Rameshwaram travel guide – places to visit in Rameshwaram
Rameshwaram is located on an island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is less than 40 kilometers from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka. Together with Kashi, it is considered by Hindus to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus. Hence, it is a bustling pilgrim centre.
The grandest part of the temple is the 1219 m pillared corridor consisting of 3.6 m high granite pillars, richly carved and well proportioned. The perspective presented by these pillars run uninterruptedly to a length of nearly 230 m.
According to the Puranas, upon the advice of Rishis (sages), Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana, installed and worshiped the Sivalinga here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya (killing of a Brahmin) (Ravana was a Brahmin the great grandson of Brahma). Rama fixed an auspicious time for the installation and sent Anjaneya to Mount Kailas to bring a lingam. As Anjaneya could not return in time, Sita herself made a linga of sand. When Anjaneya returned with a linga from Mount Kailas the rituals had been over. To comfort the disappointed Anjaneya, Rama had Anjaneya’s lingam (Visvalingam) also installed by the side of Ramalinga, and ordained that rituals be performed first to the Visvalingam.
In Rameshwaram Temple, a spiritual “Mani Darshan” happens in early morning everyday. This “Mani” is made of “sphatik”[a precious stone] and in form of “Holy shivling”. according to ved this is “Mani” of “sheshnag”.
Sethu Karai is a place 22 km before the island of Rameshwaram from where God Ram built a Floating Stone Bridge “Ramasethu” till Rameshwaram that further continued from Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka as mentioned in the great Hindu epic RAMAYAN. The ruins of the Ramasethu are submerged under the sea as shot from Gemini 1 satellite of NASA in 2004.
Rameshwaram History
After successful completion of Brahmahata Dosham ceremony, Lord Rama along with Umadevi announced that anybody who takes bath in the Danudkodi and prays to the Shivalingam, will be known as Ramalingam. Hence, the place came to be known as Rameshwaram after the deity called Ramanathswamy.
When Anjaneya returned with lingam, he found that the Puja was nearly over and in anguish tried to remove the sand lingam from his tail. In spite of many attempts, he was not able to do so and realized the divinity of Sita. Then Ram ordered him to place the lingam that he brought on the northern side of Ramalingam. After it Rama also ordered that people should worship the Ramalingram, only after worshipping the lingam that was brought and installed by Sri Anjaneya.
PLACE TO VISIT Rameshwaram
Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple – this temple situated near the sea on the eastern side of the island is renowned for its magnificent prakaras or corridors with massive sculptured pillars on either side.
Agnitheertham – Sri Ramanathaswamy temple faces east. The seashore, about 100 meters from the main entrance of the temple, is very calm and therefore ideal for bathing. The water at this place is considered sacred and known as Agni theertham. Pilgrims perform poojas in honor of their ancestors at this seashore.
Gandamadana Parvatham – is a hillock situated 3 km away and is the highest point in the island. Here one can see the imprint of Lord Rama’s feet on a chakra. The entire island of Rameswaram is visible from this point.
Satchi Hanuman Temple – is considered to be the place where Hanuman delivered the good news of finding Sita to Rama with satchi or evidence, Choodamani or the jewel that belonged to Sita. Situated 3 km from the main temple, on the way to the Gandamadana Parvatham.
The Five-faced Hanuman Temple – (2 km from themain temple) – the deity of Hanuman drawn withsenthooram. Idols of Lord Ram, Sita and Hanumanbrought from Dhanushkodi during the 1964 cyclone were placed here. Thefloating stone, used to build theSethuBandanamor the bridge between India and Lanka can be found inthis temple.
JadaTheertham – (about 3.5 km from Rameswaram on the Dhanushkodi road) – legend has it that Lord Rama, on his way back after killing Ravana, Worshipped SriRamalinga (believed to be installed by him). Before doing so, he washed his hair(Jada) in this theertham to purify himself.
Dhanushkodi (18 km) – the southern tip of the island, Dhanushkodi was completely washed away by the 1964 cyclone. This is a strip of land about one km wide and 18 km long on the eastern end of Rameswaram island. On one side are the waters of the Indian Ocean and on the other the waters of the Bay of Bengal. The two seas otherwise known as Ratnakaran and Mahodadhi with their confluence is shaped like a bow while the strip of land resemble an arrow poised for release. Devout Hindus consider the Adi Sethu or the arrowhead, a sacred place to perform religious rites. It is also place worth visiting for its scenic beauty and bird life.
HOW TO REACH Rameshwaram
By plane – Nearest Airport in Madurai – 174 km Indian Airlines connect’s Madurai with Chennai, Thiruchi, Bangalore and Mumbai.
By train – Connected with all major cities like Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Karaikudi, Trichy, Thanjavur and Palghat.
By road – Connected with all important towns of Tamil Nadu, City Buses are available including night services. Point to Point services, Tourist taxi, auto / cycle rickshaws and horse carts are also available. Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport corporation ( APSRTC ) operates Rameswaram – Tripathi daily service.
jai shri ram..
by reading all the information & discription of the different points of the temple only where one has to go
n experience that time i.e, satyug.. i found myself in rameshwarm for a while.. as well as from where one should go & how.. thanks for giving us such a valuable information. thank you.
jai shri ram.
wit regards
pooja
If you are planning your trip to Rameshwaram,then here are some tips which I have coltlaed from my personal experience with the Rameshwaram Trip. Rameshwaram is an island that is located in the Ramanathapuram District of Tamilnadu, southern state of India .This is a one among the holiest places in India which is considered as equivalant as to Kasi, the famous holy place in North India.It represents the southernmost of the 12 Jyotirlingams of India.How to Reach Rameshwaram from ,madhurai?The nearest airport is at Madurai, 163 km from Rameshwaram.If you are going by train, you can get the direct train from Chennai to Rameshwaram or you can go to Madurai and go from there.If you are going from Chennai, there are two trains starting from chennai.(Train Number 6713 starts at 17.00 from Chennai Egmore railway station and reaches the rameshwaram at 05.15 in the next day morning.The train number 6101 starts at 19.55 and reaches the rameshwararam at 09.00 in the next day morning.) During this train journey, you can have a nice and the grandiose glimpse of the sea at the early morning while the train crosses the Pamban Bridge.Don’t miss this great experience.(You can see the picture below).Place to Stay at RameshwaramThere are many private hotels and devastanam cottages available at Rameshwaram.If you want to stay at the best place and also at a budget, there is a good lodging service called Goswamy Madam which is run by some religious trust. It is a decent and peaceful place to stay.Once you get out of the train at Rameshwaram station, you can hire an auto by paying 30 Rupees to the Goswami Madam. The temple is at walkable distance from this lodging house.The Procedure Before Rameshwaram Temple DarshanYou need to know the right procedure before entering into the temple for offering your prayers.First, you should go to the seashore which is just located infront of the temple.You have to dip yourself in the sea water and come to the temple with the wet clothes.Then, you have to visit all the 22 theerthams that are located around the temple.Theethams are shallow waters of the sea extending upto some metres. There are 22 such theerthams in Rameshwaram. Hindus believe that a bath in all of these theerthams will remove our sins.Besides the temple staff, there will be some local people who will be standing infront of the temple with buckets in hand.If you negotiate with them and pay 50 Rupees per person to them, you can hire them as your assistant.They will guide you to all the theerthams and take the responsibility of pouring and showering you with the holy water of the 22 theerthams as a personal special service to you.After Shower RitualsOnce you have completed showering in sea and all the 22 theerthams, you can goback to your hotel room and change your dress.Then you can enter into the temple and pray the Lord shiva in the temple.The deity here is Lord Shiva in the name Ramanathaswamy. Once you have completed it, you will have plenty of time before catching the train to Chennai at the night.So, you can hire an auto or taxi to visit the nearest places.If you pay 250 Rupees to auto, they will cover all the places as a package trip to you.Places to See (Rameshwaram Sightseeing)You can visit Ramerpatham in which the Lord Rama’s footprints are maintained in a holy temple.The other places to visit are Sita pond, Floating stones at Hanumar temple, Sugreevar pond. These are the nearest places to visit.You can visit Satchi Anjaneya Temple where the Hanuman after return from Lanka told Rama that he has seen Seetha there.(You can see the picture below).Then you can go to Panjamuga Anjaneya temple.Floating stones which were said to be used to construct the Sethu bridge by Nalan are in display.You can goto Naganatha swamy temple and Lakshmana Theertham near the temple.Then, the auto driver will take you to the Dhanushkodi,Thirupullani, Gandamadana Parvatham and Devipattanam navagraha temple.Dhanuskodi is the easternmost tip of Rameshwaram. Most of this spot is occupied by the sea during tropical cyclones.All these places will be covered withing the package trip at the cost of 250 Rupees.You can also visit Dr.Abdul Kalam’s house.(This is the home town of Former President of India and now his brother is residing there.)Wish you a happy journey and may the Lord bless you with all good things in life.Sarnath