Rameshwaram

The holy town of Rameshwaram is an island. The significance of the railway bridge that connects the island to the mainland can be seen inside the Ramanathaswamy temple. This was one of the 76 towns  that I visited on my 6 month trip through the Indian coast. 

A street scene with the temple in the background.

In Rameshwaram, I found a place to stay near the Ramanathaswamy temple. I did not know that it was also close to the fishing pier too. The realisation first hit my nostrils. It was here that I met some kar sevaks and also got to know of a Gurudwara here where a family member of Guru Gobind Singh is interred.

The tide is very low here and one can walk quite far into sea.

One of the peculiarities of this place is the low tidal plain which allows people to walk quite far into sea. This also allows pilgrims to bathe in the sea without the worry of drowning. That is the reason why this place has bathing ghats. The stairs that lead to sea also become places where priests sit waiting for devotees to ask them to perform rituals

An old priest waiting under the umbrella.

The Ramanathaswamy temple houses one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and is therefore a very important pilgrimage spot. The temple also has 22 wells at which the faithful bathe. For those who have been to the Ramanathaswamy temple did you look at the ceiling? For those going to this holy temple please look at the ceiling and for those not planning to go to this temple my book '1400 Bananas, 76 towns &1 Million people' gives you the reason why the ceilings are a must.


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Samir Nazareth is the author of '1400 Bananas, 76 Towns & 1 Million People'. Read an excerpt of the book here. Read more about the book here. The book is currently available as an Ebook on Amazon here, Scribd here  and on GooglePlay here . The hard copy will be out in February 2015.