. 

We had heard a lot about the Sakshi Hanuman temple which is where Hanuman is supposed to have reported back to Rama (with proof – ‘Sakshi’) after meeting Sita in Lanka.

Unfortunately, it was not well maintained. There were no other tourists around either – maybe due to lack of access or the time of day we visited the temple.

Ramar padam which is on top of a hill is supposed to be the vantage point from where Rama and his friends surveyed Lanka before planning to cross over. There is an old temple on top of the hill. The views from there were amazing.

A vendor nearby offered to safeguard our slippers and by now we were accustomed to the local practice. We bought some fruits on the way down to compensate her for her troubles.

By now it was late evening, so we proceeded to our last stop, Agni theertham – no before you ask - this is not a tank but part of the sea itself!  

We plonked ourselves on a bench along the coast adjacent to Agni theertham. We enjoyed the breeze and whiled away time till it got dark.

We made one last pit stop to (where else!) Aryaas R, had some south Indian tiffin and said goodbye to our friendly waiter.

Day 3 - 21st December 2022

We started the return journey by 5 30 AM, had tea at a nearby tea stall and drove back to Kerala. We reached Trivandrum by 2 PM, tired but happy and full of sweet memories of the short trip to Rameswaram. 

Rameshwaram - Part 1

In December of last year (2022), my father and I decided to make a quick tour of Rameswaram. Though Rameswaram is just eight hours by road from Thiruvananthapuram, I never had the opportunity to visit so far. My father also had in the recent past mentioned that he wanted to visit the Kalam museum.  It has been a while since the trip but finally I have got around to penning this blog.

Day 1 - 19th December 2022

We started by 5 AM aiming to cover the ‘bad’ section of the roads before dawn. My father was lying down in the back seat but the back breaking roads ensured that he got up and joined me at the front. By sun-break we reached windmill country.

There were hundreds of windmills in operation on the state highway connecting Nagercoil and NH44.  Right at breakfast time we stopped at Tirunelveli and we enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast of pongal, vada and dosa. The highway connecting Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi was not as wide as NH44 but had much less traffic. The wide-open spaces on both sides of the road were also a novelty (especially coming from Kerala where space is at a premium).

Making good time we reached Pamban palam by noon. This bridge connects the town of Mandapam (on the mainland) with the island of Pamban (Rameswaram).

In the picture above you can see the famous railway bridge (opened in 1914) and in the background you can see the new one they are building to replace the old one. People say that crossing the bridge by train is an amazing experience (the tracks are just above the sea level) but due to lack of time, we couldn’t plan for this short journey by train.

We spent a few minutes on the bridge snapping photos and enjoying the vigorous breeze. Whilst there we met a family from Chhattisgarh who – on hearing that we were from Kerala – informed us of their plans to tour Kerala the following week and took some tips from us.

Rameswaram town is on the eastern edge of the Pamban island. Enroute to the town from the bridge is the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam memorial.

This is the location where Dr Kalam was laid to rest after his passing. The memorial was very nicely done. Displays included life size plaster of paris scenes from his life and numerous photographs and medals. Outside the building there were statuettes and a very nicely managed park.

From there we went straight to the hotel, checked in, grabbed a quick lunch and rested for a while.

The man at the reception had informed us that due to the Sabarimala pilgrim rush, the best time to visit the Rameswaram temple would be around 4 PM in the evening (and not early next morning as we were planning to do).

We saw the imposing gopuram of the north nada first. This is the entrance through which devotees enter for their round of taking a symbolic (or otherwise) bath of the 22 theerthams. We went around the temple and reached the east nada.  A ‘helpful’ roadside vendor offered to safeguard our footwear in exchange for purchasing a garland (Rs 100). Garland in hand, we breezed through the entrance and as expected there was no rush for darshan.

Also called the ‘Arulmigu Sri Ramanathaswamy’ temple, this is one of the twelve jyothirlinga shrines. As you are probably aware, the temple gets its name since Shri Rama is supposed to have prayed here to Lord Shiva to atone for killing his devotee, Ravana. An interesting myth around this temple is that Rama requested Hanuman to bring a lingam from the Himalayas. Hanuman was delayed and the time for the puja was fast approaching. Sita, then moulded a linga of sand from the nearby sand dunes. When Hanuman brought the linga he was disappointed. Rama then proclaimed that anyone who prayed here should first take darshan of the linga brought by Hanuman.

It was dark inside the sanctum sanctorum and try as I could, I did not see two lingas – I did get good darshan of the major linga though.  The corridors inside were beautiful – especially the third corridor. There were little shrines dotted around. I had heard of a rare Shweta Madhava shrine being present inside but this eluded us as well.

Darshan over, we happened to see this (closed) hall just outside the temple.

On enquiring we were informed that Swami Vivekananda mediated there when he visited. We decided to drive to Kunthukal beach to see the Vivekananda memorial. It was a very quiet and scenic place. The sun was setting and there were only a few folks there. 

First we visited the Vivekananda memorial hall. This is where Vivekananda landed after his famous Chicago address at the conference of all religions. Next to it is an aquarium with a garish shark statue beckoning visitors to it!

The adjacent Kunthukal beach looked very serene. It was a shame that the approach from the memorial side was closed. We spent a few minutes sitting on a bench by the calm sea before heading back to the car.

It was starting to get dark but we still had time to make one stop on the way back to town.

Villoondi theertham is a well built around 100m into the sea. You can see for yourselves in the pics below

The story goes that Rama created this well to quench Sita's thirst. When she was thirsty, he made a well with one thump of his bow. Whether the story is true or not, the water in the well was sweet and the water drawn from ocean (as expected) was salty. There was a chap stationed there with two small buckets from which he drew water.  For a small fee, he got us to sample and prove the above hypothesis. Truth be told I was not too keen to taste the sea water but was forced to do so by our new friend who also reminded us of the story.

By now it was getting dark and, on the way back to the hotel we filled up on gas for the car and also food for the humans (try as we might we could not find a place that served dosa earlier in the afternoon! But thankfully we found an ‘Aryaas Ressidence’ (no that’s not a typo) which served delicious ghee roasts) before retiring for the night.

Dwarka-Somnath trip – Part 3

This is the third and final part of the Dwarka-Somnath travelogue (Part 2 - https://chellakilli.blogspot.com/2022/10/dwarka-somnath-trip-part-2.html) 

Monday, 12th September …cont’d

After spending an hour at the peaceful Golok Dham complex, I reluctantly decided to move on. The next stop was the nearby Sharda math.  

Besides housing a Shivalinga (Kamnath Mahadev) and a couple of other deities, the complex also had an idol of Adi Shankaracharya. It appears that Adi Shankara lived and meditated here for some time (a few months?)

The next stop was the newly built Sri Ram mandir. This is a modern temple and very well maintained.  

The view(s) from the temple and the surrounding complex were beautiful.

Just behind the Sri Ram mandir is an ancient temple of Parashuram. 

From the condition of the temple pond and the surrounding walls, it looks like the authorities have also chipped in to help retain the ‘ancient’ feel 😊 

The Chandrabhaga Shakti Peeth was a couple of hundred meters away by walk from the Sri Ram temple. Situated very close to the sea, this is a holy site – one of the 52 Shakti peeths. It being midday there was not a soul in sight. I spent a few minutes there by myself and walked back to the auto rickshaw.

Ramesh bhai then said he would take me to the very ancient Veneshwar Mahadev temple. I had done my homework on this one and surprised him with my knowledge of this temple. He still managed to enlighten me on some finer points the Internet did not seem to be aware of! 

People say the current structure was built sometime in the 13th century. As you can see from the above photograph, though they have whitewashed the main structure and tried to make it as unattractive as possible, the unique pyramidal ‘shikara’ can still be seen. 

As per legend, during one of the first invasions (Ghazni), the then Raja’s daughter took the Shiva linga from the original Somnath site, brought it here and then merged into it when cornered by the attackers. Ramesh claims that the Shiva linga is cracked and even today a small tuft of the princess’s hair juts out from the linga. 

Stories aside, this quiet temple was located in a peaceful rustic locale with some friendly village folk roaming in and around the small temple (actually it was just behind the Somnath trust complex which houses the pilgrim facilities)

Ramesh informed me that for the local devotees, this temple was as important as the main Somnath temple. It appears that when the Somnath trust was modernizing the major attractions and improving pilgrim facilities, they approached those in charge of this ancient temple. After a few discussions, the temple authorities felt that over commercialization would dilute the relevance of the place. Therefore it still remains a quaint little temple with cows in the courtyard and a couple of villagers selling trinkets nearby. Though it lacked seating facilities, it was very nice to spend a few minutes here. 

Soon it was time to say thank you and good bye to the enthusiastic Ramesh and grab a quick lunch at the trust facility. 

 The food at Maheshwari bhavan canteen was homely (not spicy) but wholesome. The above pic was take later during dinner time.  It was a no nonsense self service style canteen.

By mid afternoon it started raining – and for the next 24 hours it rained on and off. 

I had planned to visit the Prabhas Pathan museum in the evening and decided to go ahead armed with an umbrella.  The museum houses relics from destroyed temples/structures from the past few centuries. Though rich in heritage (some of the relics go back more than 1000 years), the museum was not well kept. Though all of the relics were numbered and categorized, most of the them were kept in the open at the mercy of the elements.

From there I headed towards the Somnath temple area.  

Since photography is prohibited inside, these are the only three pictures I took of the complex – and may I add they do not do justice to the temple or its surroundings.

My destination was the Ahilyabai Holkar Somnath temple also known as the old Somnath temple. This is just a couple of hundred meters away from the modern temple.

As per legend, the linga worshipped here is the original jyothirlinga which was hidden during one of the latter invasions. It appears that the location of the linga came to Queen Ahilyabai Holkar in a dream and she set out getting the temple built and the linga consecrated (in 1783). 

Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar’s life and exploits from the 18th century are an incredible story. This amazing Maratha queen’s (from Indore/Malwa region)  spiritual/cultural influence spread far beyond the borders of her kingdom and covers nearly the whole of North and West India. Her story is one for another day. 

At the entrance to the pathway to the main Somnath temple is this statue of Hamirji Gohil. He was a 16 year old warrior who sacrificed his life defending Somnath temple during Tughlaq's raid in 1401

I had plans to visit Somnath beach but there no was point going there - what with the rain getting heavier. I went back to the trust, grabbed a quick dinner at the canteen and retired early for the night as I was very tired.

Tuesday, 13th September

Learning from my experience from the day before, I decided to visit the Somnath temple once again early in the morning. It was raining continuously and that meant there were fewer visitors than the previous morning. 

I stayed on for a couple of hours and attended the morning aarti too – this was a great experience.  By this time there were a couple of hundred pilgrims. Crowd control at the temple is very disciplined -  no one was allowed to loiter in front of the sanctum sanctorum for long.

This meant that I had to keep moving in the queue, take darshan, rejoin the queue and do this in a loop about a dozen times!

Since the rain was getting heavier, there was no point in staying on in the complex out in the open.

After breakfast, I waited for a break in the rain to go outside again.  Around late morning, when the rain Gods took a break, I quickly took a rickshaw and visited the Golok dham area once again. I spent some time there before heading back.

I was to take the overnight train from Verwal to Ahmedabad. There was a nice ending to the Somnath leg of the yatra. Remember Ramesh-bhai from the previous day? It so happened that as I came out of the front gate of the trust, his was the rickshaw that appeared before me! Ramesh told me warmly that it was destined that he would transport me to Verawal 😊

After an uneventful overnight train trip I rushed to Ahmedabad airport. A few hours later I was in the air heading back to Kerala.

Hope you enjoyed reading my travelogue. Please do post your comments. Bye!