As pace of the train slowed down and I heard some people mumbling “Samundar dekho”, I opened my eyes and realized it was almost dawn. I made my way from the upper-berth of the train to the lower-berth and woke up my parents too. From the train window, we could see the mighty sea infront of us, with huge waves hitting the base of the bridge.
In the distant, the sun was just rising and the sky had turned yellowish. It was one of the most breathtaking views ever.
As the train moved slowly on the Pamban Bridge, the first ever sea bridge of India, I couldn’t help but admire the beauty of the place. The view was mesmerizing and it was such a beautiful start to the day.
It took a long while for the train to cross the Bridge and after that it picked up pace making its way through the village filled with beautiful trees and shrubs. The scenery looked like an Oasis in the middle of a desert. It had been raining in the area for quite some time and the rain had just stopped 3 days back making the area a little flooded with puddles of water but also making the trees look so green and fresh.
After a little while we reached the Rameshwaram Railway Station and from there we made our way towards the hotel where we had planned to stay for the day. On reaching the Hotel, we were a little disappointed with the room that we got, but it seemed like the best option available.
We freshened up soon and the guy at the reception had earlier told us while checking in that he could take us around the city in his autorickshaw post 10 AM after his shift got over and he was communicating in Hindi and English too. Language becomes a barrier at times in places like these as people speak the local language mostly. Having someone who knows the local language as well as Hindi or English makes things really easy. And we were glad to have met this guy there. He made everything very easy for us and he did not even charge us a lot to show us around.
So we went out on the Autorickshaw, making our way through the busy streets of Rameshwaram. People from all over the country travel to Rameshwaram as it is one of the most religious site for the Hindu people.
We reached the Ramanathaswamy Temple , which is one of the most famous temples in the country and the deity of Lord Shiva inside the temple is said to have been established by Lord Rama.
The golden colored temple stood there, looking so beautiful amidst the busy streets.
As we reached the entrance of the temple, we had to again handover our phones in the counter outside the temple as nobody is allowed to carry a phone or camera inside the temple premises. We also left our shoes outside and entered the temple through one of the gates. The architecture on the walls of the temple were absolutely amazing. We went inside and there were lesser number of people as we went at an odd time. People were walking around the temple taking a dip in the small water body (Kunds) around the temple. The Kunds are considered very pure. After getting some water droplets sprinkled on our bodies by the Pandits standing there, we went inside to pray. It was indeed very peaceful inside.
After the prayers, we came out of the temple and collected our stuff from the counters and got on the autorickshaw as the bhaiya was waiting to take us to Dhanushkodi. The beautiful coastal village on the south-eastern tip of India – Dhanushkodi. As we moved away from the busy streets of Rameshwaram and amost reached the outskirts, the roads became smooth and we enjoyed the little trip in the autorickshaw with the beautiful breeze blowing. The sun was shining bright and it was not a typical winter sun. It was really very hot out there, but the breeze kept us cool. The roads started getting very clean as we moved further away from the city and also it was almost empty. The shades from the green trees felt like such a relief. It was indeed one of the most beautiful journey.
A little later, the shades of the trees disappeared and I could see the bright blue sky infront of me and I was awestruck at the beautiful view infront of me. On the right was the turquoise blue water of the Indian Ocean, shining bright as the sun rays fell on it. The beautiful road in the distant, looked as if it was disappearing into the clouds.
As I turned to my right, I could see the beautiful sea waves of the Bay of Bengal making its way towards the shore. It was one of the most breathtaking view ever. I was right there in the middle of two huge water bodies, my eyes trying to just absorb the beauty of nature that lay infront of them.
The mighty Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.
I asked the autowala bhaiya to pullover so that I could see everything even more clearly. We just stood there for a 5 minutes, soaking in the amazing view. There was something so positive about that place. It instantly brought a smile on our faces.
We resumed our journey towards Dhanushkodi, enjoying the beautiful view on the way. The driver had told us on the way that the Dhanushkodi village had been completely destroyed in the 1964 cyclone and since then all that remains are some broken down houses and churches. There was a railway station once but it got ruined in the cyclone too. Dhanushkodi is also called the Ghost Town since the cyclone destroyed everything. There are some stories regarding the same too. I wanted to hear more, but just then the autorickshaw driver pulled over.
We got down the autorickshaw and I took a look around and couldn’t help but notice that there were very few people around, mostly fishermans who had set up their huts by the road.
We made our way through the huts towards the beach where there were many broken down houses, just like the autowala bhaiya had said.
The mighty Indian Ocean lay infront of my eyes. So beautiful, so serene. I could just stare at it for hours and not get bored. The turquoise blue colour of the water felt so soothing. There was a different kind of peace out there. Simply the best feeling ever.
Beaches have always been my favourite and I am the happiest when I am just out there on a beach, staring into the blues, lost in my own world. Peaceful and filled with so much positivity. I was so glad to be there. The gentle breeze that was blowing, brushed against my hair and it felt so amazing. It was a beautiful day.
Do you like collecting shells while at the beach? It happens to be one of my favourite things to do at the beach. I love collecting those beautiful shells in different color and shape and size. There were a lot of shells that had washed up to the shore by the sands and I had a great time searching for some nice ones.
We stood there, staring at the waves as they hit the shore. The sound of the waves, ever so soothing.
And the waves made me forget about the one thing that I was really looking forward to when I had planned on visiting Dhanushkodi. There is this point at the extreme end of Dhanushkodi where the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal merge together. Apparently, Sri Lanka is just 14-15 kms away from there. But to my disappointment the autorickshaw couldn’t go any further as the roads ahead had been closed because of heavy rainfall in the past few days. The water had reached the roads and it was not safe to go ahead any further. He suggested us to walk down till there, but my parents didn’t look very excited about that. So we ended up not going further.
We made our way back towards Rameshwaram from Dhanushkodi, really happy to have spent the beautiful day by the beach. On the way we stopped at a ship port, and some temples which are very famous.
All over Rameshwaram, there are a lot of temples dedicated to Lord Rama and Lord Hanuman because it is said that it was Rameshwaram from where Lord Rama had started his journey towards Sri Lanka, to bring back his wife Sita from Ravana, who had kidnapped her. Lord Rama build a bridge with floating stones all the way from Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka to cross the sea.
We reached our hotel in the evening and rested for a while, after which we just walked a few metres to go and see the house of the former president of India, Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam. He was born and brought up in Rameshwaram, after which he went out to become one of the greatest Aerospace Scientist in the world. His house was filled with all his trophies and many other things he had achieved. There were various details regarding how much he had done for the country and the world and about his contribution in the field of science. It felt really good being there and I left that place feeling really motivated, reading some of his famous quotes.
After some time we had our dinner in a small restaurant nearby and after that we were back at the railway station waiting for the train that would take us to Kanyakumari.
The Travel Tales 