Rameswaram – An Experience of a life time
Lets rollback for a little history to understand what Rameshwaram means.
According to Ramayana (Hindu epic), after the epic battle between Lord Ram and Ravana, Lord Ram wanted to absolve his sins that he may have committed in the war. Hence they installed a lingam (A form of Lord Shiva) and worshipped it .Hence Rameshwara literally means “lord of Rama” and the place got its name “Rameshwaram” .The Lingam which was installed and worshipped by lord ram is the believed to be presiding deity of the Ramanathaswamy temple which is the famous temple in the town. Here in the temple Lord Shiva is worshipped as a Jyothirlinga or “pillar of light” .Bathing in the temple tank is considered spiritual for Hindu’s. Gandhamathana parvatham is small hill located towards the north of the temple and it houses a hall where a footprint of Lord Ram is imprinted on a wheel. Indeed Rameshwaram is a land where lord walked along with humans at one point in the history of our universe.
The significance of the rameshwaram also lies in the fact that a pilgrimage to Varanasi is considered incomplete without a visit to rameshwaram. The char dham, the origins of which are traced to Hindu saint Shankaracharya, is a famous pilgrimage undertaken by many followers of Hinduism. The four sites that must be visited in this pilgrimage are Badrinath, Puri, Dwarka and Rameshwaram. For many Hindu’s it is an important wish of their life to visit to these cardinal spiritual centres in their lifetime. The temple had been worshipped by a lot of kings in history including the Marathas and the rulers of Tamilnadu.The Maratha rulers who ruled tanjore at point of time built many rest houses or chatrams as it is locally called, in this town.
Apart from the bliss of spirituality one can also experience the serene nature in this town. Dhanushkodi a once thriving fishing town was devastated by the cyclone of 1964 and covered the whole landmass with sand .The ruins that one can see in Dhanushkodi would remind us of the nature’s fury but at the same time one can see the confluence of Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean in Dhanushkodi. A step in to the shallow waters of Bay of Bengal and colourful marine life would sure be an experience of a life time.
