"The touristic, heritage and holy place"
Written on : 8-June-2016
Visted During : June 2016
Some more Information
Rameswaram is extremely hot, be ready to face the heat of the town. Keep the plan such that you don't have to be in streets or outside in the afternoons.
Visit pamban bridge early in the morning. It gives a different feel all together. Note to all vegetarians - Good vegetarian hotels are available only close to the temple area and do not try searching anywhere else.
My Experience and Opinion
As a traveller and blogger, Rameswaram is one of the places from where I have learnt a lot of lessons. At times, even the celebrity tourist locations might disappoint you. And for me, Rameswaram did that. Except Pamban Bridge, none of the places met the expectations. Because, both timing of the trip and timing of visit to individual places went bad. Some ground work should have helped to make it better.
The Auto Driver - "Kangal Irandal Hero"
A little deviation from my regular blogging way by introducing a character in between destinations. But, this character deserves an entry here.
He - the auto driver, is added to the list of 'special people' in my life who be with me just for a few minutes but stay in heart for long. It was early in the morning at 5.00 am I stepped out of the hotel room letting all others get ready to head to Pamban Bridge, I went in search of an auto. I still remember that man with beard who stopped his auto in the middle of the road answering my request. The van behind him honked to an extent that people walking towards the temple for once lost patience on hearing the noise. And the man stepped out with a humble smile telling his quote for my plan, being as flexible as possible with his plan to take us where ever we wanted. And with that, I got that one friend who was with me for a couple of hours giving me memories for a life time. With my broken Tamil, I had made a deal and we all boarded. From there the fun started. He is one of the friendliest auto guy I have ever met in life and this paragraph in the post is dedicated in his name.
As we drove with him, he started opening up, explaining his past. He was a fisherman, a swimmer, Tsunami survivor and according to him, a man who has seen Tamil stars from close. I guess the man had so much pain within which has made him share his friendship with people who board his auto. He spent sometime along with us in the beach swimming, teaching one of my friend to swim and finally making us play a game in the sea. It was his presence which made many of us take courage and swim for some distance in the sea. Oh, I guess I need a post dedicated to speak about this man. How I wish I get to meet these people again in life!
Pamban Bridge
In love with this place for 2 reasons. One, for the story it carries with it and second for the scene it creates when sun painting the sky with golden color early morning and the 2 bridges standing tall in between the sea. Visit early morning since you can see train passing by the bridge and also you can see sunrise. Train passes the bridge at 6.00 am. Together they make the place worth visiting by waking up early in the morning. There is not much scope to swim or spend sometime in beach near this area. Pamban Bridge is around 20kms from Rameshwaram city.
Dhanushkodi
It was the first time I saw the Indian Ocean and right from the moment I saw, am in love with it. Now, I want to see more of it since my heart was not satisfied to its containment this time. Did not get enough time and occasion to feel the real beauty. Dhanushkodi is undoubtedly a must visit place near Rameshwaram. It is around 20 kms from the main city and you can take public transports like buses (bus number 3) which will cost you less than INR 15 per head. Or you can choose to hire an auto which can carry 7 to 8 people. The charges vary based on the deal you make. It will not be less than INR 300 and should not be more than 500. These vehicles don't go till Dhanushkodi but, go till Dhanushkodi beach point which is 5 kms away from Dhanushkodi. From this point, one needs to go in a cab which is run by local association. They charge INR 150 per head. They take you to the old church point, and Dhanushkodi (Rama Setu point). However, we could not go till end point since the water level was higher when we visited due to which the cabs were not taken till there. So avoid rainy season since water level increase might disappoint you. We surely were disappointed. The ruins of church, temple, ruins of west most railway station of southern India everything are great. But, your heart asks for more and at times does not allow you to enjoy even the ones that are available on hand. Personally, I was in that mental state at that moment.
The Main Temple
The main temple is the major attraction Rameswaram. However, even here we hard a hard luck since we could not really visit or even get shower in holy wells. It was too crowded, people were shouting at each other, the security guards were almost stepping to hit someone, and in between there were people who were ready to take people directly for 'Darshana' if ready to pay a good amount. Did not get the feel and even after buying special entry ticket, we came out. The temple undoubtedly looked beautiful but could not really enjoy it. The temple corridor is said to be the biggest temple corridor of entire country. Do not visit on any auspicious day if you want to enjoy the peace in temple!
Abdul Kalam Tomb
Rameswaram is a mix of so many things - the heritage, the nature and now the emotion too after The most loved President of the country passed away. But, felt sorry for the fate of the tomb of a person who was worshiped, followed and considered as a role model. There is a huge area dedicated to build a monument. However, for years now, APJ Abdul Kalam's tomb is as is. I wish governments took some responsibility to give due respect to the great man after his death.
The Kalam House
Kalam House is more of a collection of all awards and the gifts the great man got from Kids and people. I just wonder how down to earth he must have been to keep all those. In the same building the shop maintained by Kalam Family is also there and people who love shopping can spend some time there or in that street. Kalam House is close to Railway Station.
Photos
The Splendid view of Indian Ocean near Dhanushkodi
The Twin Bridges of Pamban
View from Pamban Bridge
Vivekananda Memorial near Pamban Bridge(~9 kms from Pamban Bridge)
Kind of Private Beach near Viveka Mani Mandapam
The Auto Driver (Kangal Irandal Hero Look!)
Sorry to see the fate of India's Greatest Human Being - APJ Abdul Kalam
The ruins of Church in Dhanushkodi
Preethish Missing in the Photo. But,image credits to him :)
Video
The Most Important asset while travelling - Google Maps
