The spiritual destiny was in my wishlist for years.It was a boring afternoon when I suddenly asked my dad "Shall we go to Rameshwaram? ". It was a usual reaction from my dad to the adhoc plans. Unstoppable, on the spur of the moment, I looped in my grandma along with my parents. Looked for train tickets from Chennai, Indian railways is yet to be equipped for adhoc tour planners like me:). We decided to travel by car and set on out journey the same evening by 3. I Stay 150kms down south to Chennai.
The two best possible routes are Trichy - Madurai - Rameshwaram or Trichy - Pudhukottai- Karaikudi-Rameshwaram. We chose the Madurai route. Reached Madurai by around 7-30. It was dinner time.I chose to try the small and petty food ships on the roadside. scrutinizing the right place to eat, we travelled on the Madurai -Rameshwaram road for more than half an hour.When my dad lost hope that I could find a better place, I pointed a small thatched shop where a middle aged couple was making hot Idlis. Enjoyable dinner in a breezy night.
Reached Rameshwaram by 11-30 PM.We preferred a place near the temple and travelled towards the temple. The road led to the end of the town. Fortunately, tamilnadu tourism hotels was located at the very end and just near the temple.A very decent hotel for a medium budget.And more importantly, this is the best place to have a beach view.
My mom came with the load of instructions from my uncles.
1) Visit agnitheertham first - nothing but a dip in the beach situated near Ramanathaswamy temple.
2) Go to temple - Visit all the 21 theerthams. There are 22 wells from where water is drawn and you could drench in the divine waters. It is believed that when Rama and Sita came from Srilanka, they made Pooja for Lord sivas sand sculpture and had a bath in all the theerthams.
There will be agents in the streets who will be taking you to all the theerthams and in return you could pay them money. Else you could just reach out to all the Wells along with the crowd.
3) Once u visit all 22 wells, it is mandatory to take bath.My suggestion is to go back to your hotel.and refresh and visit the Lord.
4) Once we refreshed, we came to temple for getting Darshan. Temple was not crowded. In half an hour we were back to the hotel.
Next comes the interesting part of the journey, Dhanushkodi. I was so curious to visit the place. Hav heard stories about the tsunami and how the whole town was destroyed. It is located 14 kms from Rameshwaram. There are buses from Rameshwaram. We landed up in a place where there was a broken bridge and a few small shops. From there, private vehicles are not allowed.we hav to book a jeep or van. We travelled by a van. An adventurous journey , they will travel along the shore and sometimes in the waters like a hovercraft. By the time you reach Dhanushkodi, you will feel." Hushhhhhhhhhhhh.I reached. "
When you land you will be in a small island in between two oceans, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean.The island has the ruined church, watermark, railway tracks. once where people enjoyed a living there and the Ocean turned against them mercilessly. Definitely it could have been the beautiful place. Srilanka is just 18 kms from this place. And when I had a chat with the van driver, he said the place will be fearful in the nights. The sounds from the ocean will be terrifying and how the sound from one side is different from the other side of the ocean. There are still few families living in the place even though the Govt declared it an unfit place for living. Okay, now it’s time to return. And back toward Rameshwaram and return journey.
So long I din open about another exciting thing, Pamban bridge. To reach Rameshwaram we hav to cross this bridge. Scenic blue ocean with boats dotting along the shores. The speciality about this bridge is the railway track which is made of a steel structure across the ocean which opens up for large ships. It was dusk when sun made a silver lining in the sky.
Rameshwaram is majestic. Beaches, temples, Pamban bridge. Ofcourse a place of historic importance. Mention not. Localites were so polite and helpful. It was an unforgettable experience when our car key was not working and it stopped in vibeeshna temple which is located when we travel from Dhanushkodi to Rameshwaram.
The autowalas gave a temporary fix and we hav to make duplicate key in Ramnad. We took Karaikudi-trichy route for return journey.
Must visit places:
Ramanathaswamy temple
Dhanushkodi
A pause at Pamban bridge
APJ Abdul Kalam’s memorial which I missed
Vibeeshna temple
Few places are best suited for photography.
Best travel mode: Railways from Chennai or bus from Madurai.
Food will be average. I did not find any regional cuisine native to Rameshwaram.
Convenient hotel: Ttdc hotels. Located near temple. Clean and they provide complimentary breakfast too.
There are some exotic beaches which I didn’t visit. Try to find out and spot one.