Rameshwaram
Rameswaram (also spelt as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a town and municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilometres from Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. It is in the Gulf of Mannar, at the tip of the Indian peninsula.[1] 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.
It is written in the Ramayana that the Divine King Rama built a bridge with Hanuman's help from here across the sea to Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from her abductor Ravana. The Ramanathaswamy Temple, dedicated to the Vedic god Shiva, is at the centre of the town and is closely associated with Rama. The temple and the town are considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivas.[2][3]
Rameswaram is the closest point from which to reach Sri Lanka from India, and geological evidence suggests that the Rama Sethu was a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka[citation needed]. The town has been in the news over the Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project, Kachchatheevu, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and capturing local fishermen for alleged cross-border activities by Sri Lankan Forces.[4] Rameswaram is administered by a municipality established in 1994. The town covers an area of 53 km2 (20 sq mi) and had a population of 44,856 as of 2011. Tourism and fishery employ the majority of workforce in Rameswaram.
Legend
Rameswaram means "Lord of Rama" (Rāma-īśvaram) in Sanskrit, an epithet of Shiva, the presiding deity of the Ramanathaswamy Temple.[5] According to one of the versions of Ramayana, Rama, the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu, prayed to Shiva here to absolve any sins that he might have committed during his war against the demon-king Ravana in Sri Lanka.[6][3] According to the Puranas (Hindu scriptures), upon the advice of sages, Rama along with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the lingam (an iconic symbol of Shiva) here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya incurred while killing of the Brahmin Ravana.[7] To worship Shiva, Rama wanted to have a lingam and directed his trusted lieutenant Hanuman to bring it from Himalayas.[8][3] Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita built a lingam, made of just Sands of the shores, which is also believed to be the one in the sanctum of the temple.[8].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 Ramsetu bridge, that further continued to Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.[6][9] According to another version, as quoted in Adhyatma Ramayana, Rama installed the lingam before the construction of the bridge to Lanka. However, both Valmiki and KambaRamayana does not have any evidences about this Rameswaram story.(http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2595588.ece) [10]
History
The history of Rameswaram is centred around the island being a transit point to reach Sri Lanka (Ceylon historically) and the presence of Ramanathaswamy Temple. Tevaram, the 7th–8th century Tamil compositions on Shiva by the three prominent Nayanars (Saivites) namely Appar,[11] Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar.[12] The Chola king Rajendra Chola I (1012 – 1040 CE) had a control of the town for a short period.[13] The Jaffna kingdom (1215–1624 CE) had close connections with the island and claimed the title Setukavalan meaning custodians of the Rameswaram.[14] Hinduism was their state religion and they made generous contribution to the temple.[14] Setu was used in their coins as well as in inscriptions as marker of the dynasty.[14]
According to Firishta, Malik Kafur, the head general of Alauddin Khalji, the ruler of Delhi Sultanate, reached Rameswaram during his political campaign in spite of stiff resistance from the Pandyan princes in the early 14th century.[15][16][17] He erected a mosque by name Alia al-Din Khaldji in honour of victory of Islam.[15][16] During the early 15th century, the present day Ramanathapuram, Kamuthi and Rameswaram were included in the Pandya dynasty.[13] In 1520 CE, the town came under the rule of Vijayanagara Empire.[13] The Sethupathis, the breakaway from Madurai Nayaks, ruled Ramanathapuram and contributed to the Ramanathaswamy temple.[13][3] The most notable of them are the contributions of Muthu Kumara Ragunatha and Muthu Ramalinga Sethupathi, who transformed the temple to an architectural ensemble.[18] The region then fell under the rule of different leaders Chanda Sahib (1740 – 1754 CE), Arcot Nawab and Muhammed Yusuf Khan (1725 – 1764 CE) in the middle of the 18th century.[19] In 1795 CE, Rameswaram came under the direct control of the British East India Company and was annexed to the Madras Presidency. After 1947, the town became a part of Independent India.[13]
Geography
Dhanushkodi island among blue waters of Bay of Bengal.
An aerial view of Dhanushkodi, at the tip of Rameswaram
Rameswaram has an average elevation of 10 m (33 ft). The island is spread across an area of 61.8 km2 (23.9 sq mi) 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.[20] The Ramanathaswamy Temple occupies major area of Rameswaram. The beach of Rameswaram is featured with no waves at all – the sea waves rise to a maximum height of 3 cm (0.10 ft) and the view looks like a very big river. Rameswaram has dry tropical climate with low humidity,[20] with average monthly rainfall of 75.73 mm (2.981 in),[20] 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.[21]
Ramsetu Bridge 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.[22] The bridge is 29 km (18 mi) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (North-East) from the Palk Strait (South-West). It was reportedly passable on foot up to the 15th century until storms deepened the channel. The temple records record that Rama's Bridge was completely above sea level until it broke in a cyclone in 1480 CE.[23] The bridge was first mentioned in the ancient Indian Sanskrit epic Ramayana of Valmiki.[24] 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 demon king Ravana.[24] The Ramayana attributes the building of this bridge to Rama in verse 2-22-76, naming it as Setubandhanam.[25] The sea separating India and Sri Lanka is called Sethusamudram meaning "Sea of the Bridge". Maps prepared by a Dutch cartographer in 1747 CE, available at the Tanjore Saraswathi Mahal Library show this area as Ramancoil, a colloquial form of the Tamil Raman Kovil (or Rama's Temple).[26] Many other maps in Schwartzberg's historical atlas[27] and other sources such as travel texts by Marco Polo call this area by various names such as Adam's Bridge, Sethubandha and Sethubandha Rameswaram.[28]
Demographics
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