We traveled to Rameshwaram recently as part of our Travel Techies road trip to Tamil Nadu covering Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari. So below are the places to visit in Rameshwaram(Tamil Nadu) as per our experience.
How to Get to Rameshwaram
The town can be reached via air, rail, and road. Nagercoil, Kanyakumari, Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, and Thanjavur are some places near Rameshwaram that you can get to from most parts of the country. Among these places near Rameshwaram, the Madurai airport is the closest at around 170 kilometres away from Rameshwaram. You can take a bus or train to the town as well at nominal rates.
Best Time to Visit Rameshwaram
The area has a tropical climate so the best time to visit Rameshwaram can be throughout the year. However, the monsoons (Jul-Sep) have cool climate, so right afterward, the period from October to April is considered by some as being the best time to visit the town of Rameshwaram. Also during Summer, it gets too hot. So better to avoid the summer time March – May if you don’t prefer the sun’s scorching heat.
Places to Visit Rameshwaram
Ramanathaswamy Temple
Ramanathaswami Templeis one of the most significant Hindu temples. God worshiped by God is the glory of this temple. This place is located in the Sivasthalas which is praised in Thevaram songs in Pandya Dynasty.Though this temple has history of Ramayana, the current design of the temple is believed to have been built in the 12th century by the Pandya. Both the myth and history of this temple’s building are excellent.
Rameshwaram temple is facing east. A large temple located on approximately 15 acres of land. Rameshwaram temple is 865 feet long and 657 feet wide, its eastern tower is too tall. A height of about 126 feet. The tower has a height of about 78 feet to the west. In many ways, the Ramanatha Swamy temple in Rameswaram is like any other temple in south India — ornate, huge and awesome. But what makes this temple unique in its very own way is its very long corridors. Its outer set of corridors is 6.9 m in height and stretches for 400 feet to the west and as many feet to the east and some 640 feet to the north and south. This makes the Ramanathaswamy temple’s corridor the longest corridor in the world. What makes the corridor even more awesome is the fact that it is held by some 1,212 pillars, each of them measuring 30 feet in height with most having compositions carved on them. The carvings are marvellous.
Dhanushkodi
Dhanushkodi is a small, very less populated beach town on the coast of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. In the 1964, Dhanushkodi was hit by one of the worst storms India has ever seen and was completely destroyed. It was known as mini Singapore at that time. Tamil Nadu has rebuilt this town to become one of the most unique and unusual beach towns of India.
This small town redefines the term isolated and is most often referred to as the ghost town. The roads to Dhanushkodi is great. The beach, railway station, church and Adams bridge are must visit places in Dhanushkodi.
Pamban Bridge
Pamban bridge is the first cantilever bridge and the first sea bridge in India. It was the longest sea bridge in India till 2010. The best thing is to watch a train cross the Pamban bridge. Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge which connects the town of Mandapam in mainland India with Pamban Island, and Rameswaram. Opened on 24 February 1914,[1] it was India’s first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010. The rail bridge is, for the most part, a conventional bridge resting on concrete piers, but has a double-leaf bascule section midway, which can be raised to let ships and barges pass through. Until 1988, the Pamban bridge was the only surface transport that connected Tamil Nadu’s island of Rameswaram to the mainland. In Dec-2018, the bascule of this bridge was damaged, which suspended the transportation on the bridge for 3 months. Rail movement was again restored on 27 February 2019. In 1988, a road bridge was also constructed parallel to the rail bridge. This road bridge is also known as Indira Gandhi Road Bridge. The Pamban Road Bridge connects the National Highway (NH 49) with the Rameswaram island. It stands on the Palk Strait and between the shores of Mandapam (a place on the Indian mainland) and Pamban (one of the fishermen town in Rameswaram island). It was inaugurated by former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on 2 October 1988.[2] This 2.345 km long Bridge took close to 14 years to be completed.
House of Kalam
India’s most loved president APJ Abdul Kalam was from Rameshwaram. At walking distance from Rameswaram Railway Station is the house of our honourable ex president Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam sir’s house. The main attraction here is the Mission of Life Museum which depicts the life of Kalam sir from his childhood days to the days where he is known as the Missile Man of India. Kalam sir’s family still lives in the house downstairs where his elder brother and his family resides. On the first floor is the Mission of Life Gallery and Museum and on 2nd floor is a shop where one can buy things related to Rameswaram and Kalam sir. It is a great experience to visit this little museum that documents his illustrious life quite beautifully. The house in which he lived in growing up is located in the Mosque Street in Rameshwaram. The house is now converted into a museum and has photographs, models, certificates, doctorates, honours and the prestigious awards showcasing his life right from his childhood days till he became the missile man of India. All his scholarly works are also documented here and displayed to the visitors. The two storied building is maintained by his elder brother who is 106 years old as of now, and the collections here have been arranged in a methodical fashion so that people can go through it and learn about Kalam sirs entire life. All the medals and awards he has earned as well as his research work is on display in the museum including the Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Bharat Ratna. The ground floor and top floor you will find a small shop where you can buy handmade souvenirs and sea shells and models of Rameshwaram tourist places.
Kalaam Memorial
Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, better known as A. P. J. Abdul Kalam who was the 11th president of India. Kalam was born and brought up in Rameswaram and became a scientist and worked for DRDO and ISRO. After his sudden demise at Shillong on 27th July 2015, he was laid to rest at Pei Karumbu, Rameswaram on 30th July 2015. A memorial has been built at the burial site. Inside, the memorial, one can see the selected photos, paintings and miniature models of misssiles etc.,. The memorial is less than 1 km from Rameswaram.
