The Sacred Pilgrimage The Chaar Dhaams are the most sacred tirthas (pilgrimages) in the religious geography of the Vaishanavas. As per a saying, Lord Vishnu, the God of preservation, visits his favorite four dhaams everyday. After taking a bath at Alaknanda river at Badrinath, he gets dressed at Dwarka, eats a sumptuous fifty two course meal at Purt and then he arrives at Rameshwaram and takes some well earned rest after all the hard work of preserving His creation. For centuries, pilgrims have visited Rameshwaram as a part of the Mahaparikarama of the four tirthas of the Chaar Dhaam.
Rameshwaram is also a Shaiva tirtha as the sacred geography of the Shaivas includes Kedarnath in the Himalyas, Vishwanatha at Varanasi, Somnath in Gujarat and Rameshwaram in Southern India. Like Gaya and Varanasi in the North, Rameshwaram is considered equally important for all the rituals of the dead. This place is also famous for penances, the prayaashchita rituals which makes one free from the sins that they have committed. This place is considered as Varanasi of south and belief is that a pilgrimage to Varanasi is truly complete only after worshiping at the Ramanathaswamy Temple.
What makes Rameshwaram unique is its close links to many other sacred places of pilgrimage, especially Varanasi and Kedarnath in the North. The Shivalingams at the Ramanathaswamy temple, the Kedarnath shrine and the Kashi Vishwanath temple are among the most sacred of the jyotirlingams. Traditionally, pilgrims have carried the waters of the sea at Rameshwaram and the tank within the temple called Koti Tirtha to Varanasi and Kedarnath. Similarly, pilgrims bring the river waters of Ganges at Kedarnath and Varanasi here to bathe the Shivalingams in the temples.
Holy texts speaks highly about Rameshwaram Rameshwaran finds its name mentioned in the various ancient religious texts. Texts like Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharata mentions about this place. Both Linga and Shiva puranas have chapters praising the sanctity of this tirtha. Skand Purana as well as Kanada Puran also mentions about the greatness of this place.
Lord Rama knew that it would not be an easy task to defeat Ravana. The demon king was a Brahmin and a scholar and was a great devotee of Shiva and Durga too. He collected many blessings from them which made him invincible in any battle. Rama knew that he needed divine help against such a formidable enemy. So before the battle, Rama worshiped Durga, the warrior Goddess praying for her support. The regular worship of Goddess Durga, called Basanti Puja, is usually celebrated in spring. As this Durga Puja was performed at the wrong time in autumn, it is called Akal Bodhan. The Akal Bodhan Puja of Goddess Durga is still celebrated for five days in the month of October in West Bengal. It is also the time of the auspicious nine days of Navaratri and Dussehra when the whole country celebrates the death of Ravana.
Preparing for a tough battle, Rama worshiped all the important deities. He worshiped Vishnu at the nearby tirtha of Tirupullani. Pleased by his devotion, Vishnu appeared before him in the form of Adi Jagannath and gave him a powerful weapon, the divine bow called Divya Sarabam. He also worshiped Lord Ganapati and Lord Shiva. He then worshiped the nine planets so that they would pour their auspicious light on his endeavor.
After a long a bitterly fought battle, Rama triumphed and returned to Rameshwaram with Sita. He then decided to worship Lord Shiva as the God was displeased at the death of his most benevolent worshiper, Ravana. Rama needed Shivalinga for his worship and he sent Hanuman to bring it from Mount Kailash. On the auspicious day, the sacred hour was passing but Hanuman didn’t arrive. To take the advantage of the time, Sita built a sand made Shivalinga and it was worshiped at the auspicious time. This lingam is called the Ramanatha Lingam.
When Hanuman returned, he found that the worship was already finished. A deeply disappointed Hanuman tried to shift the sand made Shivalinga by wrapping his tail around it but failed to move it. It is said that due to this effort, marks of tail can still be seen on the sand made Ramanatha Lingam. Realizing that Hanuman was left heartbroken, Rama decided to install both the lingams in the Rameshwaram Temple. This crystal made Shivalingam brought by Hanuman is known is Vishwa Lingam. He also blessed Hanuman by saying that Vishwa Lingam must always be worshiped before worshiping Ramanatha Lingam.
This place is thus energized by the presence of both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. A visit to this place offers the double benefit of a pilgrim: one by visiting a pilgrim of Lord Vishnu and other by visiting a pilgrim of Lord Shiva. This is the only place on this earth where a pilgrim of both Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva lie is such a close proximity.
Among all the temples of the South, what is unique about this temple is the endless corridor that encircles the shrine. Located in the outermost third, prakara, the corridor stretches for a distance of 1240 meters, supported by 1212 pillars and is the longest corridor in the country. It is designed with row of pillars on each side, each pillar being carved out of the single blocks of granite and the ceiling are beautifully painted floral and geometric motifs. A giant figure of Nandi is also installed there. It is one of those few temples where Goddess Parvati is placed towards the right side of Lord Shiva. There is also an another Shiva shrine there, called as Kashivishwanatha temple and its lingam is believed to be brought here by Hanuman from Varanasi.
There are twenty two tanks around the temple called as teerthams and pilgrims believe it is auspicious to bathe in them before the worship. It is believed that bathing in them offers multitude of benefits from absolving sins, gaining the knowledge of one’s future or to gain good health, prosperity and wisdom in life. The teerthams named after deities are called Mahalakshmi, Savitri, Gayatri, Saraswati, Setu Madhava, Gandhamadana, Kavatcha, Gavaya, Nala, Neeka, Shankha, Sakra, Brahmahatya Vimochana, Surya, Chandra, Ganga, Yamuna, Gaya, Shiva, Satyamrita, Sarva and Koti, The Koti teertham is considered as the most sacred of all the tanks. Its water is used in the temple worship and is carried to other holy places like Varanasi. Pilgrims also take a dip in the sea at the nearby beach called as Agni Teertham.
A Pandya of Madurai, Punyanadhi, once came to Rameshwaram on pilgrimage and performed a sacrifice to propitiate Lord Vishnu. The Lord, in order to test his faith, sent Goddess Lakshmi as an orphan girl. The Pandya, having no daughter of his own, adopted her and lavished affection on her. One day Lord Vishnu, in the guise of an old ascetic, made his way into her apartment. When the king heard of this, he loaded him with chains and had him imprisoned in the Rameshwaram temple. That night he dreamt that the old man appeared as Lord Vishnu and the girl as Goddess Lakshmi. When he went to the princess apartment, he saw the same sight. On coming to the Rameshwaram temple, he found an image of Vishnu in shackles. Then he realized the enormity of what he had done. But the Lord consoled him and said that He, with Goddess Lakshmi would remain in the temple in shackles.
The tradition is that he who bathes in a tank near the shrine and offers worship in that shrine will receive all the benefits of the Kashi pilgrimage. Truly only blessed people or those whose fortune has risen in life can visit such a divine place. What can then be said about the fortune of those people who would be visiting such a land with Gurudev and there are no words to express the fortune of those who would be blessed to get dikshas from Gurudev on this holy pilgrimage and would be performing various rituals under the His guidance.
NOTE
Registration cost doesn’t include the cost of all the dikshas that SadhGurudev may grant at this place.
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All major cities are connected to Madurai and Rameshwaram via railways
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