When the travel bug bites us, we go in search of exotic places, traveling so many miles and wonder at the scenery or historical or cultural significance of that particular locale. But often we miss the ones closer home, maybe because the place is not so well known or maybe it is not a typical travelers first choice. But when we think out of the box when choosing our travel destinations, we will end up finding excellent locales, much to our surprise, sometimes even closer home. This happened to me recently, when I visited Rameshwaram, or the Gulf of Mannar (in Tamilnadu) recently with a group of friends.

I thought Rameshwaram was only for senior citizens who want to complete their ritualistic Varnasi-Rameshwaram cycle. But I got a pleasant surprise as to what the entire place has to offer, apart from the famous temples. Rameshwaram is 13 hours (by rail) away from Chennai, with the nearest airport being Madurai. It is in the tip of Tamilnadu, just miles away from the Srilankan coast. While entering Rameshwaram by train itself, the 3 KM long Pamban-bridge amazed me with its engineering marvel. This bridge is the life line that connects Rameshwaram (which is an island) with the mainland.

I have attempted to bring out all that this place has to offer for any traveler, in two parts, the first one about the Gulf of Mannar, and the second one about the temples in Rameshwaram.

Dhanushkodi

We started our visit with Dhanushkodi, some 20 KM from Rameshwaram, the ghost town which is situated in the South-East of Pamban. We were told that in 1964, Dhanushkodi was destroyed completely in a cyclone, and now all that remains are just ruins, and the place as such is uninhabited. From the Dhanushkodi beach, we had to forsake our van and get into a semi-open truck (four wheel drive) as this was the only vehicle which could traverse through sand. And, what a memorable ride it was! Just expanse of sand at either side with the sight of the placid beach afar, the vehicleliterally cut through vast expanse of sands. As Dhanushkodi is just 18 KMs from Srilanka, security is tight, and even photography is prohibited by the Navy.

We saw a lone church standing as ruin amidst the vast expanse of sand bearing witness to the cyclone that claimed this town (and its residents) in the 60s. Noone could speak or comment, as we could recreate what would have happened on that fateful night so many years ago!

Gulf of Mannar

In 1986, a group of 21 islets lying off the Tamil Nadu coast between Thoothukudi and Dhanushkodi were declared Gulf of MannarMarineNational Park; the park was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 1989.

There are many beaches in this region; but one common aspect holds true for all of them there are hardly any waves in any of these beaches and they are conspicuous by their shallow waters. In other words a non-swimmers paradise! Who needs to swim if you can walk even up to 1 KM into the open sea which is as placid and calm as a lake, with the water raising only waist deep or chest deep!

There are nearly 21 uninhabited islands in Gulf of Mannar, but permission from Fisheries ministry is needed to visit most of them. One can get lost in the beautiful beaches in Kurusadai and Ariyaman, with their pristine white sands and azure sea.

The Gulf of Mannar is known to harbour over 3,600 species of flora and fauna, and 117 hard coral species, which makes it one of the only four places in India to have coral reefs (the other three being Andaman & Nicobar islands, Lakshadweep islands and the Gulf of Kutch).

A view of the glass bottomed boat

Dolphins, sea turtles and sea cows are said to frequent these seas, but we didnt have the privilege of seeing them. The local fishermen informed us that the spawning of coral is a spectacular sight at a particular time of the year.

The pristine beaches, the forsaken islands, the awe-inspiring coral reefs, the ghost-town with ruins these are just a few amazing diversity this place has to offer. The temples are a different deal altogether, which I hope to capture in the next part.

To be continued - Part II - Temples of Rameswaram

Some links which provide more insights on Gulf of Mannar, coral reefs and corals:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_reef

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral

http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112361/coral/coral.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_of_Mannar