M10-THE MANY HOLY THEERTHAMS IN RAMESWARAM

 

BY    PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU  (VRS.SOMANCHI)

THERE  ARE WONDERS  SPIRITUAL, GEOGRAPHICAL AND ALSO TECHNOLOGICAL  AT RAMESHWARAM

 (A)

INTRODUCTION

Some people realize god by writing  holy books about gods.These books themselves are treated equal to gods because every hymn in it creates an inspiring image of god in the reader’s mind . We know of the great books like Ramayan, the Geetha, the Guru Grandh Sahib. Some people create a painting of god or a  sculpture of god which too have such effect. great sculptors of yore  created some sublime and majestic idols of gods and those idols adorn some of our temples . the idols we see in srirangam,Madurai and rameswaram etc create great spiritual joy in our minds.  Similarly since ancient times  some sweet water springs and beautiful ponds were  identified with  certain gods and goddesses of our mythologies and are greatly venerated . Such are the holy theerthams( sweet water springs or ponds of water or  nice beaches) of holy  Rameswaram  island which is closely linked to Ramayana legends and some legends of puranas.

We know that the sea between south India and SriLanka is very shallow just 10 to 30 meters deep for tens of miles .In this area sea water was  getting  filtered and desalinated  by naturally passing through miles thick  limestone /calcium  corbonate rock barrier  which exists between south India and SriLanka. This had been occurring perhaps since  millions of years of geologic time . This wonderful natural  phenomenon was by  noticed by the ancient builders of  ramanathaswamy temple more than a thousand years back. the Skanda Purana names twenty-four theerthams . in this article the names of the theerthams are given after verifying several internet sites and online encyclopedias. For this I am very grateful to those on line sites.

(B)

THE TWO  THEERTHAMS OUTSIDE THE RAMANATHASWAMY TEMPLE COMPLEX

Among the  twenty-four theerthams the first and most important theertham is the  Agni Theertham, which is a serene beach  hardly 100 meters  from   the eastern entrance of Ramanathaswamy temple. It is here that goddess Seetha jumped into a big fire  being unable to bear the harsh words coming from Lord Rama after she was rescued from Ravana’s captivity.   The god of fire  removed all the heat from the fire and  personally  escorted the goddess into  Lord Rama’s presence. All pilgrims first take a holy bath in the Agni Theertham before entering the temple.

The second is “Sethu theertham” near Dhanushkodi and is also called Dhanushkodi theertham . It is said that Ramasethu  bridge built by Lord Rama with floating stones was dismantled after Vibhishana new king of Lanka asked Lord Rama for its dismantling. King Vibheeshana said that wicked persons like Ravana may attack Lanka by travelling over the bridge. King Vibheeshana said that the bridge served its purpose and should be dismantled. Lord Rama agreed and he simply hit the bridge with the butt of his magical bow  and it felled down and crumbled.

 

( C )

THE TWENTY TWO THEERTHAMS WITHIN THE TEMPLE COMPLEX

There are twenty-two other holy theerthams in the temple complex and they are within the corridors of the temple. They are listed  below

(1)Mahalakshmi Theertham.It is located  south of the Shri Anjaneyar shrine. taking a holy bath here will give  prosperity and wealth .

(2,3,4)Savithri Theertham, Gayathri Theertham and Saraswathi Theertham. these are  located west of the Shri Anjaneyar shrine . Devotees believe that taking holy bath in these wells will help them to get rid of many  doshas.

(5)Sethu Madhava Theertham.it is located in the third corridor of the temple. Such holy tanks are called “teppakulams”

(6,7)Gandhamadana Theertham and kavacha theertham. They are  located  near the  Sethumadhava temple.

(8)Gavaya theertham. It is  also near lord sethumadhava  Shrine.Devotees believe that taking a bath in gavaya theertham  is equal  to sitting  under the Kalpavriksha – the  wish-fulfilling sacred tree of heaven.

(9,10) Nala Theertham and neela theertham

Both are near the Sethumadhava Perumal Shrine. It is said that  a bath in nala theertham gives “ surya tejas” and a place in heaven and that a bath in neela theertham gives   benefits got from bathing in all the theerthams.

(11)Sanku Theertham.it is located within the inner prakarams.it is said that bathing in it absolves people  from the great sin of  being ungrateful to others who helped .

(12)Chakra Theertham.it is  located in the inner praharams.it is stated that sun god (surya) by bathing in it got the  golden disc. Devotees  believe that taking a bath in this well will give  them good health.

(13)”Brahmahathya Vimochana” Theertham. It is also   located in the inner prakarams.it is believed that taking a bath in this well can cancel the serious sin of  killing a cow unknowingly.

(14,15)Soorya Theertham and Chandra Theertham. They are  also located in the inner prakaram. Devotees believe that taking bath in these holy wells will give  them “Thrikala gnanam”—knowledge of past,presentand future .

(16,17,18)Ganga Theertham, Yamuna Theertham and Gaya Thertham-all  located in the  inner prakarams. They give the same benefit equivalent to  bathing in those holy rivers .

(19)Siva Theertham—located in the  inner praharams. Devotees believe that taking a bath in this  will absolve them of unknowingly  speaking ill of  god almighty of universe(Lord Vishnu or Lord Siva).

(20)Sathyamirtha Theertham-also located in the inner prakarams. Devotees believe that taking a bath in this holy well will help them to get rid of various sins.

(21)Sarva Theertham-located in inner prakaram.Devotees believe that bathing in this theertham has the merit of  bathing in all theerthams n all the fourteen worlds.

(22)Kodi Theertham- This is the holy well where Lord Krishna bathed and got rid of the sin of killing his most wicked uncle king Kamsa. This is also said to be the place where Rama ,for  worshipping lord shiva at rameswaram,by merely touching earth with tip of his arrow created a fountain of water and with that holy water performed abhisheka of lord shiva.

( D)

OTHER HOLY THEERTHAMS ON  RAMESWARAM ISLAND

Apart from the twenty-two theerthams located inside the corridor of the Ramanathaswamy temple there are some other important theerthams on rameswaram island.

(1)Jada Theertham. It is located just 5 km away from the temple town of Rameswarm, Jada Theertham is found on the way to  Dhanushkodi( the town on rameswaram island which was totally destroyed by a severe cyclone in 1964). Lord Rama is believed to have washed his Jada (long hair) in this theertham. Devotees believe that taking a holy dip here will help them to not get struck by impoverishment and sins, and so on.

(2)Lakshman Theertham: the Lakshman Theertham is a big temple tank near to the main temple of ramanathaswamy. there is a temple of lord shiva here. Such a temple tank is  called teppakulam. Devotees believe that lord Balarama(elder brother of lord Krishna) bathed in this tank.

(3)Seetha Theertham:It is also near to the main temple .it is said that by bathing in it dharmaraja who spoke a falsehood during mahabharatha war got absolved of the sin of deliberately speaking a falsehood.

(4)Rama Theertham:It is a “ teppakulam” like the Lakshman Theertham. It is said that dharmaraja bathed in this theertham also to get absolved of speaking untruth during the mahabharatha war.

(5)Villoondi Theertham: When queen seethe felt thirsty Lord rama fired an  arrow into the sea and a spring of sweet water appeared and goddess seethe could allay her thirst.at present  a well  is constructed in the sea just  30 meters from the land and is connected by a small modern concrete bridge like  passage to it. There is no trace of salt in this water .