Rameswaram
Rameswaram also spelt as Ramesvaram or Rameshwaram is a
town and a third grade municipality in the Ramanathapuram district in the South Indian state ofTamil Nadu
It is located on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channeland
is about 50 kilometres from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka.
It is situated in the Gulf of Mannar,
at the very tip of the Indian peninsula. Pamban Island, also known as
Rameswaram Island, is connected to mainland India by the Pamban Bridge.
Rameswaram is the terminus of the railway line from Chennai and Madurai.
Together with Varanasi,
it is considered to be one of the holiest places in India to Hindus, and part
of the Char Dham pilgrimage.
According to legend, this is the
place from where the Hindu god Rama built a bridge, Adam's Bridge across the sea to Lanka to rescue his consort Sita from her abductor Ravana. TheRamanathaswamy Temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva is located at the centre of the town
and is closely associated with Rama. The temple along with the town is
considered a holy pilgrimage site for both Shaivites and Vaishnavites. Rameswaram is the closest point to
reach Sri Lanka and Geological evidence suggests that the Adam's bridge was a former land connection between
India and Sri Lanka. Tourism and fishery employ the majority of workforce in
Rameswaram.
Legend
Rameswara means Lord of Rama in Sanskrit,
an epithet of Shiva, the presiding deity of the Ramanathaswamy Temple.
According to Hindu epic Ramayana, Rama, the seventh incarnation of
the Hindu god Vishnu,
is believed to have prayed to Shiva here to absolve any sins that he might have
committed during his war against the demon king Ravana in Srilanka.[2][3] According to the Puranas(Hindu
scriptures), upon the advice of Rishis (sages), Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana,
installed and worshipped the Sivalinga (an iconic symbol of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya (killing of a Brahmin).[4] (Ravana, the son of Vishrava and the great grandson of Brahma). To
worship Shiva, Rama wanted to have the largest lingam. He directed Hanuman,
the monkey lietunant in his army to bring the lingam from Himalayas.
Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita (the consort of Rama) built a small lingam in the shores, which is
believed to be the lingam in the sanctum of the temple.[3] This account is not supported by the
original Ramayana authored by Valmiki,
nor in the Tamil version of the Ramayana authored by Tamil poet, Kambar.
Support for this account is found in some of the later versions of the Ramayana, such as the one penned by Tulasidas (15th Century). Sethu Karai is a
place 22 km before the island of Rameswaram from where Rama is believed to
have built a floating stone bridge, the Adam's bridge from Rameswaram that
further continued to Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lank.
Geography
Rameswaram is located at 9.28°N 79.3°E.[5] It has an average elevation of
10 metres (32 feet).
The island is spread across an area of 61.8 square kilometres and is in the
shape of a conch. 74% of the area has sandy soil due to the presence of sea and
it has many islands surrounding it, the Palk Strait in the north west and Gulf of Mannar
in the south East.[6] The Ramanatha Swamy Temple occupies
major area of Rameshwaram. The beach of Rameswaram is featured with no waves at
all - the sea waves rise to a maximum height of 3 cm and the view looks
like a very big river. Rameswaram has dry tropical climate with low humidity,[6] with average monthly rainfall of
75.73 mm,[6] mostly from North East monsoon from
October to January. The highest ever temperature recorded at Pamban station was
37°C and the lowest was 17°C.[7]
Adam's Bridge (Tamil: ஆதாம் பாலம் ātām pālam) is a chain of limestone shoals, between
Rameswaram and Mannar Island, off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.
Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection
between India and Sri Lanka. The
bridge is 18 miles (30 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar
(southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). It was reportedly passable on
foot up to the 15th century until storms deepened the channel: temple records
seem to say that Rama’s Bridge was completely above sea level until it broke in
a cyclone in 1480 CE.
The bridge was first mentioned in the
ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Ramayana of Valmiki. The name Rama's
Bridge or Rama
Setu (Sanskrit; setu:
bridge) refers to the bridge built by the Vanara (ape men) army of Rama in Hindu mythology, which he used to reach
Lanka and rescue his wife Sita from the Rakshasa king, Ravana.[10]The Ramayana attributes the building of this bridge
to Rama in verse 2-22-76, naming it as Setubandhanam, a name that persists till
today.[11] The sea separating India and Sri Lanka
is called Sethusamudram meaning "Sea of the Bridge".
Maps prepared by a Dutch cartographer in 1747, available at the Tanjore Saraswathi Mahal Libraryshow this area
as Ramancoil, a colloquial form of the Tamil Raman
Kovil (or Rama's
Temple).Another map of Mughal India prepared by J. Rennel in 1788
retrieved from the same library called this area as "the area of the Rama
Temple", referring to the temple dedicated to Rama at Rameswaram. Many other maps in Schwartzberg's
historical atlas and other
sources such as travel texts by Marco Polo call this area by various names such
as Sethubandha and Sethubandha
Rameswaram.
Economy
Since it is a pilgrimage town, the
majority of the population is involved in tourism related industry consisting
of trade and services. Service
sector increased from 70% in 1971 to 98.78% in 2001, while the agricultural
sector reduced from 23% in 1971 to 0.13% in 2001.Apart from sweets offered to
the deity and devotional articles like rosaries of Tulsi beads, toys and pictures of deities,
other allied items are sold and are concentrated on North Car Street, Melarathaveethi,
South Car Street, Keelarathaveethi and Sannathi Street. Rameswaram is an industrially backward
town - there has been no demarcation for industrial land due to the pilgrim
sanctity and ecological fragile geography. Being
an island town, the traditional occupation was fishing, but due to poor returns
and also due to troubles from Sri Lankan border forces, the people in fishing
community have gradually shifted to other professions.[30] Banks such asState Bank of India, Indian Bank and RDCC Bank have their branches in
Rameswaram.
Transport and Communication
Pamban Bridge (Tamil: பாம்பன் பாலம்) is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait that
connects Rameswaram to mainland India. The railway bridge is 6,776 ft
(2,065 m)[32] and was opened to traffic in 1914. The
railroad bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge section that can be raised to let
ships pass under it . The railway bridge historically carried metre-gauge
trains on it, but Indian Railways upgraded the bridge to carry
broad-gauge trains in a project that finished on 12th August 2007.
Historically, the two leaves of the bridge were opened manually using levers by
workers.[32]About
10 ships — cargo carriers, coast guard ships, fishing vessels and oil tankers
pass through the bridge every month. After completion of bridge, metre-gauge
lines were laid from Mandapam up to Pamban Station, from where the
railway lines bifurcated into two directions, one towards Rameswaram about 6.25
miles (10.06 km) up and another branch line of 15 miles (24 km)
terminating at Dhanushkodi.
The noted Boat Mail ran on this track between 1915 and
1964 from Chennai Egmore up to Dhanushkodi, from where the
passengers were ferried to Talaimannar in Ceylon. The
metre-gauge branch line from Pamban Junction to Dhanushkodi was abandoned after
it was destroyed in a cyclone in 1964.
There are daily express trains
connecting major cities in Tamil Nadu like Chennai, Madurai, Trichy and Coimbatore.[34]There
are weekly express trains connecting Coimbatore, Varanasi and Bhubaneswar.[34] Passenger trains ply to Madurai and
Trichy daily making railways as the majore mode of transportation.[34] The Ramanathapuram – Rameswaram
National Highway is the main connecting link to Rameswaram to the mainland.[35] Prior to the 1914 train service
linking the mainland with Rameswaram, boats were the only mode of transport to
ship the pilgrims to Rameswaram island.
The National highway NH 49 connects
Madurai to Dhanushkodi, linking major towns like Manamadurai, Paramakkudi, and
Ramanathapuram in the Ramanathapuram district.The Rameswaram municipality covers a
total road length of 52 km and 20 km of national highway covering about 80
percent of the town.The Tamil Nadu State Transport
Corporation runs daily
services connecting various cities to Rameswaram and operates a computerized
reservation centre in the municipal bus stand of Rameswaram.[38]
Rameswaram is the important port
among all the ports in the district, having a ferry service to Talaimannar of
Sri Lanka, but is not operational throughout the year.[36] Limited foreign trade is conducted
with Jaffna, Kaits,
Talaimannar and Colombo.
Rameswaram TV tower
The Rameswaram TV Tower is the tallest tower in India.[39] The tower is a 323m tall circular
concrete tower with a square steel mast of 45m height, diameter of 24m at the
bottom tapering to 6.5m at top. The
tower has been designed for a wind velocity of 160kmph.
Religion
The major religion followed in
Rameswaram in Hinduism.
Being a Hindu pilgrimage centre, majority of the visitor to Rameswaram are
followers of Hinduism. There is a minority of Christians,
predominantly from the fishing community of the region. St Antony's Church at Oriyur on the
eastern shore of the island is a prominent Church in the island
Ramanathaswamy Temple
Corridor of 1000 pillars
Ramanathaswamy Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to
god Shiva located in the centre of Rameswaram. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where the three of
the most revered Nayanars (7th century Saivite Saints),Appar, Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the temple with their
verses. The temple in its current structure was built during the 12th century by Pandya Dynasty.
The temple has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India.The Temple
is also one of the 12 Jyothirlinga temples, where Shiva is worshipped in
the form of aJyotirlingam meaning "pillar of light".
There are sixty-four Tīrthas (holy water bodies) in and around
Rameswaram. According to Skānda Purāṇa, twenty-four of them are important. Bathing in these tanks is a major
aspect of the pilgrimage to Rameswaram and is considered equivalent to penance. Twenty-two of the tanks are within the
Ramanathaswamy Temple. The first and major one is called Agni Theertham, the
sea (Bay of Bengal). Jatayu, King of the
Birds, who fought in vain with Ravana, the demon to save Sita, is said to have
fallen down as his wings were severed at the point where Jadayu Theertham is
now located Villoondi Theertham literally translates to ‘buried bow’, is located
around 7 kilometers from the main temple on the way to Pamban. It is believed
to be the place where Rama quenched the thirst of Sita by dipping the bow into
the sea water. Other major holy bodies are Hanuman Theertham, Sugreeva
Theertham and Lakshmana Theertham.
Hindu Pilgrimage
People taking a holy dip at
Rameswaram shore
Rameswaram is significant for many
Hindus as a pilgrimage to Varanasi is considered to be incomplete without a
pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The town along with the temple is one of the holiest
Hindu Char Dham (four
divine sites) sites comprising Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka.Though the origins are not clearly
known, the Advaita school of Hinduism established by Sankaracharya,
attributes the origin of Char Dham to the seer. The four monasteries are located
across the four corners of India and their attendant temples are Badrinath
Temple at Badrinath in
the North,Jagannath Temple at Puri in the East, Dwarakadheesh Temple at Dwarka in the West and
Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram in the South. Though ideologically the
temples are divided between the sects of Hinduism, namelySaivism and Vaishnavism,
the Char Dham pilgrimage is an all Hindu affair. The journey across the four cardinal
points in India is considered sacred by Hindus who aspire to visit these
temples once in their lifetime. Traditionally
the trip starts at the eastern end from Puri, proceeding in clockwise direction
in a manner typically followed for circuambulation in Hindu temples.The temple is one of the famous
pilgrimage sites historically - the Maratha kingswho ruled Thanjavur established chatrams or rest houses all through Mayiladuthurai and Rameswaram between 1745 and 1837
CE and donated them to the temple.
Interaction with Sri Lanka
Rameswaram is frequently in
headlines over fishermen issues like attack, arrest and alleged harassment by
Sri Lankan navy for alleged cross border activities, Sethusamudram canal
project, Kachchatheevu, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and also on intercountry
smuggling between India and Sri Lanka.As an initial step to curb enhanced
smuggling, the Tamil Nadu government has set up 30 more marine police stations
to bring the state’s entire coastal belt under close vigil
Hindus as a pilgrimage to Varanasi is considered to be incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameswaram.
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