Rameshwaram Temple A Spiritual Getaway in 2025

Ramanathaswamy Temple is on Rameswaram island. It is among the 12 jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva, in the holiest of holy shrines of Lord Shiva. Rameshwaram happens to be one of the most sacred Hindu pilgrimage centers in India, second only to Varanasi itself. No pilgrimage to Varanasi is deemed complete without visiting the temple of Sri Ramanatha at Rameshwaram island where Lord Rama offered prayers to Lord Shiva before returning from his victorious expedition against Lanka.

History Behind the Rameshwaram Temple

The temple reportedly holds one among twelve Jyotirlingas distributed across India. This gigantic temple was originally constructed by Lord Rama himself and has a shape akin to that of a conch shell. A majestic railway bridge connects this island with the mainland. Here, Sethu can be seen, the bridge is supposed to have been constructed by Sri Rama and his army while crossing over to Lanka. The Sethupathis of Ramanathapuram (the old name was Rameshwaram) were known as ‘guardians of the sethu’.

The Ramanatha temple has three Prakaras, four Gopurams (two incomplete), and two Lingas under worship with twenty-two ‘Tirthas’ or sacred bathing places inside its complex. One of the colossal Gopuram, has about four thousand pillars and looks like a methodically set-up forest. The main sanctum enshrines Linga of Sri Ranganatha which was made by Goddess Sita herself and was instituted by Lord Rama. However, another Linga of Vishvanatha is there which Hanuman is said to have made was blessed to be worshipped first to pacify his anger on getting on with the ceremony without waiting for him.The other highlights of Rameshwaram are Gandamadhana Parvata, Sri Kodandarama temple at Dhanushkodi, temple at Tiruppullani where the Lord obtained divine bow and arrows from its presiding Deity and the temple of Sri Anjaneya at Sethu.

The Rameswaram temple is large with three parakarams and several mandapams , mini shrines to other deities. There is a huge Anjaneya in a mini shrine. A big Nandi measures 12 feet long and attains a height of 9 feet., with the idols of Viswanatha Naicker and Krishnama Naicker. The lingams are housed inside in the inner section of the Ramalingeshwara. These high walls enclose the temple, forming a rectangle with huge pyramidal gopura entrances on each side. This temple has within it the longest corridor found in any Hindu temple throughout India.

The gateways lead to spacious closed ambulatory which two continuous platforms flanked by massive pillers set on their edges.The corridors themselves became probably what marks out this particular temple, for they are quite extreme – 205 metres,1212pillarsnorthand south sides – giving an equallyremarkable impression receding perspective. Pillars have delicate scrollwork and brackets of pendant lotuses being supported by yalis, mythical lion-like beasts. There are shrines for Ganapathi and Subramanya. The shrine for Parvathi is to the right of the Lords shrine. To its North is the shrine for Kasi Viswanathar.

Containing the same linga – This jyotirlingam, according to the legend, was used by Lord Rama for the purpose of washing away his sin of having killed Ravana. When Hanuman flew to Kailasa to bring the linga for Lord Rama so that he would be cured, it was too long and therefore he would use this linga which had been sourround by Seeta Devi in sand to worship him. The lingum thus worshipped by Lord Rama is called Ramanathar. When Hanuman returned, he was upset that his lord had not used the lingum brought by him. Lord Rama pacified Hanuman and named the lingum Kasi Viswanathar. Therefore, devotees have first to worship Kasi Viswanathar and then only can they pray to Ramanathar.

The Significance of the Temple

Rameswaram is extremely dear to travelers belonging to the Shaivite clan and Devout Hindus across various continents. The temple comprises one out of the total 12 sacred Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva which are considered to be swayambhoo (self-manifested). Rameswaram also falls under 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams across India where great Shaivaite saints such as Appar, Sundarar, and Tiruguna have offered their melodious hymns of praise to Shiva. In some records on a fact basis it has been proved that Swami Vivekananda did visit Rameswaram Temple too before moving toward Chicago.

Rameswaram temple is one of the places belonging to the Char Dham Yatra, hence a highly reputed pilgrimage within Hinduism. It is usually of belief that without visiting this sacred abode of Mahadev, one’s pilgrimage bears no full fruit. There are 22 teerthams (sacred ponds) in Rameswaram temple with holy water-just a dip can cleanse off all earthly evils from one’s body.

Rameswaram is known for washing away all the sins of humans and bestowing eternal grace on the human body. Many devotees also come here to perform after-death rituals of their loved ones in an attempt at providing them with salvation. Doing “Abhishek” (Coronation) of the Rameswaram Vishwalingam is considered to be attaining the highest form of religious sanctity.

Most of the visitors to Rameswaram claim that they have felt complete relaxation throughout the trip. Some peculiar events are about the 22 holy teerthams of the Rameswaram temple.

Some claim that if one takes a dip in these five holy teerthams from the beginning, he is sure to be reminded of all his sins in the past life. People said that they were able to visualize all their mistakes and blemishes in their personality playing as a film in their heads. They maintain that once a person has taken a dip in the initial teerthams, these images fade away and it is silenced. The others teerthams then get to work adding on peace and pleasure to the man’s body. Though these are rather intangible experiences, the sheer number of people who reported such visions is quite staggering.

Architectural Significance

Rameswaram temple is a classic structure of royal architecture and great spiritual strength. It is among the countable temples in India narrating the much famed Dravidian architectural style to the world. Like any other South Indian temple, Rameswaram also has high compound walls (called madils) protecting the temple from all sides. Sitting over 15 acres of land, inside the premises, there are 22 teerthams (ponds) in which devotees take holy dips.

120-feet Gopurams mark the skyline of the Rameswaram island. Big colonnades resting on 5 feet high plinths are some striking features inside this temple, having many corridors comprised of hundreds of sandstone pillars, beams, and high ceilings. The total length of these corridors, which have more than 4000 pillars is about 3800 feet.

Colossal granite walls are carried out with fine carvings and images of Hindu deities. There are five main halls: Sukravara Mandapam, Anuppu Mandapam, Setupati Mandapam, Nandi Mandapam, and Kalyana Mandapam. Inside the sanctum sanctorum, the placement of two lingams- the Ramalingam and Vishwalingam can be seen. A big statue of Nandi, Shiva’s bull vehicle is also present here which surprises everyone with its 12-feet long, 9-feet high form.

Interesting Facts About the Rameshwaram Temple

The world’s largest temple corridor is in the third corridor of the Rameswaram temple which has about 1200 pillars standing 22 feet high. In honor of the glory of Rameswaram, the British Government had released a stamp having the picture of the temple. These stamps were released in 1935 and were circulated for a few years in this region.
Taste, temperature, curative properties, and salinities of the 22 teerthams within the temple premises fall at extreme ends. What is more surprising is their locations are very close to each other.
It is believed that Lord Rama dug these teerthams by firing his arrows through the sand.

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