Offbeat:Off land- Rameswaram

Rameswaram is that drug which takes time but when it hits, it hits hard and fast.

An island situated at the southernmost tip of India which can be reached via the first ever and the longest sea bridge in India is a tiny haven of goodness. To be able to spot it on a map you might have to zoom in at the Palk Strait between India and Sri Lanka. Incidentally, it was once a gateway to Sri Lanka and where Lord Ram had built the floating stone bridge from India to Raavan’s Lanka.

I was quite stoked to see the Pamban bridge and therefore in our onward journey from Pondicherry to Rameswaram I got up at 6 am like an excited kid hoping to catch a sight of the bridge. But when I asked the police on duty, he said that it will take 3 more hours! Well, I should have predicted this about railways!

But when it finally bloomed in our visions we were stunned by its enormity. It had that essence of a never-ending tale. A long stretch of the thin railway line on which our frail little train was inching towards the island at 20km/hr. On the adjacent side, running parallel to the railway-the highway portrayed people waving at the train. As the train entered into Rameswaram, we were greeted with small houses and children scampering from one end to another, old broken houses, abandoned buildings and more. Mystique setting!

Me and 3 of my friends- all of us went to our hotel and just plopped down on the bed. It took much convincing on my part to make everyone come with me to the Ramanathswamy Temple. Well, I myself am not much of a temple person but Rameswaram is one of the 4 Dhams of Hindu’s. And on top of that, this temple was special because of its 22 Tirthas (holy wells). It is a common belief that bathing in these 22 wells, sets us free of all our penance.

This temple has 4 gates and as we walked the distance from our hotel to the West gate we caught glimpses of the city. Rameswaram with its small, narrow lanes, hustling people walking with cows, and small South Indian joints in every nook and corner somehow kept me excited because of the exclusivity of it all.

They made us keep all our belongings outside and remove our chappals before we entered the temple-so it was strictly no photography! Starting with well no. 1 till 22 every tank had helpers pulling out water and pouring over everyone’s head.  As we didn’t want to get wet we started requesting them to pour water just on our palms. And from that point on we started enjoying the process. Most of them obliged, but in the end, they just ignored and splashed water on us anyway. And we got completely drenched as we couldn’t jump out in time. And that cracked us up pretty good. At least we washed away our sins with it!

Dhanushkodi, which was a village at the southernmost tip of Rameswaram. It ‘was’ because now it is known as a Ghost town as it was wiped away during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone. It once housed a railway station which connected India to Sri-Lanka.

We took a rickshaw to the village. A double lane, broad road flanked by water bodies on both the sides, took us directly to the Ghost Town. En route, the rickshaw-walla told us a very interesting local tale which made us laugh till worlds end. He said that the water body on the left side was called MALE as it was calm and composed and the right side was called FEMALE as the water roared like a beast. Very innovative of them! Basically, it was the Bay of Bengal flowing on the left and the Indian Ocean flowing to the right.

What is different in this city and any other city in India?- you might ask. For me-This is the city which is pristine in its beauty because it doesn’t top the charts on a social media platform. It remains small and secluded for the people who love to discover. Yes there are are millions of worshipers visting this city everyday but they only talk about it’s temples. And this part of the city gets lost in the rubble.

And sometimes it is pleasant not to have a mental image of a place even before you visit it. It paves way to the possibility of getting star struck by the city’s surprises.

The entire road was beautifully designed until the very end. First, we stopped to see the ruins. It consisted of the former railway station with the tracks still in place, the town church, many small houses and so much more.

There were numerous vendors and hawkers selling different artifacts made out of shells. Few of them were wall hangings, jewelry sets, conch etc. As we walked towards the Indian ocean we could hear the water creating sounds as they banged against each other. It wasn’t that scary but the locals suggested not to tread too deep into the water, so we stayed at bay.

After that, we proceeded further on the road and reached the end of the land. The winds here were blowing with such intensity that we had to walk with our backs against the direction of the wind. If not, it would have blinded us with the amount of sand it carried.

Here we saw the Sangam (United) of the water bodies. It was marvelous to witness the meeting point of two completely different personalities. They just met each other as if it was a norm and merged to flow as one. I innocently at first, tried to search for a sign of Sri Lanka from there – even when I knew it was 30 km away from there. I just couldn’t curb my curiosity! But of course, I didn’t find any signs of it.

And finally, after playing on the beach we left to go back to Rameswaram and rest for the day.

Next Day,  we took a local to Madurai. As we passed the Pamban Bridge on our way out, we bid our goodbyes to it with a promise to meet again next time.

Upon reaching Madurai we handed over our luggage to the luggage keepers on the station and headed to explore Madurai in the little time we had before we left for our hometowns. We saw the Meenakshi Temple from outside with its looming tower gates. This temple is the center of the city. A temple dedicated to Meenakshi a form of the Hindu goddess Parvati. The towers itself was very intricate with sculptures of the gods and goddesses.

When we finally left from Madurai we got to know that our ticket which was in waiting didn’t get confirmed. So we traveled the entire journey back home on the upper seat of a General compartment which is used for keeping luggage. An uncomfortable ride of around 10 hours but not even a single dull moment.

This trip made me realize the importance of going to places which are not on the usual itinerary of tourist. Temple to temple literally, but friends and the hidden gem of Dhanushkodi made it my best ever!

My Rameswaram Vlog: