Tuesday 30 November, 2010

Rameshwaram: Where beauty resides in every corner

“The sea waves surging and wading through Ramanathaswamy Temple could set you bemused for a second. The entire beauty of this destination is simply inexplicable”

Nestled in Tamil Nadu, South India, Rameswaram is a conch shell shaped island, where the metaphor of beauty seems to fit its character. Knowingly famous for the grandiose-centuries old Rameshwaram Temple, this destination is thronged by the crowd of passionate devotees who want to enjoy the spiritual bliss of coming in contact with the great Lingam.

Traversing back to days when mythology gets enlivened by a bloodshed and stifle between the Lord Rama and demon Ravana. In an effort to free goddess Sita from the shackles of this evil, Lord Rama along with his brother Lord Lakshman(Laxman) and disciple Lord Hanumaan traveled a long way to Rameswaram. During their stay, Hanumaan brought the 'Shiva Lingam' from Himalaya to perform religious ablutions and pray for their victory. Since that day, the Shiva Lingam remained ensconced at the sea shores, looming as the great center of pilgrimage for many devotees. Moving inside the premises of the temple, the 16 ft and 10ft wide Nandi could be witnessed guarding the main gates of the temple. Few steps ahead are the granite marbled stairs which are over looked by two heavily built ‘dwar palakas’. The insidious structure of temple is so humongous, that the first time visitors would be left spell bounded for a few seconds. Followed by the two lingams, the outer area of the temple consists of 'Vishwa Lingam' placed by Lord Hanumaan and the left side of the temple premises is donned with the shrine of goddess Parvatavardhini. While at the same time, the devotees can’t miss the religious ceremony performed at ‘Sethu Madhava’ shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Then there is another idol of Natraja which is scrupulously contoured and streamlined with rudraksha seeds. A visit to this most sacred sanctum is considered complete if holy water of Ganga jal from kashi is brought for ‘Abhishekam—(holy ceremony in which the idol of lord is given scared bath along with the chant of vedic mantras).

Stepping ahead with the nexus of holy bath at 22 temple tirthams, the devotees at the Ramanathaswamy temple could further plan to move towards Dahnushkodi where Lord Rama relinquished himself from the sin of killing Ravana. This temple is dedicated to LordRama, Sita, Lakshmana and the great idol of Hanuman is the only structure left since marred by the cyclone in the year 1964. Generally known as the ‘Kothandaramswamy Temple’, it can be easily reached by taxi or bus, which certainly takes around 1 hour to reach. Eventually, while on a tour to Rameshwaram, the devotees could also make a visit to other local shrines including Rama Tirtham, Agni Tirtham, Laskhmana Tirtham, Jatayu Tirtham(where the king of birds lost his life while trying to save Sita from Ravana. The temple of Hanuman will raise your heckles and would intrigue you to carry some of the sea floating rocks used at the time of building the bridge—‘Ram Setu’.

After a religious spree, the devotees if in a mood to take siesta break can plan a short excursion in a fishing boat. They can stroll up to the ‘home of missile man of India’--APJ Abdul Kalam, where you might grab an opportunity to involve in a friendly chat with his brother. From the busy schedule, you can walk way to the busy ‘Indira Gandhi Road Bridge’ that connects Rameshwaram to the mainland. Complying to an extreme exhilaration, the leisure travelers can’t miss the natural retreat offered by the lush green littoral patch of landscapes and the breeze of cool air flowing from the backwaters, could surely compel you to take dip in the cool waters. A glass bottomed boat service can be boarded from the Indira Gandhi Road Bridge which charges around 100 rupees per head. There is also a morning service from Mandapam to the Kurusudai Islands, a marine biosphere which seek permission of wild life warden to make a visit. Apart from all, by an end of the day, you can fold your entire trip at Uthikosamnagai Shiva Temple (open 4.30 -12.30 pm, 3.45-8.30pm) followed by Thriupullani, Sethukarai, Devipattinam and Vishnu Temple respectively.

The devotees as well leisure travelers can board the direct buses from Madurai which runs with in the frequency of 5 to 10 minutes exclusively. If the travelers are plying by air, then Madurai airport can be the best option, which takes approximately 3 ½ hours to reach the final destination. Rameshwaram is well connected by rail, Sethu express and Rameswaram express are the two trains which depart from Chennai and arrive at Tambaram Junction in Chennai). Besides this, the Hotels in Rameswaram provide the visitors with the best spate of options where they can plan a peaceful sojourn exclusively. Hotel Royal Park, Hotel Venkatesh, Hotel Maharaja, Hotel Chola are some of the accommodations which could make the entire stay of the visitors simply the most memorable experience. Following the trail the Hotels in India, bestows the revelers with the similar series of accommodation options, good enough to make an excellent stay.

So if you are highly inspired by this blog and can’t stop your senses from traveling to this mesmerizing place, then this it is recommendable to pack your bags and visit this spiritual sanctum, to go back in the time frozen when mythology comes alive in front of your eyes.