Ramanathaswamy Temple

Rameswaram is one of the Char Dham and holds one of the twelve jyotirlingas, and the temple is famous above all for its corridors: the outer one runs to around twelve hundred metres of pillared passage, the longest in any Hindu temple, with over a thousand carved granite pillars and a painted ceiling. Twenty-two theerthams, wells within the complex, are used in sequence by pilgrims, who have water from each poured over them by attendants before darshan. The temple has grown over centuries with the corridors added mainly in the eighteenth. The island is reached over the Pamban bridge from the mainland.

History

The temple is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams praised in the songs of the Nayanar saints Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar. Its present form is believed to date from the 17th century, though the small vimana in the west corridor may be of the 11th or 12th century, and the Maratha kings of Thanjavur built rest houses for pilgrims between 1745 and 1837 and gave them to the temple (Wikipedia, Ramanathaswamy Temple).

What to look for

• The third corridor - around twelve hundred metres of carved pillared passage.
• The twenty-two wells - the sequence of theerthams pilgrims are doused from.
• The gopurams - the towers over the temple entrances.
• The sea - Agni Theertham, the shore bathing point in front of the temple.

When to go

October to March; the island is hot and humid the rest of the year. The well bathing runs from early morning and involves queuing wet through the corridors.

Good to know

Phones and cameras are prohibited inside. The well ritual leaves you soaked and takes an hour or more with attendants expecting tips at each. Shirts must be removed by men in the inner areas.

Nearby

Dhanushkodi lies southeast; the Pamban bridge is west.

Key facts