PilgrimTrips - India Pilgrimage

History of Ramesvaram

"The Ramesvaram Temple is a large and magnificent one. Its enclosure measures 900 feet by 700 feet. It has three courts with gopuras (towers) in the outer court in all the four directions. The Rajas of Ramnad, who are called Sethupathis or Lords of Sethu or Ramesvaram, were largely instrumental in adding to the original temple; and their representations in sculpture are to be found in the colonnades in the outer court of the Ramesvaram temple. The courts in the Ramesvaram temple with their majestic colonnades and high ceilings form its most attractive and memorable feature. There is also a temple to Vishnu under the name of Sethu Madhava whose image is made of white marble. Every visit to Ramesvaram must comprise in the end the worship of this Deity who is considered the warden of the holy place.

The bath at Dhanushkoti, which should precede worship at the Ramesvaram shrine, can be done every day in the year, the place being so holy that there is no restriction as to the days when the bath should be had. The waters here represent the junction of Mahodadhi (the Bay of Bengal) and Ratnakara (the Indian Ocean). Sculpturam representations of both these Ocean- Gods exist by the side of the big Bull in the Ramesvaram shrine in front of the Linga. One may refer to a curious figure half- buried in the ground near this Bull. Tradition identifies it as that of a non- Hindu thief who, whe attempting to rob the temple treasury, got transfixed to the place and became stone- blind. Besides Dhanushkoti, there are other sacred waters- tanks, wells and the like- numbering some twenty- four, situated in and around the Ramesvaram temple wherein the pious pilgrim is bound to bathe. They are said to possess miraculous properties of curing several diseases.

There are eleven important lingas specially important to this temple, and these are said to have been founded, respectively, by Hanuman, Sri Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Sugriva, Nala, the bulder of the Setu bridge, Angada, Nila, Jambavan, Vibhishana ad Indra.

Daily worship in the Ramesvaram temple is carried on six times a day. The last of them- the Palli- aria procession so it is called- is a very.... ceremony and may be described. Every night the Amman (Goddess of the temple who has got a separate Shrine) is decorated in the Navasakti or Sukravars (Friday) Hall in front of the Amman shrine. She is then taken in processible in a golden- plated palanquin to the God’s temple when the image of the God is placed in the palanquin. The procession with both the deities then continues through the third court and finally ends in the Amman shrine. The idols are then taken out and placed is a Swing in the Palli- Arai (bed- chamber) in the Hall within the Amman shrine. The chief annual festivals of the temple are- Pratishtanga in the month of Ani. Ramanathaswami’s marriage in Adi (July- August) and Mahasivarathri which is celebrated with very great ceremony.

There are a number of sacred places around Rameswaram, consecrated to the memory of Rama, and visited by pilgrims to Ramesvaram. In a place called Uppur some 20 miles to the north east of Ramnad there is a Vinayaka temple, whose image is said to have been installed by Rama himself. Devipatnam or Navapashanam, 10 miles north- east of Ramnad, contains a temple to the Nine Planets, said to have been installed by Sri Rama Himself for worship. Tiruppullani or Darbhasayanam, 6 miles south of Ramnad, is remembered and cherished as the place where Rama lay on a bed of grass (kusa) awaiting the Ocean- God. Both figures of Rama lying on his bed of grass and the Ocean- God are to be found here.