Rameswara jyothirlinga
pilgrimage
centers
Amarnath
Amritsar
Ayodhya
Badrinath
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jyothirlingas
kanyakumari
Khajuraho
konark temple
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Rishikesh
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Satya sai baba
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Tirupathi
Vaishno Devi
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jyotirlingas
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vishwanath
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peethas
Sightseeing
Agra
Ajanta caves
Delhi
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Goa
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Foreign Trips
The temple of Lord Ramanathaswamy dates back to the period of
Ramayana. The epic begins with the birth of the four princes in
Ayodhya, but its subsequent scenes change in quick succession from
the banks of the Sarayu River to this southernmost part of our land
- the confluence of Mahodathi and Ratnakara. In Rameswaram, one can
capture glimpses of scenes from Sundara Kaandam, the epic’s fifth
canto, unfolding.
Sri Rama, the Prince of Ayodhya, is an embodiment of love, virtue
and Dharma. He undergoes a 14-year-long exile on the eve of his
coronation to fulfill a promise of his father Dasharata. His wife
Sita and his most caring brother Lakshmana accompany him to the
forest. In his quest for Dharma,Rama
vanquishes thousands of Rakshasas in the forests during the exile
and brings peace and happiness among the Rishis and other
inhabitants.
The exile passes off peacefully till the abduction of Sita
by Ravana, the Asura king of Lanka, at Panchavati on the banks of
Godavari. Rama is grief-stricken. He along with Lakshmana wanders
through the forests in search of Sita. One day they meet Sugriva,
an exiled monkey king from Kishkindha, and Hanuman, his minister,
who vow to help Rama trace Sita. After regaining his kingdom,
Sugriva dispatches search parties in all directions. Hanuman,
Angada, Nala and others travel southwards and land on the
Gandhamadhana Parvatha along the south-eastern coast. This is the
present Rameswaram.
The famous Sundara Kaandam begins here with the
unbelievable act of Hanuman taking Vishwa Roopam and leaping across
the ocean from this hill to reach Lanka. After a frenzied search,
Hanuman finally succeeds in locating Sita, held captive in Ravana’s
Ashoka Vana. He hands over to Sita a ring from Rama as proof of his
being Rama’s messenger. Assuring Sita that Rama will come soon,
wage a battle against Ravana and end her agony, Hanuman takes leave
of Sita after accepting with reverence her Choodamani (head
ornament) as a token for Rama. Later Hanuman destroys Ashoka Vana
and gets himself captured by Ravana’s son Indrajit. When Ravana
orders setting fire to the tail of Hanuman, he sets the whole of
Lanka ablaze with his burning tail.
Hanuman takes the air route back to Gandhamadhana Parvatha,
where the search party has set up camp. They all rejoice the glad
tidings. Soon they reach Kishkindha. Hanuman meets Rama and gives
him the Choodamani with the news that Sita is safe. Rama is
immensely pleased with Hanuman and embraces him warmly. Sugriva
organizes a big retinue of monkeys and bears from all over the land
to proceed on the mission to rescue Sita. Headed by Rama and
Lakshmana, they traverse the eastern coast.
Following tradition, Rama first invokes Lord Vinayaka
(Veyil Ugandha Vinayaka) at Uppoor seeking to remove obstacles on
his mission. He offers puja to Navagrahas at the present
Devipattinam or Navapaashaanam by installing nine stones in the
sea. He then reaches a marshy land known as Dharbaaranyam (because
the place was full of dharba grass). He worships Adi Jagannatha,
the presiding deity, and receives Divya astras and the Lord’s
blessings for his mission.
In a battle that follows, Rama, accompanied by Lakshmana
and the Vanara Sena, vanquishes the ten- headed Ravana to the great
relief of everyone. And, how all these happened within the time
requested by Sita to rescue her is brought out beautifully by sage
Valmiki in his epic. With the battle over, Rama, accompanied by
Sita, Lakshmana and the army, returns to the shores of what is
Rameswaram now.
Here, as advised by Rishis, Rama decides to consecrate a
shrine for Shiva to wash off the Brahmahatti dosha - the sin of
killing Ravana, a Brahmin and great grandson of Brahma. A time for
the auspicious ceremony is fixed. Rama rushes Hanuman to Mount
Kailas to fetch a Linga. As the auspicious time for the
installation has neared, but since Hanuman has still not reached,
Sita makes a Linga out of sand and the puja is performed within the
stipulated time. It is consecrated as Ramalinga. Meanwhile, Hanuman
returns from Shiva’s abode with two Lingas. He is disappointed that
the ceremony is already over. In anger, he tries to uproot the sand
Linga with his tail, but in vain. Rama pacifies Hanuman and
installs a Linga brought by Hanuman from Kailas to the left of
Ramalinga, and ordered that all pujas be first performed for this
Linga, called Vishwalinga. This priority in puja is followed even
today. Rama then performs abhisheka with holy water from the Ganga.
He aims an arrow at a point to create a spring and takes the
purifacatory bath. This is the much-revered Kodi Theertha, situated
in the first corridor of the Rameswaram
temple.
This holy Theertha and several other sacred waters, mostly
in the form of wells within the temple precincts in Rameswaram thus
have a special sanctity attached to them with the touch of Rama’s
holy feet.
The people of Rameswaram consider it sacrilegious to plough
the land or use heavy stone crushers to produce oil since Sita made
Ramalinga out of earth.
Theertham(Water
Springs)
There are almost 36 Theerthams here out of which 22 are in
the Rameswaram temple. The water of these Theerthams are said to be
therapeutic. A bath in these is regarded significant. The Agni
Theertham refers to the ocean while the Koti theertham is located
within the temple itself.
The Theerthams of the Temple inside the Corridor and their
significance
1.
Mahalakshmi
Theertham
Location: South of the Hanuman
Temple.
significance: Dharmarajan bathed here and became
rich.
2.
Savithri
Theertham
Location: West of the Hanuman Temple.
significance: King Kasibar got rid of his
curse.
3.
Gayathri
Theertham
Location: West of the Hanuman Temple
significance: King Kasibar got rid of his
curse.
4.
Saraswathi
Theertham
Location: West of the Hanuman Temple
significance: King Kasibar got rid of his
curse.
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