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| Chetan Kalambe stands at the meeting point of Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean at Dhanushkodi |
Four hours, I kept on searching a befitting adjective to prefix
or suffix the word ‘Dhanushkodi’ as title of this travelogue but failed to find
out that one perfect word to describe the beauty, the serenity, the calmness,
the mystery, the mythology, the history, the heritage, and the people of this
land.
Dhanushkodi is the southernmost point of Rameshwaram island,
the meeting point of the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, the place from where
the mysterious Rama Sethu begins and a place where you can experience the
unusually calm ocean and serene beaches still untouched by the commercial resort
culture.
The thought of visiting Dhanushkodi was there in my mind since
almost three years. I used to share the idea of visiting this place with many
of my friends whenever we used to discuss about the outing or a longish tour. But,
I used to receive mixed reactions from them.
This was because Dhanushkodi is neither a tourist destination
nor a picnic spot. People hardly visit this place and for most of the visitors,
the prime purpose is religious pilgrimage at Ramanathswamy temple, one of the
12 Jyoteerlingas of Lord Shiva.
While you search online, the information of this part is more
focused on the religious pilgrim of Rameshwaram and it restricts Dhanushkodi
only as a ‘Ghost town’ or ‘Haunted place’. Only after visiting this land, one
realizes that calling ‘ghost town’ or ‘haunted’ is an insult to this place
which bears huge strategic, political, historical, cultural, mythological, and
national significance for Indians.
The Beginning
All it began in November 2017 when I successfully convinced
two of my friends – Chetan and Amol – to visit Dhanushkodi in early 2018. Chetan,
being like my younger brother, was confident that the plan made by his big
brother is going to become successful. On the other hand, Amol was a bit
skeptical. Finally, he also got convinced that the off-beat destination will
add the once in a lifetime experience for him and his wife Komal. My better
half Nupur and our son Devavrat became the other two companions.
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| Arichal Munai, an official memorial created by Government of India as mark the last land point of this area. |
Travel booking
Earlier, we searched Rameshwaram connecting trains. The train,
if you take it from Nagpur or from Pune or Mumbai, takes more than 33 hours to
reach here. To avoid such a long journey by train, we decided to go by flight. We
booked the flights three months in advance and saved quite a lot on travelling.
It was first flight experience for Nupur and our three-and-a-half-year old son
Devavrat.
We booked connecting flights from Pune to Chennai and Chennai
to Madurai. From Madurai, we decided to take a passenger train up to
Rameshwaram so that we can experience the ride over the iconic Pamban Rail Bridge.
All it was decided back in November 2017.
Accommodation
Dhanushkodi is 20 km away from Rameshwaram which is an island
in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu. I searched a lot for beach resorts in
this area but failed to find authentic information. I also asked a friend in
Maharashtra who works as a travel and tour planner to plan our tour. However,
the budget he gave for the four-day stay and cab service was huge. He told me
that the local service providers may get a better deal for us. Finally, I
decided to go for a local advice.
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| Me and Murali with Devavrat on the sea shore somewhere near Dhanushkodi. |
Murali is a software engineer and he works in Bangaluru. His
family runs some lodging and boarding facilities for pilgrims visiting the
Rameshwaram temple. However, Murali has upgraded the traditional business to a
new level. Rameshwaram is his birthplace and he loves it. This reveals through
his casual conversations made on phone. He provided a wonderful package to us at
very affordable rates, and most importantly, a valuable friendship for lifetime.
Those who are willing to visit Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi
should always remember that the place has many different rules and regulations other
than the conventional tourist spots. This is because the Tamil Nadu government
treats it in a different way. Private vehicles are not allowed to ply after a
certain limits in this town. So, having a local vehicle with you always ensures
comfortable journey.
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| Me, Devavrat, Nupur, Amol and Komal at Pune Airport |
Journey
We started from Pune International Airport and I will not
write much about the flight experience because, it was in fact horrible! We had
opted SpiceJet service because there were connecting flights of the same airline
from Pune to Chennai and Chennai to Madurai and return. But, our first ever
flight got delayed for more than 3 hours and we had to wait at the airport. Eventually,
we missed our connecting flight too. But, somehow, we managed to reach Madurai
airport at around 11 am. In fact, we had planned to reach here at 8 am and visit
the Meenakshi amman temple. We had to skip that plan due to this delay.
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| Amol, Nupur and Devavrat in the passanger train that takes us to Rameshwaram from Madurai |
We reached Madurai Railway Station at around 11.30 and
directly went to Platform No 5 where the passenger train was already stationed.
As we reached more than an hour in advance, it was quite easy for us to settle
down in train and occupy the seats. Luckily, Murali was in Madurai that day. He
called me up and told that he will be joining us in train. Travelling with him
was like an orientation before the tour as he introduced us with the culture
and people during the journey. We got the lifetime experience of passing
through the Pamban Bridge during this journey.As we reached Rameshwaram, an AC Innova vehicle was waiting
for us.
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| The Road Bridge shot from train while we were passing from Pamban Bridge |
Murali had arranged our stay at a decent hotel –https://www.hotelmcmtowers.com/ MCM towers, just a walk away from
the ancient Ramanathswamy temple. As the Ramanathaswamy temple is the identity
of this town since ages, we preferred to visit the place on very first day.
Ramanathswamy temple
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| Night View of Ramanathswamy temple. Inside photography is not allowed |
On Sunday evening, we entered this ancient temple complex,
built in traditional Dravidian style of architecture. One thing I must mention
here that no vehicles – be it a four wheeler or two wheeler is allowed in
temple premises. You can’t take your mobile phones inside. There are some shops
providing the safe lockers for your phones around the temples, but we had kept
our belongings in hotel rooms only.
Murali was with us, so, we were moving like local boys. He
introduced us with the every aspect of the temple. The Shivalinga in this
temple was worshipped by Lord Rama just before he started for the war. This was
the place where Lord Rama composed the iconic Rudrashtakam, that says
I bow to the Ruler of the
Universe, whose very form is Liberation,
the omnipotent and all pervading Brahma, manifest as the Vedas.
I worship Shiva, shining in his own glory, without physical qualities,
Undifferentiated, desireless, all pervading sky of consciousness
and wearing the sky itself as His garment.
…
However, Ramanathswamy temple is not only about Lord Shiva.
You will get 22 other deities here right from lord Ganesha, Lord Hanumana,
Goddess Parvathi, Lord Murugan, to Goddess Lakshmi. There is a temple of Lord
Rama too in this complex. In fact, it takes more than 2 hours to visit the
entire temple complex.
Another special feature of this temple complex is 21 ponds of
sweet water inside it. Devotees believe that having bath in the waters of all
these 22 ponds is very pious and has power to free them from sins. Interestingly,
taking holy dip inside the pond, which is quite common practice in Maharashtra
is not allowed here. One has to stand near the pond, and the priest takes out
water and spreads on your head. We skipped this bath thing.
Photography is strictly prohibited inside the temple so, it's not possible to share pics over here.
Day one
It was Monday. We started at around 9 am and went straight to
the Ramar Padam temple. It is believed that Lord Rama stood at this tip of the
mountain to view the entire Rameshwaram Island. One can get a comprehensive
view of the surroundings from this place even today. The temple is
well-maintained and visitors are allowed to have a view from the top of the
hill.
What amazed all of us was a concrete made TV tower in
Rameshwaram. The iron gets rusted due to the weather here and hence the towers
are made by the cement concrete. It’s like Kutub Minar of south.
We visited several other temples around Rameshwaram town throughout
Monday morning. Every temple was telling a tale from Ramayana. The Ram Kunda,
Lakshamana Kunda and an Ashram of devotees of Lord Hanumana where you can see
the porus stones floating on the waters were in the midway. Real temple where
we spent quality time was the house of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
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| The real temple |
This was the same place where Dr Kalam was born and brought
up in Rameshwaram. The House of Kalam is now a monument and the family has donated
it to preserve the memories of the former President. Kalam’s family members own
a grand show room here and they are known for selling authentic pearls, conches,
and other marine items. All of us purchased authentic conches here.
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| The shopping mall having authentic conches for sale |
On Monday afternoon, we had a gala time with some water
sports at http://www.holyislandwatersports.com/.
The sea here is unbelievably calm and you can enjoy some select water sports as
per the weather and availability.
Will update more soon...
