Rameshwaram

The disciplined Vanaras, a hundred thousand of them, stood there waiting for orders. They had a purpose. An exiled king had requested their help rescuing his beloved wife who was abducted by a mighty demon. The place was sanctified with the Lord's presence. The discipline and cleanliness of the Vanaras heightened that sanctity to the utmost. The accumulated stones and clay in heaps on the shore reminded them of the daunting task, a task unheard of till then and would be time immemorial, a task that needed the wildest imaginations of the scientific among them, Nala and Nila, the task of breaching the sea with a bridge. They had no tools with them other than determination and bhakthi, which they had in abundance. The bridge built, rescue done and the place was since consecrated.

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The journey we took on 14th Feb to Rameshwaram was monotonous until we reached Pamban bridge. The sight from that bridge changed everything to vibrant. A beautiful island surrounded with crystalline turquoise blue sea, a rare scene we had seen only in movies. This is one of the most beautiful scenic places in India, no doubt!

After checked into Tamil Nadu hotel, we visited the nearby ferry for a short sight seeing trip in the sea. We are from a place where there are many ferries around, so for us this trip in the sea was nothing to be excited about. However the crowd seemed enjoying it. We met a couple, Selvan and Lakshmi, in the boat who had come for their children's Mundan ceremony. We had no difficulty mingling with these cordial people despite the language barrier.

The jetty itself was quite scenic. Under the wooden wharf in the pristine water we saw fishes swimming.

The climate was hot but the breeze from the sea made it tolerable.

On the beach, there were idols scattered, most of them broken and seemed abandoned.

A few pilgrims were busy collecting shells.

Beauty has its burden, for the shore was an open air toilet too. One had to be careful while strolling on the beach.

We proceeded to the Ramanatha temple premises. The scene there was not encouraging. The premises were filthy and congested. Beggars, vendors and religious businesses were flourishing.

Next day,  we woke up early to watch sunrise in the sea. On the beach road, we saw a man stopping his bicycle. A large number of crows were there. In Mumbai, people feed birds in many places and we thought this man was about to feed the crows. We were wrong indeed. He shooed them away and proceeded to the beach, lifted his dhoti and went about his morning business.

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O the new age Vanaras! What have you done to this place! Where is the discipline, planning, purpose, cleanliness, respect, loyalty and pride? A beautiful land desecrated, a generation in turmoil, a revenge and redemption undone!

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Rameshwaram Tamil Nadu Hotel's restaurant had these boards prominently displayed. Self-righteousness?

Next, we visited Dhanushkodi beach. Wow! What a scenic place!

On the beach, there were tea shops with thatched roof.

Despite tourism nuisances, the villagers were happy to answer our queries. There were some construction works too in progress.

We helped some fisher folks to fetch their canoe to the beach.

On the Dhanushkodi stretch, we saw migrating Flamingos and other birds.

These bird photographers were so engrossed in their work that they did not notice our presence.

Then we decided to start our return journey to Trivandrum as it would be an eight hours drive. On the way back, below Pamban bridge, we saw these villagers on the sea shore.

We took the Thiruchenthur-Kanyakumari route for our  return journey. On the way we saw these beautiful birds having fun in a field near Thiruchanthur.

We reached Trivandrum at around 10 in the night.