This is day 2. The day is supposed to be a trip to Rameshwaram, this is an island situated in gulf of mannar. I asked mum not to wake up very early as i knew that next three days were going to be extensive on journey. But, the day starts at 6:00 AM. I have difficulty opening my eyes, but then something tells me that you are going to check out the south eastern tip of India, c'mon. And i jump out of the bed. Ready to run at 7:00 AM. With bag on my shoulders, i enter into the bus to find some of the known faces. We all smile at each other. I take out my camera and share some of the pics with the gal, who is amazing photographer. She shows hers to me. We all settle for a 3 hours bus ride. I keep showing the farms to mum in the way. We finally smell something BAD, alright, this is fish and we are near sea. Mum was happy, she told that she loves the horizon and i realize that so do i. There seems to be a point where sea meets sky and there is no visible piece of land. And trust me, for a moment, everything looks like a beautiful painting to me.
We pass pamban bridge on the sea. Its a beautiful site. The bridge is constructed on sea and there is a parallel railway line which runs along. There is water all around.
We stopped to see a floating stone's temple. There are some stones which when thorwn in water, do not drown. It is said that the ones' touched by Nal and Neel from hanuman's army do not drown. This indeed is interesting. One temple was ruined by tsunami, but then they show the ruins.
We reached the main rameshwaram temple. There is a queue of people who are willing to sell you moksha for Rs 50/-. The package includes taking a plunge in sea, then they will throw water from 22 wells on you( which will make u holy), then if you pay 150, you will be given special prefernce over people who are standing in queue. Ok, i get that.
The whole temple is muddy and watery because people have to go through the 22 well bathing. Its supposed to purify ones soul, but you should take bath after being through 22 wells, your body is separate from soul. This was an interesting experience. Millions of people is all i remember. The temple is huge. Again an architectural marvel and yes indeed the water from 22 wells does not dry up even after millions of people take bath in it. It is said that water from each well tastes different and Lord Rama had to go through this before he sat down to pray to Lord Shiva.
We came out of temple soon. This was time to explore surroundings. I loved the sea though it was dirty at the shores. I sat down at a cleaner side and observed a ship pass by. It was a small, wooden boat. The person rowing it was a fisherman. He was heading in a huge sea with his fishing nets. He does not know about moksha, he knows that he has come on earth and he needs to earn to survive. He waves his hand and so do i. I know everyday he heads closer to moksha. I look at the temple in back ground, God is smiling again. He says, you all come to me and there are millions who earn from your coming, look at it positively. I set my eyes at the small fading boat again. I got my answer God, OK!! :)
Location- Rameshwaram
Distance- 200 kms from Madurai (3-4 hours journeys)
Food- Average ( You get all kind of Indian food)
Cleanliness- Its a holy place, so dont expect anything
Places to visit- See the south eastern most tip of India from pamban bridge, check out the sea, do go through 22 wells(they never dry), check out the temple architecture. Yes, you can see Abdul Kalam's house in Machalipatnam. Floating stone temple.
Caution- Be rational.
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