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Post by spindrift1 on May 23, 2013 20:55:52 GMT
Rameshwaram is an island, nearly twenty miles long, connected to the mainland of Tamil Nadu by the recently constructed Indira Gandhi bridge and a railway line running alongside. Rameshwaram is the closest point of India to Sri Lanka and is still connected (in a sense) by a string of shifting-sand islands and limestone shoals called Adam's Bridge. These maps show the configuration of the coastlines. You can see that to the left is India, then there is Adam's Bridge, then Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. There used to be a ferry between India and Sri Lanka at this point but it stopped operating in 1983 due to the conflict between the Tamil Tigers and Sri Lankan forces. Now that the 'troubles' are over it is anyone's guess as to whether the ferry services will be recommenced. It is interesting to know that there are 8 sand islands belonging to India and 8 belonging to Sri Lanka. But, putting all that aside, it happens that Rameshwaram is one of the great holy pilgrimage sites in India and it is said that most Indians will try and visit the temple at least once in their lifetime. According to the legend, Rama (of the Ramayana) built the first temple here in expiation of his killing of the demon king Ravana when Rama invaded Sri Lanka to win back his abducted wife, Sita. It has been said that the Ramayana is a tale that pervades the cultural life of India and has done so for thousands of years. We felt drawn to visiting this place and getting as near to Sri Lanka as possible. We met others who were just as eager to do this when we took an old bus to the furthest point of the island and looked across the wind-whipped seas. I could not see even the outline of Lanka.
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Post by htmb on May 24, 2013 0:48:02 GMT
I never really realized India and Sri Lanka were so close.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 24, 2013 2:32:00 GMT
They had resumed the ferry but stopped it again...2 to 3 years ago.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 10:20:01 GMT
htmb - I, also, didn't realize that the two countries are so close. It's a matter of only 30 kms. I have read that until the 14th century, or thereabouts, it was possible to walk across Adam's Bridge, then the level of the sea rose. Apparently there are day trips (from Sri Lanka) out to the limestone and sand shoals where one can disembark and have a picnic lunch! I would love to do that on a calm day.
Ansh - I am happy that the ferry doesn't sail any more. I can't imagine anything worse than hundreds of tourists piling into Rameswaram on their way to Sri Lanka. As you must know, Rameswaram isn't set up at all for tourists - it is all about genuine pilgrims there. Long may it remain so.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 10:24:43 GMT
I took this photo from the Indira Gandhi bridge when approaching Rameswaram. and here is another pic of the railway that runs alongside the bridge. The train was not running when I was there. There are plenty of fishing villages around the island. to be continued
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Post by tod2 on May 24, 2013 11:31:46 GMT
A very interesting report on a little known part of the world ! Looking forward to more Spindrift1.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 24, 2013 11:44:03 GMT
I don't think this new ferry operation was from Rameswaram. In any case, it's not very convenient given one can find relatively cheap tickets from Chennai to Colombo by air (minimum would be around $150 return).
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 12:25:04 GMT
I have never heard of this place and it looks particularly fascinating. Any place that is the "end tip" of a big land mass draws me to it.
I imagined Sri Lanka to be farther from India as well. This means that the day they want to build a bridge or a tunnel to link the two countries, they can actually do so. But I hope that they won't ever want to.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 24, 2013 12:39:28 GMT
"But I hope that they won't ever want to" But why? In any case, the political climate may mean no. Tamil Nadu state isn't exactly at good terms with SL because of the detained Indian fishermen in SL.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 13:13:51 GMT
Just selfish reasons -- I like to think that certain parts of the planet can remain a bit more isolated without giant motorways or bullet trains everywhere. It makes you appreciate it more when you manage to get there.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 24, 2013 13:18:47 GMT
Oh ok- but of course, having better transport links will mean easier trading. Of course, easier smuggling as well...
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 17:37:04 GMT
I am of Kerourac's opinion and would detest 'better transport links' between Sri Lanka and Rameshwaram (or any place near it!) for the reasons he states! I can think of nothing nicer than to hire a small boat, take a picnic and seek out several of the limestone shoals that I have already mentioned above! It seems that smuggling has been going on for centuries! (including arms in the recent conflict).
tod2 - there is plenty more coming up!
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 17:53:18 GMT
When we arrived in the centre of town our first task was to find a hotel for the night. We settled on Hotel MCM Towers that turned to have only two floors with more rising, unfinished, above. This is the view from our window: We were right beside the Ramanathaswamy Temple. If one is looking for anything approaching luxurious accommodation in Rameshwaram then they will be sorely disappointed. This is a town given over to pilgrims and very basic pilgrim accommodation. Scarcely anywhere serves meat. Indeed I only ate vegetables for my entire 3 week stay in India. Lonely Planet says that hotels do not like to take in single travellers at all and I get the feeling that only married people are accepted in double rooms. Conservatism is the order of the day. We were the only westerners in the town. Very little English was spoken. It was unlike any other place we had visited or were to visit. Hardly anyone smiled at us. Indeed at one place where we stopped for chai, no-one would serve me/us. I was given hard looks and I had to turn away. From this I deduce that because this area is so sacred it is not for tourists such as ourselves to sight-see and take pictures. I felt most uncomfortable a lot of the time. I completely understand that when one is in a holy and most sacred place that it is probably outrageous to indulge in western habits. I am so glad that I have been there at least once but I may not return again. I think the pilgrims should be left alone to carry out their pujas. The first thing we did, after we had settled into the hotel, was walk towards the sea. There we found the bathing ghats.
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2013 18:26:00 GMT
Strangely enough, I received a similar shock in Paris recently. I have been wanting to visit the Buddhist temple in the Bois de Vincennes for a long time (with my camera of course). Three or four times in a row when I went there it was closed (wrong day, winter closing, whatever...). Finally a couple of weeks ago I went there and it was "open" but with an access buzzer for the gate which I did not dare press myself. Finally a (French) woman walked up and pressed the buzzer, while glancing at me ("what is he doing there?"). As she opened the gate, I asked "is it possible to visit?" She sharply said, "No, this is for worship only. You can only come during the festivals."
I have never anywhere in the world encountered Buddhists who do not welcome visitors!
But I will return during one of the festivals.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 18:42:52 GMT
K - I am shocked at what you say! That woman is far from being a Buddhist. I know, for sure, that anyone at any time is welcomed into a Buddhist temple. Any Buddhist temple I have ever visited, no matter where it is, is always open and accessible to all. I had better google the one in the Bois de Vincennes and find out what sort of temple it really is!
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 18:45:57 GMT
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 20:43:50 GMT
It is customary to bathe and purify oneself before one goes to the temple for darshan. Darshan means 'viewing of a deity'. The sea at Rameshwaram is considered to be holy because the Lord Rama bathed in it then went into the temple to worshp Lord Shiva before he set out on his journey across the water to Sri Lanka to win back his abducted wife Sita. Those who bathe in the sea here (known as Agni Teertham) can purify themselves of all their sins. Having bathed in the sea they then enter the temple to further purify themselves at the 22 teertham (wells) contained therein. I shall put up some pictures to show you these ceremonies. I was surprised at what I saw and you might be too. Meanwhile, back to the sea.... We continued our walk and followed a path leading from the ghats to a piece of waste land where I was flabberghasted at what I smelled and saw. Here is the awful scene - Unfortunate buffalos slowly dying on a stinking rubbish dump in the intense heat. The sight was dreadful. I shall not soon forget it. Further on we looked over the wall and saw this - sarees and other clothes that had been cast into the sea, no doubt as an offering. If this is not so, perhaps the clothes that people have worn into the sea are then thrown away. Perhaps Ansh can tell us?
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Post by spindrift1 on May 24, 2013 21:14:02 GMT
As we would only stay one night we decided to leave the temple until the next morning and take a bus to the spit of land that was the closest point to Sri Lanka. This entailed a journey of 19 kilometers to the beach at Dhanushkodi and Adam's Bridge. As Lonely Planet says 'This is a long, windswept surf beach and sandpit with an end-of-the-world feel'. Too right! Approaching the beach- The sand was soft and deep making it difficult to walk and the wind was strong. Here we were so near and yet so far from Lanka. But the sun was setting, it would soon be dark and seeing the bus waiting by the shacks I walked faster in case it might leave without us. I would not want to be stuck out on that lonely beach all night.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 25, 2013 1:21:49 GMT
I have been given hard looks while entering a Buddhist temple in Krabi, Thailand. It was completely untouristy, not a single one, but 2 or 3 locals worshiping inside.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 25, 2013 17:06:25 GMT
Early the next morning we approached the Ramanathhaswamy temple. The temple forms a huge rectangle. Its most outstanding feature is a double circuit of corridors around the inner shrines with thirty foot high monolithic black granite pillars. The oldest parts of the interior now standing are twelfth century, made of dark, hard limestone that came from Sri Lanka. The central shrine is much older and dates back to the first millenium BC. The inner halls are encrusted with carvings, inscriptions and statues and are a kind of 'religious memory store for India' (author, Michael Wood). There are 22 theerthams (wells) within the temple that are believed by devotees to have particular powers and pilgrims are expected to bathe in and drink from the waters in each theertham.
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Post by anshjain97 on May 25, 2013 17:14:58 GMT
The second picture is just awesome.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 25, 2013 17:20:44 GMT
oh thanks a lot, Ansh....i think the columns had been newly painted... we were not allowed to take photos of the interior of the temple.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 25, 2013 17:24:47 GMT
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Post by spindrift1 on May 25, 2013 18:06:49 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2013 18:20:58 GMT
Yes, there are some hugely surprising things at the beginning with the buffalos and discarded clothing. The inside of the Ramanathhaswamy temple is incredible -- it almost looks like a special effects shot in one of those adventure movies.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 25, 2013 18:25:16 GMT
If only we could have taken photographs inside this huge temple!
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Post by bixaorellana on May 26, 2013 0:16:15 GMT
Great pics of the railway bridge, island, etc., particularly after reading your OP.
Are the large red gates by the bathing ghats symbolic, or simply ornamental?
I guess having temple attendants who will draw the well water makes a great deal of sense. Can you imagine the backlog if everyone had to pull up his/her own water?
All this exoticism is beautifully presented and your pictures are outstanding but, to be honest, it's almost too alien for me to grasp. Can I ask if you and Mike went there as spiritual pilgrims, or more because you are fascinated by the country and its culture?
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Post by htmb on May 26, 2013 0:38:17 GMT
In looking at your wonderful pictures I've gotten the feeling that I would have felt completely out of place had I been on a trip such as this. Maybe not as much in the cities and the countryside, but at the holy places for sure.
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Post by spindrift1 on May 26, 2013 10:25:29 GMT
Bixa - the large red gates at the bathing ghats would definitely be symbolic of something. Everything is symbolic in one way or another. I have now got into this mindset and having seen and experienced so much I sometimes feel I can interpret for myself but so far I am not right very often.
On looking back as to why and how we planned this trip it is strange how it came about. I had wanted to go to the extreme north-east of India to a wild place called Megalyaya. I had seen a picture of a 'living bridge' - this bridge was made from the living strands and branches of a huge species of fig tree. Mike didn't like this idea so much as it rains a lot up in that part of India. Then he mentioned the East Coast and I leapt at the idea. I've always wanted to travel East. Suddenly, I dont know why, it turned into a pilgrimage route. We are both into the philosophies of Buddhism and Hinduism which is akin to Buddhism - both are intricately entwined - for years we've been reading about related matters, spiritual and otherwise, so we are both of the mindset ready to absorb whatever we experience. As I saw more temples I became more drawn into it. Yes it IS alien to the west and looking back to when I started my enquiries twenty or more years ago, I know that I forget that to most western people all this seems very strange. It's taken me years to understand whatever little I do understand and even up to this trip I was frightened by some things that , having been explained to me, now do not frighten me. It's easy to be scared by the unknown but let me say now, that Hinduism is all about peace and love and the conquering of evil forces by good forces. This is how I understand it.
htmb - yes i agree with you. That is how I used to feel. Now I think I am in a position to be able to take a select small group of people on a tour with me! Knowledge is apt to come so slowly... :-)
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Post by bjd on May 26, 2013 12:15:16 GMT
Spindrift -- the people sitting outside the fence of the temple -- are they selling something? Several have black pointed bowls in front of them -- are these for offerings? food for sale?
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