BY
PRAGYANSHARMA POLAVARAPU
(VRS.SOMANCHI)
(1)
On 2-8-24 morning at Madurai we
visited the most wonderful Meenakshi Amma temple. Then after meals
and a little rest we started around 2pm for Rameswaram. The
journey from Madurai was straight down south, towards the southern sea coast
and southern tip of India for a distance of about 180 kilometers. We
reached Ramnathapuram city at about 5pm
We were eager to visit the
majestic Ramanathaswamy temple .It was the majestic temple
constructed at the spot where as per lagend Lord Rama
worshipped Lord Shiva after slaying king Ravana. Before returning to
Ayodhya Lord Rama alighted at this seaside spot from his holy golden
Pushpak Vimanam to worship Lord Shiva . Lord Rama wanted to absolve
himself of any sin of killing king Ravana a Shiva Bhaktha.
Sri Ramanathaswamy temple is
one of the 12 most holy and most powerful jyothirlinga Shiva temples in
India. In south India there are two jyothirlinga shrines. One of them is
Rameswaram and the other is at Srisailam Andhra Pradesh in deep jungles
of Srisailam hill range.
The great Ramanathaswamy temple in
its present form was built by the Sethupathi kings of Ramnad kingdom
south India. This famed kingdom of 17th and
18th centuries became the present Ramanathapuram district of
Tamilnad lying at the southern sea coast. The world famous “third
corridor” with 1212 majestic 25-30 feet high stout granite pillars and
containing mesmerizing sculpture was built by them.
(3)
The Sethupathi kings were great
devotees of Lord Shiva and Lord Rama and declared themselves as the
protectors of the “Sethu “temple —the temple near the legendary Ramasethu
of Ramayana fame. They took the title of “Sethupathis” as protectors of
the temple.The kingdom was conquered by the British East India Company in
1795 after prolonged wars.
From Ramanathapuram we
travelled to the coastal village Mantapam and from
there over the Pamban road bridge and reached the bustling
fishing village Pamban on the island and is like gateway
to the island. Manantapam,Pamban and Rameswaram town all are
connected both by road and rail to the Indian networks. The road bridge
is a high level cement concrete bridge 2.3 kms in length and
constructed in 1988.There were breathtaking sea views with hundreds of
fishing boats seen in the sea everywhere .There is continuous vehicular traffic
to and from Rameswaram town. There are countless number of coconut trees and and
there is vast greenery.
Rameswaram is a long island with
sandy soil and about 60 Sq kilometers in extent and about 2.6
kilometers from Indian mainland.It is a taluka under Ramnathapuram district.
Rameswaram temple town in the middle part of the island near sea coast
has a population of about 45000 people . Daily there is a
floating population of thousands of devotees coming from all parts of India
.Rameswaram island is also a coastal fishing area with many fishing
villages . Throughout day hundreds of motorized boats go into the
sea for fishing. There is a most surprising fact .While the eastern and western
seas are kilometers deep ,the sea between south India and Sri Lanka for
an area about 85 miles long and about 85 miles wide
between the two countries is very shallow hardly 10 to 30 meters deep .
Scientists say that due to release of lime stone from billions and billions of
fossils for millions of years there was continuous and extremely
slow lime stone rock formation in the sea . only small and medium sized
boats can cross this area.
(4)
In the huge temple complex
there are several smaller –sized temples, beautiful statues of gods
on sculptured pedestals, many sacred wells containing freshwater springs and
mantapams with artistically decorated stone pillars . All these temples,
statues,mantapams and holy theerthams are separated into three groups by
majestic pillared corridors . Each of the highly decorated corridors are formed
by very sturdy and stout stone pillars of great height about 25 to 30
feet height and are adorned with most sublime sculptures of gods . It can
be said that the skill and “engineering” knowledge of those ancient builders is
as great as that of builders of modern giant concrete structures. We marvel at
the great skill of ancient sculptors and architects of India.
The corridors serve mainly
as paths for circumambulation( pradakshina) aound the sanctum sanctorum
of Ramanathaswamy main shrine besides serving as seperators for the three
groups of temples ,idols of gods on big pedestals and the holy springs
etc which exist in the vast temple complex.
The gigantic temple and its
many holy places create a great overpowering spiritual atmosphere and a
thrill among the thousands of devotees (hundreds of thousands in festival
season) and they feel as if they are walking in a real heaven. Thousands of
workers might have toiled for decades in ancient days and we must salute them.
Famed emperors and kings supplied huge funds and great
architects and sculptors used their extraordinary skill and the great
philosophers gave invaluable advice.
There are many places in Rameswaram
island linked to Ramayana legend and millions of pilgrims visit Rameswaram
every year to see these holy sites with a feeling of great thrill and devotion
because they feel in their hearts that Lord Rama (the sage like Prince
of Ayodhya) himself walked here.
For example it is felt by
devotees with great emotion that at the “Agni Theertham “ –(the beautiful
sea front and the holy bathing ghat at the eastern entrance of temple)–
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 entirely 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.
(5)
Now let us know of history of
the temple. As already mentioned it was mainly the Sethupathi kings
who brought the temple complex to its present glory,ethereal beauty
and magnificient state. However centuries before the kings of
Ramanathapuram ,the ancient Shaivite kings of Jaffna of northern
SriLanka sent huge stone blocks and labour by sea to build a great temple at
this place. The ancient Chola and Pandya kings ,Vijayanagar emperors and Nayak
kings all played their part in building a great temple here at Rameswaram.It
appears a strong granite base using big blocks of granite was created and on it
the super structure of corridors,gopurams and mantapams was created . Equally
important, a great compound wall seven meters high was constructed around a
vast rectangular area. The compound wall is 650 feet in north south direction
and 865 feet in east west direction around the temple complex. All this
raised structure fully protected the temple from effects of sea
water permanently. The kings spent enormous wealth with a sense of great
reverence to god almighty of the universe.
Ramanathaswamy temple is also a
great symbol of mutual respect between Shaivism and Vaishnavism the
two great systems of Hindu philosophy and Hindu worship. In all south Indian
temples we see this mutual regard. In Madurai temple also we saw this great
fact of mutual reverence between Shaivism and Vaishnavism. Lord Vishnu giving
his loving sister goddess Parvathi(goddess Meenakshi) in marriage to Lord
Shiva(Lord Sundareswara). In Rameswaram where every place is identified with
the Ramayana legend ,the main temple is of Lord Shiva. There are many Vaishnava
temples inside the temple complex.
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