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.