Ramanathaswamy Temple in Tamilnadu

The Ramanathaswamy Temple

" The rameshwaram temple"

Rameshwaram temple

The famous Ramanathaswamy temple is a  sacred shrines of Hindus in India.The temple is situated on the Rameshwaram island  which is also known as pamban island is located off the Sethu

" Pamban Bridge"

Pamban bridge

Coast of Tamilnadu and it is about 50 kilometers away from Mannar island, srilanka and both the countries are connected through the pamban bridge . The temple is  noted for its close association with Ramayana and the legendary victory of Rama over the demong king Ravana.

The temple  is also  famous for its long ornate corridors, towers and remarkable 36 theerthams. The other attraction is twenty two wells in its complex.  Being the main attraction of this temple, all of these wells have water of different taste, temperature, salinity and  also these water have curative properties . The wells are also recognized with their distinct properties and it is said that these wells were made by Lord Rama himself, when he fired arrows in the sand.

The presiding deity here is in the form of a Linga with the name Sri Ramanatha Swamy, it is known to be  one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.

rameshwaram temple corridor

Corridor with pillars in rameshwaram temple

east gopuram of Rameshwaram temple

east gopuram of Rameshwaram temple

rameshwaram tv tower the tallest tower of India

Rameshwaram tv tower the tallest tower of India

The history about shiva lingam in the temple:

According to the  purana of ramayana ,  after  killing Ravana and rescuing Sita from Lanka but upon the advice of Rishis (sages), Rama along with sita and lakshamana decided to establish a shiva linga inorder to eradicate the sin of killing a Brahmin  as Ravana is a brahmin the son of Vishrava and the great grandson of Brahma. So for establishing the linga he fixed an auspicious time and ordered Anjaneya to bring the shivalinga from the Mountkailas but unfortunately Anjaneya could not return on time so sita herself made a linga with sand and it is known to be called as Ramalinga but aftersome time Anjaneya returns with the linga but by that time the idol of linga has been established and all the rituals are also completed . Anjaneya was very disappointed so inorder to satisfy Anjaneya and make him happy Rama esatablished his linga also beside the Ramalinga and that linga is known to be called as Viswalinga and ordered that the all the rituals will be done  first for the Viswalinga and then for the ramalinga by this Anjaneya felt very happy .

History behind the construction of temple:

It is believed that the ancient shrine was placed in a thatched hut until the 12th century.  The first ever masonry structure was built by Parakrama Bahu of Sri Lanka.  The rest of the temple work was completed by the Setupathy rulers of Ramanathapuram. The Gandhamadhana hill offers a wonderful view of the temple.  This famous hindu temple was provided royal patronage by kingdoms such as Travancore, Ramanathapuram, Mysore and Pudukkottai.  Some of the temple vimaanams are similar to the Vimaanams of the Pallava period.  Much more was added to the temple between the 12th and 16th centuries.  The long corridor dates only to the 18th century.

Places to see in Rameshwaram:

Sethukarai:

Sethu Karai is a place 22 km from  the island of Rameswaram from where God Ram is believe  to have built a Floating Stone Bridge called as Ramasethu  from Rameswaram that further continued

Floating stones

floating stones

to Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka as mentioned in the great Hindu epic Ramayana.

The Gandamadana Parvatham

This hill on the Rameshwaram island, has a small shrine, consisting of footprints  of Lord Rama’s feet, which is worshiped here.

 Ramar padam temple - footsteps of rama

Ramar padam temple – footsteps of rama


Festivals

The famous festivals of hindus are celebrated here which  include two annual Brahmotsavams,
celebrated in the Tamil months of Aadi and Maasi.  Another festival is to celebrate Rama’s worship in the month of Aani (i.e. June 15th to July 15th).

How to reach:

It is easy to reach : one can reach temple by taking regular buses or by hiring taxis from anywhere in Tamilnadu.




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