Rameshwaram, a divine place,
from where Lord Rama found his way to get back his lady love Sita. This was my
only knowledge about the island, that too from my grand ma’s tales. I was
greatly excited to visit the place. I wanted to see Rameshwaram and check if it
is according to my imagination. Thoughts are always colorful though the reality
is never the same.
For me, belief in God is not
bonded to rituals. My faith with Him is pure without much show offs. Only place
I frequently stopover is Guruvayur. Apart from the poojas and customs, I find a
relaxed mood there. The idol of Lord Krishna is a favorite of mine. He is a
flexible character who has done all naughty and serious things like humans.
Also, I could pick a few colorful fancy ornaments from nearby shops at a
cheaper rate. In fact, it is really a good thing to collect lots of earrings in
just one visit and try it out for next few months. Similarly, it is the place
where my college is situated. I used to meet my college mates whenever I go.
Rarely, temples inspire me to
pray. All I do is look around the construction and sculptural works. Preachers
say God is everywhere and so I pray from my room, bus or even bathroom. Coming
back to my journey to Rameshwaram, I and my family started at around 7.30 am.
We had breaks in between for refreshments.
From the wild greenery of
Kerala, we moved to Tamil Nadu. Today, land of Tamilians is greener than my
homeland. Only difference is that it is all manmade vegetation. Sights of tiny
and huge temples, women with jasmine garlands, little girls with pots to
collect water, countless mopeds, hoardings and name boards written in Tamil,
cattle wandering in agricultural fields and acres of paddy fields welcomed us.
We reached Pamban Bridge.
Entrance fee is Rs. 100. All I knew about this bridge was a tagline from an old
ad of Shanker Cement. I must tell you, once in a lifetime you must travel
through this bridge. Awesome view and experience! There are two bridges with
the same name- one for railway and other roadway.
Both these bridges connect
island of Rameshwaram with the mainland of India. The bridges are built across
sea. It is also the meeting point of Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. We could
recognize two seas. Indian Ocean has dark blue water while Bay of Bengal is
pale blue. Our driver stopped the cab in the middle of the bridge for us to get
out and watch around. He warned, “Be careful!”
Take my word, if you have a
zero size body shape, you’d certainly fly up. The wind there is heavy. We were
there at noon and even then it was severe. Driver said it will be worse at
night. But the view is truly breathtaking. Sea….! My words are not enough to
explain its beauty. The sight of railway track will make you either scared or
keyed up. It is just a few centimeters away from the deep seawater.
Bhakti made my family to get
into the car without ‘wasting much time’ staring at sea. It seems there were
some poojas to be held for me and my hubby to lead a happy life. We went
straight to hotel rooms and kept our bags there. I don’t know why they made me
to hurry up to meet an old man. He was supposed to do our pooja. He was a
family friend of APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India and a great
visionary. There was a picture of him and Kalam hanged on his wall.
When we went in, he was busy
watching a Tamil serial. His assistant informed him about us and he came out.
He had all costumes of a spiritual leader except long hair. First thing he
asked us was “Are you from Pattambi?” It
was my husband’s homeland. When we nodded, he smiled. I guess his expressed so
because the one who had send us may have a tie up with this person and must
have informed him earlier to buy commission. He says there are three kinds of
pooja ranging from 5,000 Rs to 7,000 Rs. He said the benefit will be the same
for all these three. When my dad and husband was confused about choosing, I
strongly said I’d go for the lowest. Finally he told us to meet him after a
holy dip in the sea and rituals in the morning.
It was already 6pm. So we had
a bath and moved to the temple. I felt as if I had entered a huge fancy shop with shopkeepers
inviting us to buy ornaments. Rameshwaram is famous for things made of corals.
I bought a few earrings for my cousin sisters, bags for mom and in-law,
bracelets and bangles for me. Then we entered the temple. It had a stink with
no air circulated rooms. Also, the horrible smell of people with wet clothes
welcomed us to pray. Now you tell me, how I can worship in such an environment!
Even the people at counter of
prasadam were loudly banging on their table to attract devotees to buy
prasadams like laddu. Once we completed the visit, we went back to our rooms. As
the journey had made us tired, we had a good sleep.
To be continued...
