8. SRI RAMANATHASWAMY TEMPLE RAMESWARAM

Devara Paadal Petra Sthalam	252nd Shiva Sthalams(One of the Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam)
Region	Pandiya Naadu
Pandiya Naadu	8th Shiva Sthalam
Pathigam	Saint Thirugnanasambanthar, Saint Thirunavukarasar (Appar)

HISTORY:

The Shiva temple at Rameswaram is fairly a big one with the world famous long corridors and massive sculptured pillars. The temple is located on the Rameswaram Island in the Gulf of Mannar and is connected to the mainland by a rail bridge and a road bridge. The shivasthalam temple at Rameswaram is visited by pilgrims from every corner of India. A pilgrimage to Kasi (Banares) is not considered complete without a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram. The temple is 865 feet in length east to west and 675 feet in breadth north to south. The east tower is 126 feet in height and the west tower is 78 feet in height. There are unfinished gopurams on the north and south side entrances. The outermost or the third prakaram is the longest temple prakaram. It is roughly 400 feet in length, 20 to 30 feet in breadth and 60 feet in height and consists of about 4000 pillars. The pillars are located on an elevated platform of about 5 feet height. How the huge stones for these pillars were transported across the sea from the main land is a question that arises in the minds of people who see and walk along this temple corridor. There are 3 prakarams in the temple. In the third and outer prakaram, the idol of lord Natarajar can been seen. The main shrines for Lord Ramalingaswamy and the female deity Parvathavardhini Amman are located in the inner first prakaram. The stucco image of Nanadi is fairly a big one and is about 12 feet in length and 9 feet in height.

There are 2 Sivalingams in the temple. One Sivalingam, made out of sand by Seetha of Ramayana fame is the Moolavar and is known as Ramalingaswamy. According to the legend, Lord Rama returned to India after killing Ravana in Srilanka. Lord Rama wanted to worship Lord Shiva at Rameswaram to free himself from the sin of killing Ravana. Hence he directed Hanuman to bring a sivalingam from Kailash/Banares. Hanuman was delayed on his return with the lingam. In the meantime, the stipulated auspicious time has arrived for performing the worship to Lord Shiva. Hence Lord Rama performed the worship to the lingam made out of sand by Seetha so as to finish the worship within the stipulated auspicious time. Hanuman got depressed with this and tried his best to remove the lingam made out of sand by Seetha but failed in his attempts. Lord Rama pacified Hanuman and assured him that the lingam brought by Hanuman will also be installed at the place and that worship will first be offered to the lingam (known as Kasi Viswanathar) brought by Hauman. Even today the first worship is offered to the lingam brought by Hanuman and then only the worship is offered to the principal sanctum Lord Ramalinganaswamy.

Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple is the most popular temple of Rameshwaram, which is a small island connected to the mainland via Pamban Bridge. It is undoubtedly the most important part of a Rameshwaram tour. Known for its intricate works, majestic towers and corridors this temple is a fine example of architecture excellence. This highly sacred temple is one of the 12 jyotirlingas in India and is visited by almost every Hindu devotee. This temple has 22 theerthams, bathing in which is believed to atone sins of devotees. Sri Ramanathaswamy temple is regarded with high significance even in holy scripture of Hindu religion. It is associated with Lord Rama and his successful rescuising of Goddess Sita after killing demon Ravana as while on their way back to Ayodhya, it is here that Lord Rama had worshipped Lord Shiva.

The religious importance of this temple can be seen from the popular belief according to which a visit to pilgrimage Kashi is incomplete without a visit to Rameshwaram temple. Since ancient time, devotees would walk and spend months and years on travel for visiting both the shrines.

According to the legend behind Sri ramanathaswamy Temple, Lord Rama had worshipped Lord Shiva here. Lord Rama, who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, while coming back after killing demon Ravana had offered his prayers to Lord Shiva. Demon Ravana, who had abducted Goddess Sita, was a Brahmin king. As Lord Rama had killed him to end his cruelties and to rescue the Goddess, had decided to seek atonement by worshipping Lord Shiva. In order to offer prayers, Lord Rama had asked Hanuman to get lingam from Himalayas. However, Hanuman couldn't return with lingam on time owing to which Goddess Sita has created a lingam herself. Lord Rama then worshipped Lord Shiva at the pre decided auspicious moment. Pleased, Lord Shiva blessed Lord Rama and upon his request also manifested himself in the lingam. It is the believed that the same lingam is now present in the sanctum of the temple.

As per the legend, the lingam brought by Hanuman from Kailash has also been kept in the temple. The lingam is known as Vishwalingam or Hanumalingam. As per the instructions of Lord Rama, prayers are offered at Hanumalingam first before offering prayers to the Lord Ramanathaswamy.

Temple Theerthams: 

There are no less than twenty-two thirthams, or bathing places, mainly within, but a few also outside the temple. According to time-honoured tradition, the pilgrim bathes first in Agni Theertham, as the sea to the east of the temple is called and finally in the Kodi Theertham, which is situated within the temple.

·        Agni Tirtham - A large lake and 22 wells with unique-tasting waters make it an important pilgrim place where they believe to get cured by the curative properties.

·        Ram Tirtham (Gandamadana)- worshipped by many communities of south India.

·        Lakshman Tirtham - Built inside Rameshwaram to give the brother of the Lord the place he rightly deserved helping his brother in the holy war against Ravana.

·        Jatayu Tirtham - Commemorates the memory of Eagle God who assisted Lord Rama in his fight for Devi Sita.

·        Kaveri and Jada Tirtham - A place is meant to worship for god Kapardikeshwar and a Peepal tree representing all the deities.

Agni Theertham: 

Sri Ramanathaswamy temple faces east. The seashore, about 100 metres from the main east entrance of the temple, is very calm and therefore ideal for bathing. The water of the sea at this place is considered sacred and is known as "Agni Theertham" . Pillgrims perform poojas for their ancestors at this seashore.

Gandamadana parvatam:

The Gandamadana parvatam (hill) provides a commanding view of the island. It also bears a shrine said to bear the footprints of rama. Dhanuskoti (struck by a ravaging cyclone in the 20th century) is the easternmost tip of the island, where legend has it that Rama with the tip of his bow destroyed the bridge that he had built between the island and Srilanka, during his victorious return. There is a Kodandarama temple located on the way between Dhanushkoti and the Ramanatha temple. Tiruppullaani nearby represents the site where Rama sojourned on his way to Lanka. Devipatnam is home to the Navapaashaanam stones installed by Rama.

SALIENT FEATURE:

·        This temple, spread over an area of 15 acres , has lofty gopurams, massive walls and a collossal Nandi. Rameswaram also boasts of a 4000 feet long pillared corridor with over 4000  pillars, supposedly the longest in the world. 

·        The carved granite pillars are mounted on a raised platform.

·        The eastern Rajagopuram towers to a height of 126 feet and it has nine levels. 

·        The Western Rajagopuram, though impressive is not as tall as the Eastern one. The stuccoed image of Nandi is about 18 feet tall and 22 feet in length.

·        It is believed that the ancient shrine was housed in a thatched hut until the 12th century and that the 1st ever masonry structure was built by Parakrama Bahu of Sri Lanka.

·        The Setupathy rulers of Ramanathapuram completed the rest of the temple. Some of the temple vimaanams resemble the Vimaanams of the Pallava period. Much of the additions were carried out between the 12th and the 16th centuries.

·        The long corridor (3rd prakaram) dates back only to the 18th century. The Gandhamadhana Parvatam (hill) provides a good view of the temple.  This temple has received royal patronage from several kingdoms such as Travancore, Ramanathapuram, Mysore and Pudukkottai.

TEMPLE INFORMATION:

Moolavar	Sri Ramanathaswamy
Ambal	Sri Malaivalarkaadali, Sri Parvatavartini
Theertham	Dhanushkoti Theertham
Sthala Vriksham	karpaga Virutchaga  tree

BELIEF:

There are 64 holy temple tanks inside the temple and also around the Rameshwaram Island. It is considered as a ritual to bath in these “Thirthas” before entering the temple. 

Devotees from all her the world come to these theerthams to atone their past sins. Agni Theertham is the first theertham and considered to be the one of the most important ones.

TEMPLE FESTIVAL:

Tamil Month	English Month	Festival Name
Vaikasi	May-June	Vaikasi Visakam
Aani	June-July	Rama's worship
Aadi	July-Aug	Annual Bhrammotsavams
Avani	Aug-Sept	Vinayakar Chaturthi
Purattasi	Sep-Oct	Navarathri
Aippasi	Oct–Nov	Skanda Shashti and Annabishekam
Karthikai	Nov-Dec	Thirukarthikai
Markazhi	Dec-Jan	Thiruvadhirai
Thai	Jan-Feb	Makara Sankranthi
Maasi	Feb-Mar	Maha Shivrathri, Annual Bhrammotsavams
Panguni	Mar-Apr	Panguni Uthiram

HOW TO REACH:

This Shivasthalam is located in Rameswaram Island. Train and bus services are available from Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli etc.

TEMPLE ADDRESS:

Sri Ramanathaswamy Temple,
Rameswaram,
Ramanathapuram,
Tamil Nadu – 623526.

LOCATION: