Rameswaram is temple town in Tamilnadu. It is an island connected by Paman bridge to main land India. According to Hindu mythology, this is the place from where Rama built a bridge, across the sea to Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from her abductor Ravana.
Danushkodi is the village at the tip of Rameswaram island. Danushkodi is about 18 miles West of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. This thriving village once connected via ferrys to Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Boat Mail which is combination of train and ferry used to run between Madras and Colombo during British Raj where passengers get down from train at Dhanushkodi, take ferry for 18 miles to Talaimannar in Ceylon and continued their journey in train to Colombo. This village is completely destroyed in 1964 cyclone and declared as ghost town. Only 4x4 jeeps can now reach this village. You can see old church and few old buildings still stading as witness.
Rameswaram temple (above) and piligrms taking holy dip in the morning at Rameswaram Ghat (below)
Sun rise at Agni Theeth, Rameswaram
5 PM Chennai Express on Pamban Bridge. It is an amazing expereience to watch train cross the divide on Pamban bridge.
5:30 PM Madurai Passenger crossing Pamban Bridge. This is much shorter train the Chennai Express and looks like a toy train on massive bridge.
This is the current road and means to go to once thriving Dhanushkodi. Grim reminder that we should not take nature for granted. After 1964 cyclone this area is declared as Ghost town. Only handful of fishermen live here.
Villagers of Dhanushkodi live a tough life. They walk few kilometers to get fresh water everyday. It takes at least one hour to fill a pot full of fresh water from small holes they dig in the ground near the sea. Their lives were also altered by conflict in North part of Srilanka. Navy closely monitors this area and closed to general public after 5 PM.
