M11-HISTORY OF RAMESWARAM TEMPLE

BY    PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU  (VRS.SOMANCHI)

The fact that the great temple complex was built within 500 metres of the sea and on solid and rigid stone platforms (using huge blocks of granite stones obtained from distant places) proves that the creators of those temples possessed  extraordinary architectural, engineering skills equal those of modern enginees and thought most scientifically like modern engineers.

It is said  that the ancient kings of Jafna ( a small peninsula in northern SriLanka and about  90 kilometers from Rameswaram island at tip of south India)  were followers of  Shaiva Hinduism and so were  interested in developing the  Lord Shiva temple at Rameswaram and supplied stones (perhaps  big stone slabs and sculptured stone pillars) by ship to Rameswaram island and also sent workers . It is to be noted that the country of SriLanka  is  a  Buddhist country for last 2000 years and 80 to 85% of its people are Buddhists . The  small Jafna peninsula  being  near to south India ,large number of Tamil people following Shaivism  lived  in Jaffna since centuries.

Old literature tells that the  temple  was only a thatched hut until 12th century. The major additions to the temple were done from 12th to 16th century by various kings . Many later kingdoms such as Mysore, ,Vijayanagar,Travancore, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram had contributed a lot for the development of this temple in later  centuries .The Maratha rulers of Tanjavur built huge rest houses at Mayiladuthurai and some other places for the use of pilgrims going to Rameswaram. It is said that Pandya and Chola emperors of ancient south India (rulers of  far earlier times  than the Jafna kings)  played  a part in the  construction of the temple .Some kings donated whole  villages to the temple  so that entire revenue from those villages was available for temple  maintenance. The temple gained great significance both due to its close association with the legend of Lord Sri Rama and also due to its association with  ancient Shaiva Hinduism . Thus kings since ancient times  were greatly interested  to build a great temple here. The  place had unusual attraction for kings of various dynasties and builders of old centuries. The architecture got  perfected  century after  century.

PARTICIPATION OF KINGS IN CONSTRUCTING A GREAT TEMPLE

Internet essays tell that in 12th century king Parakrama Bahu of Lanka(present day Republic of SriLanka ) constructed the sanctum of Ramanathaswamy temple and the Nandi Mantapam . In more  recent times the restoration of the Chokkatan Mantapam and some ruined gopurams was done by the famous chief minister of Ramnad kingdom  sri Muthu Irulappa Pillai . The  magnificient temple as we see now was built during 17th century mainly by the Sethupathi kings. In the 17th century, king Dalavai Setupati built a section of the eastern Gopuram. The majestic corridors were also built in 18th century by the Sethupathy rulers .In the later part of 18th century, Muthuramalinga Sethupathi constructed the world-famous Third Corridor(i.e.the outermost corridor) .  His statue, along with those of his two ministers, stands at the western entrance to third corridor. The Sethupathi kingdom was annexed by the British East India company during  last decades of 18TH  century after great battles.The popular  religious and cultural practices  introduced by the old Sethupathi kings are still followed by  their descendants.

THE GREAT ARCHITECTURE IN RAMANATHASWAMY SHRINE

The temple complex is rectangular in shape and has an extent of 15 acres. A seven- meter  high compound wall  surrounds  the temple and  protects the inner temples from the  effects of the vast  sea all around  which is hardly 500 meters away .The rectangular temple complex has  dimensions  865 feet  East- West and 650 feet  North-South.   The temple complex is  built on a slightly raised platform to  protect the temples from  effects of sea weather  and seepage.

 There are  huge  Gopurams on the East and West (holy towers for entering the temple) with dazzling sculptures of gods on the east and the west gopurams and also on the smaller gopurams  to the north and south. The main entrance  is through  the Eastern Gopuram  facing the sea . The Western Gopuram ( the Rajagopuram) is the tallest  and is 170 feet tall and is a  beautiful sight for miles around and is a big landmark.

Most wonderful ,beautiful and awe inspiring to behold  are  the three extensive stone  “prakaras” (corridors). The outer most third  corridor is the longest pillared corrider in the world with 1212 pillars .It  is  400 feet long in the east and west sides and about 640 feet long in the  north and south sides. On  the four sides the contours of all pillars are so exactly similar that the long view of each side creates a kind of  illusion —as if they are not dozens and dozens of separate pillars but a single curved plane with a complicated contour.

 The two  inner corridors are also  four sided. They are  concentric with the outermost third corridor and are also created by rows of  scores and scores of stout and high  granite pillars . The roofs of all the corridors are created by  hundreds of long rectangular stone slabs laid one beside the other.  Though constructed in different periods and even different centuries the corridors  follow strict similar rules in their  architectural design. The three prakaras have also the most primary function of providing  the paths  for “pradakshina”   around the central shrine of Lord Shiva.

At some important places near some inner temple a section  of the corridor becomes a mantapam i.e. magnificient pillared halls for frequent religious functions relating to the deities. The mandapa mandapas (halls) at regular intervals. The pillars of these mandapams have extremely beautiful artistic and sublime sculptures of gods. In these mandapams many religious rituals are conducted frequently.

There is a big mantapam (Chokkatan mantapam ) in the area where the west side of the third corridor crosses the  path towards the much revered  Sethu Madhava temple .It resembles a vast chess board with  majestic sculptured  pillars.  There is also the   famous “ Thousand Pillar Mandapam” an example of great  architecture and sculpture .It is also utilized for important  religious ceremonies and also for conducting  cultural events of religious nature.

The beautiful beach before the east gopuram ,the main entrance to the temple, is called Agni theertham and has  artistic arches and ghats with some cement benches. The most holy Agni theertham  is filled with hundreds of thousands of devotees at festival times who come to take the holy snan. Devotees first take a dip in the  Agni theertham before entering the temple.It is treated as the most holy theertham in Rameswaram because as per legend it is near the place  where goddess Seetha ,in the Ramayana age,  jumped into a fire unable to bear Lord Rama’s harsh words uttered immediately after their return from Lanka . The fire god  made the flames powerless and cold and personally escorted the goddess to Lord Rama. There are several  calm and beautiful beaches on the island some with temple and bathing ghats (called in Tamil as teppakulams) . Some of them are  Jada theertham,Laxmana theertham, Rama theertham,Seetha  theertham, Vellondi theertham . A full list of theerthams is given in the previous article.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT  RAMESWARAM ISLAND

 Rameswaram island( or pamban island)  is very near to the Indian mainland . On the  east,  west  and  south of india and srilanka  there are very deep seas which  are kilometers deep.  But the sea  separating   India and SriLanka is a surprisingly  shallow sea—hardly 30 meters deep even in central portion! scientists say the undersea rock is millions of years old   .  The encyclopedias tell us that the extent of this shallow section  is about   85 miles long and 40  to 80 miles wide. Salty sea water got filtered for hundreds of thousands of years  through this calcium bearing rock  and forms several  fresh water springs on Rameswaram island .

 Rameswaram  island  is a sandy island and the land is  not suitable for agriculture . There are hundreds of thousands of coconut trees.The island  is  like a bird with a long tail. Pamban  village is the entrance point for Rameswaram island and has  a population of 9000. There are   hundreds of small fisherman’s huts and small houses. The houses are  constructed in a small size and in a  simple way because destruction to property during the  cyclone season may  sometimes be very heavy.

 Close to the modern road bridge on which our car sped,two railway bridges are visible . One is the old bridge of 1914 which was  in use  till December 2022    .  It was also a great engineering marvel of  German technology . A sixty meter section of bridge folded  up in two sections like two  hinged frames(  as in case of london bridge) and allowed  small ships  to pass under it . Every month about 30 Small ships between the western and  eastern seas travel in this route and pass     under this bridge .But due to its long use for more than a century and due to rusting and damages and frequent repairs it was decommissioned  in December 2022 and a most modern railway bridge  was constructed in its place. The new railway bridge was  only recently  completed and is due for  inauguration by the Prime Minister of India. In the new bridge most advanced technology is  used. In stead of two sections as in the old bridge ,a   single span of 630 tonnes with raiway track of 72 meters  is   vertically lifted automatically  to a height of  17 meters !  Trains can run on the new bridge at 65kmph   as against  15 mph on the old bridge.

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To have an idea of  Pamban island, let us imagine pamban village as the beak of a bird with a very long tail. Then  Rameswaram town 12miles away is in the bulky central body portion. Dhanushkodi,the  town which suffered a terrible tragedy in 1964 cyclone is 30 kilometers away from Pamban. At  Rameswaram the land is 8kms wide and after  we travel on a lone road on an endless ribbon of sand of perhaps for 15 or 20 kilometers we reach Dhanushkodi where the sandy land is  only  2kms wide. There are railway stations at Pamban and Rameswaram and they  are connected into  the Indian railway network through  Ramanathapuram town. Entire Pamban island is  treated as Rameswaram taluka.

There was a railway line right upto  Dhanushkodi  also till 60 years back. Dhanushkodi was also  a flourishing   pilgrim center like Rameswaram   and was  a busy fishing village .  on  December  22, 1964  a ferocious  cyclone in a matter of hours entirely wiped out the little town. The entire population ( 2000 ) was  swept away into  the sea. A whole train was washed away into the sea. Tidal waves of 23 feet and winds of 280 kms per hour totally destroyed the little town. Since that time  the place was declared as unfit for human habitation.The ruined buildings  are left untouched by the government to let the  world and the heavy tourist/devotee traffic to  see the horrible destruction.  The old Sri Rama temple in the village  which existed at a  high place  escaped damage . We should pray for peace to the souls of large number of people who died in the tragedy.

Another interesting fact. India’s tallest man made structure ,India’s tallest TV tower is on Rameswaram island . As per Internet information its height is 1060 feet and is said to be only a little shorter  than Eiffel tower which is 1083 feet tall. It is a RCC tower with a tough steel mast and is used by Door Darshan TV of India .It was  completed in 1995.Its base diameter is said to be about 59 feet!