I consider myself lucky to have travelled extensively across India in the process of which I discovered many breathtaking places which can give some foreign locales a run for their money. Very rarely in life, you make that one unforgettable trip which is a riveting experience and a revelation of sorts. Like any other travel junkie, I have a bucket list of places in India which I want to visit. Last time I wrote about one such trip I took to Thanjavur, where the “Brihadeeshwara Temple” blew my mind. The next on my list was Rameshwaram where I wanted to photograph the famous corridor in the temple, which is considered to be the longest among all the Hindu temples in India. I thought that would be one of the highpoints of my trip only to be met with disappointment, but more on that later. However, this trip took an interesting turn when I visited that one place you simply have to make once in your life, just for the experience.

Rameshwaram – The Mythical land

Rameshwaram is an island which is connected to the Indian mainland by the famous Pamban Bridge and is 50kms away from Mannar, Sri Lanka. It is one of the holiest places for both Shaivites and Vaishanavites and is a part of Char Dham pilgrimage.  At the center of the town is the Ramanathaswamy temple dedicated to Lord Shiva who is worshiped in the form of a jyothirlingam. According to Ramayana, Lord Rama prayed to Lord Shiva to absolve him of the sin of killing Ravana during the war in Lanka (many versions of this story). This is also believed to be the place where Lord Rama built a bridge, Ram Sethu, across the sea to Sri Lanka, with the help of his army of monkeys (Vanar Sena). American Astronaut Scott Kelly recently tweeted a beautiful picture of the Pamban Bridge on the Palk Strait between the Indian subcontinent and Rameshwaram.

Satellite picture of Pamban Bridge clicked by Scott Kelly from the International Space Station; with comparison

The visit to the temple ideally starts with a bath in the sea (Samudhra Snanam). The sea is very close to the temple and has calm and clear waters if it wasn’t for the filth thrown by us humans! One then proceeds for the Teerth snanam, a bath in waters from the temple wells. The temple premise has 22 wells and having a bath in these wells is considered to be one of the most prominent aspects of the visit to the temple (click here to know more). It is only after this, one can visit the main sanctum of the temple to have a darshan of the Lord. The water tastes different in each of the wells and their temperatures also varied. We had a great darshan, no doubt, but as a rule, absolutely no electronic devices were allowed in the temple premises, which meant I wasn’t allowed to carry my camera or phone to photograph that glorious corridor! However, my disappointment was overcome after the unique experience I had during the teerth snanam. The Ramanathaswamy temple, the ‘Varanasi of the south’, is a major pilgrim center and has visitors from as far as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar too. I did visit Dr. A.P.J. Kalam’s house which is now turned into a museum “House of Kalam” but, unfortunately, it was closed. I was running a tight schedule and I had to skip this sadly.

Railway Line, Rameshwaram

Fishermen at sea for their early morning catch

House of Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam/ “House of Kalam”

Dhanushkodi – The magnificent surprise!

Dhanushkodi is located barely 20kms away from Rameshwaram and as we drove towards it, I had absolutely no expectations whatsoever. It was my sister who suggested that we visit it after she had a really pleasant experience. Having freshly recovered from a disappointment, I had no idea what I was driving towards. The mythical story behind this lovely place is that on Vibhishan’s request Lord Rama, after defeating Ravana, broke the Ram Sethu Bridge with one end of his bow so that no one can invade Lanka. This story gives this place its name– ‘Dhanush’ meaning bow and ‘Kodi’ meaning end.

Approach road to Dhanushkodi

To reach Dhanushkodi, you will require a specially-modified jeep or van which helps a lot when you drive through the sandy beach and sea waters. The initial 10-12kms is a normal empty road with beach sand on the either side after which you suddenly turn into unpaved surface with beach sand and make your way through the ups and down of sand dunes. This roller coaster ride itself is an exhilarating experience where you wade through the water with a view of distant shores, wrecks of boats, marshes and green shrubs. This ride takes you to the tip of the southernmost point where you are surrounded by the sea on your three sides.  It is here you are treated to a fascinating view of the point where the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean. There is a stark difference between the two where on one side you are treated to calm waters and the other side you see strong wavy waters (see pic below). A calm walk along the beach will sooth you as you spot corals along the shores and some rare aquatic birds. The government is now laying a road so that anyone can drive up to this point without having to hire the special jeeps.

Calm waters of Bay of Bengal (left), Rough wavy waters of Indian Ocean (right)

Pristine beach of Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi was a commercial trading center in 1914 during the rule of the British where the port was used to ferry goods to Thalaimannar in Sri Lanka. It had rail and road links to Rameshwaram until a fateful day in December 1964 when a cyclone devastated it disconnecting it from the mainland. Now all you can see here are shells of the buildings like a church, railway water tank, hospital which are surrounded by makeshift shanties of fishermen folk who earn their living selling shells, coconut water etc. There is also a small temple here which has the limestone shoals that were used by Lord Rama to build the Ram Sethu Bridge. On the way back we went to the Kodandaramaswamy temple which is around 500yrs old located very close to the sea. This is believed to be the place where Lord Rama performed the pattabhishekam of Vibhishana as the king of Lanka.

Pic – Remains of the cyclone devastated buildings

Limestone Shoals (floating stones believed to have been used to build Ram Sethu)

There are other places of importance in and around Rameshwaram like the Gandhamadana Parvatham, the tallest hillock in the Pamban Island with the footprints of Lord Rama when he stood atop this hill to search the whereabouts of Sita. This place gives a bird’s eye view to the entire island. Other places of importance include the Pancha Mukha Anjaneyar temple (Lord Hanuman revealed his five-faced form for the first time), Jada Tirtham (Where Lord Rama washed his matted hair before worshipping Lord Shiva), Lakshmana Tirtham etc.

Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi are mythical places with magnificent locales. The beaches of Dhanushkodi are no man’s land where one can relax to spend time away from the otherwise fast paced world. Dhanushkodi is, in my opinion, a lesser known lost land worth visiting once in a lifetime and a paradise for photography lovers.

(For high resolution photos (with EXIF details) of my Rameshwaram Dhanushkodi trip click here)