We have visited Rameswaram, Dhanushkodi Thirupullani, Utharakosamangai and Devipattinam from 22-08-2008 to 25-08-2008 as our first stage to our Varanasi tour.
Second days programme. 24.08.2008 Sunday.
After taking bath in the room itself and dressed for a long visit to nearby temples, we went to the Agni Theertham for a quick visit to see the early morning crowd. There were lot of people in the sea shore. They were from all over India. Some of them were performing rituals, sangalpams, taking bath in the sea and some of them are preparing for a bath. There were number of pandits sitting in the steps .Some are performing rituals and some are ready to perform rituals. The sun is raising gradually from the sea. After some time observing the above we returned to the room.
We have arranged a van for the visit to the nearby temples connected to Rameswaram.They are Thirupullani, Uththarakosamangai and Devipattinam.They are located in the Ramanathapuram district.We have to cross the Pambon bridge to go to this places.We have started from our room at 6am.
We first went to villundi Theertham where it is said that Rama get potable water in the well in the middle of sea digged by him by his arrow to quench the thirst of Seetha on their way to Ayathiya from Lanka. We went by a bridge and saw water in the well.
went to Sethukarai, a sea shore in Thirupullani.Ram visited here to study the place to construct a bridge to Lanka. There is a Hanuman temple in the sea shore. We saw people are performing rituals in the sea shore.
Then we went Aathi Jagannatha Perumal temple in Thirupullani. This temple dates back to a time before Raama Avataaram. Raama came here in his search for Sita. Raama himself is said to have prayed to Adhi Jagannathan at this temple before he departed for Lanka.
Raama’s father King Dasharatha is believed to have performed a Yagna here and is believed to have had his four children after this yagna. Hence it is the belief that childless couple who bathe at the Sethu river and pray to the Lord here will be blessed with a child.
Spreading Darbha grass (sacred grass used for religious rites) on the banks of River Sethu, Raama undertook a fast addressing Varuna (Sea Lord) and looked to him for a solution to cross the sea. Varuna asked him to build a bridge across the sea with boulders and trees and also promised him to show the best route to build the bridge.Being the one who undertook a fast, lying on the Darbha grass, Raama here is called Darbha Sayana Raama.
Having defeated the Lankan king, Lord Raama is said to have come back here and performed Pattabhishekham (crowning ceremony). Hence, he is here called ‘PattabhiRaamar’.
Next we went to Uththarakosamangai.The temple is very near to the bus stand. Two huge temple Gopuram welcome us. This is an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and called as Mangalanayakar and it has been sung by the Saint Poet Manikkavachakar.The Goddes is Parvathi and called as Mangaleshwari An emerald Natarajar here is of significance. Yegantharaman statue is curved out in the wall of the temple.
The story of the temple goes as follows.Thiru-Beauty, Uthram-Advice, Kosam-Secrecy, Mangai-Female. Mandothari's marriage was delayed and She prayed Lord Shiva who appeared to remove hurdles in her marriage line. This incident saw Lord Shiva himself christening His name as Mangalanathan. 1000 Maha-Rishis arrived in Uthrakosamangai to perform penance. At that time, Mandothari went into deep penance in Sri Lanka invoking Lord Shiva's Blessings. Lord Shiva gave a book of Veda aagamasastra to all Rishis and advised them to look for His appearance in the form of 'Agni swaroopam' in front of them. He assured, He would appear the moment Ravan touches His body. Appearing in front of Mandothari in child roopa, Ravan touched HIS body and no sooner this divine touch took place, Lord Shiva appeared in the Temple tank in Jyothi Swaroopam. 999 Rishis jumped into the Temple tank, except Mananikka Vachakar who was protecting the Veda Aagama saastra book. He was also granted Ashtamahasiddi and absorbed with Lord Shiva as Shiva Linga. He made all the Rishis as Shiva Lingam including Himself. Today also you can see the 1008 Sahasra Lingam in this temple and a very powerful Shiva's Holy place.
After visiting the temple, we went to Ramanathapuram and took break fast in Hotel Aiaswarya. The food Ok. Then we went to Devipattinam. It is small village on a sea shore. There is a bridge to go to the navagrahams in the sea. There is a fence and steel chains the navagrahams for the people to guide to go around. The depth of the sea water here is around three foot. We went to sea by boat to get tharpai and put it in the Navagrahams.
Legends say that Lord Ram worshipped Navagrahams (Nine Planets) here. There is a temple in this village dedicated to the Devi (Goddess) attributed for naming the place Devipattinam (Place of the Goddess). The local belief holds that Devi killed the demon Mahishasura at this spot. Devipattinam is also considered auspicious to perform the last rites for the forefathers in the Hindu custom.
On the way to Rameswaram we stopped at the middle of the Pamban Bridge. We saw the railway bridge which can be lifted to give way for bigger boats to cross the railway line. We reached our room at 2.30 pm. After meals in the nearby hotel we took rest.
In the evening we went to the sea shore. The large crowd and the pandits we saw in the morning is absent now. We had a nice walk in the platform in the seashore. There is a TTDC Hotel on the northern end of the beach. It is a huge complex with lot of rooms and a restaurant.
Then we have our night Tiffin in the nearby hotel.We packed our luggage and ready to leave Rameswaram. We got our auto at 7 pm and reached the railway station by 7.20 pm.We boarded the waiting Rameswaram Express train. We bid farewell to our team members who came from Chennai. After a memorable and happy tour we left Rameswaram by 8pm by Rameswaram.
We met a team of 4 families on their return journey from Rameswaram. They told that they have visited Rameswaram as the first step for their Varanasi tour. They discussed with us about their Kasi yathra. We noticed that most of the people traveling in the train are from North India came for Rameswaram yathra. Most of the Tamil people are either coming from Varanasi tour or going to varanasi tour.
Thus Rameswaram links North India and South India very much. We have seen lot of North Indians in all age groups in Agni Theertham as well as in Temple. Most of them bathe in all 22 Theertham in side the temple.
The train arrived Vridhachalam Railway Station at 5.15 am. Our car waited in the station. The driver was waiting in the platform for our arrival. We reached our house in Neyveli Township at 6am.
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