Temple Trails: Ramanathaswamy Temple-Rameshwaram | Day 2

Click here to read about Day-1


Day 2: 06th Oct 2018

The alarm on my mobile was ringing out loudly, jolting me out of my deep slumber.I wriggled out of my soft bed feeling the coldness of the AC, slowly I moved towards the table where my mobile was kept and checked the time on my mobile. I was 4:30 am. Normally I don't wake up so early in Mumbai but then I was not in Mumbai I was in the holy town of Rameshwaram and here the life starts full on at such unearthly hours.

Early Morning at Rameshwaram 

It was 5:30 am when we left our hotel to go to Rameshwaram Temple, Our hotel was at a walkable distance to the temple,so we started walking through the narrow sandy lanes, with small houses on each side and in few minutes we reached at Agni Theerthaam.

You must be wondering what is this Agni Theertham, well let me give you some info on this.

Agni theerthaam is nothing but a  small part of the sea just near the temple where the devotees take a dip in the ocean before proceeding to the Rameshwaram Temple.

Agni Theerthaam

Agni theerthaam is one of the 64 sacred baths in Rameshwaram, it is one of the most important theertham and receives a large number of tourists each day. Located on the beach side of Sri Ramanathaswamy temple, Agnitheertham is the only theertham situated outside the temple complex.

People perform religious ceremonies on the beach
 at Agni Theertham

Holy rituals such as prohithams, yangnya(yaham), tharpanam(ritual for the ancestors who were dead) are performed on the shores of Agni Theertham. Amavasya or No moon day and Poornima or Full Moon day is considered to be the most auspicious day for taking the holy Dip.

Gate at Agni Theertham

Legend and Agni Theertham:

Indian Pilgrim places are never short of myths or tales so naturally how can Agni Theertham escape from it. You see Sea and then you hear the word Agni which means Fire, Baat kuch hazam nai hui bahut confusion tha dimag me, hence I enquired with one of the local guys, so he started to narrate the tale as to how Agni Theertham got it's name,  It so happened that after winning the war over Ravana and saving Sita from the clutches of Ravana, one day Ram overheard a washerman shouting at his wife that he is no Ram that he will accept her just like Sita , who was with Ravana during her captivity. Who knows whether she is pure or not !! Hearing this Rama asked Sita to prove her purity as to whether she was touched by Ravana or not, Sita was hurt and furious but she didnt say anything. She requested Laksham the younger brother of Ram to set up a Funeral Pyre and once it was done She simply entered the flame of fire to prove her purity. 

Sita's Agni Pareeksha (Pic source internet)

She prayed to Fire God to protect her if she is pure and Sinless.Because Sita was pure, the fire didn't burn her and Fire god appeared before Lord Rama and said to Lord Rama "Your Sita is pure Please take her to Ayodhya with you". It is believed that because  Fire or Agni god touched a pure and sinless woman like Sita, thereby committed a sin,The fire god therefore, then prays to Lord Shiva to cleanse him of his sin and takes bath in this ocean waters, Thus the name Agni Theertham. 

Offering prayers at Agni Theertham

We too took the holy dip, hoping to cleanse our sins and soaked in all the energy of the morning sunrise and moved on to go to the temple.

Hired a local priest from outside the temple

As we were going to the temple we were approached by a local priest who ensured us of proper darshans and holy bathing at the 22 Wells of the temple. We paid him Rs.1500 for his service. We could have done this on our own too but just how you take a guide to understand a particular monument I felt, Let the priest be my guide today. 

View of Rameshwaram Temple from my Hotel terrace

Rameshwaram Temple :

Rameshwaram Temple is also known as Ramanathaswamy Temple.

Just like Meenakshi temple here to you are not allowed to carry camera, or mobile phones inside the temple.

Legend:

This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and there is a legend behind the construction of this Temple, accordingly to which Lord Rama while returning from Lanka prayed to Lord Shiva to absolve him from the sin of killing a Brahmin ( read Ravan here) Lord Rama wanted large lingam to pray so he instructed Humuman to get lingam from the Himalayas. However he was late in bringing the lingam so Sita quickly made a small lingam out of the sand available on the nearby seashore.

Some interesting facts:

1.It's one of the 12 jyotilingam in India.

2. It is also one of the dham out of the Chardhams, other three being Bhadrinath, Puri and Dwarka. Incidentally with the visit of Rameshwaram Im done with my Chardhams pilgrimage.

Char Dham of India (Picture source internet)

3.There are two lingams inside the sanctum - one built by Sita, from sand, residing as the main deity, Ramalingam and the one brought by Hanuman from Kailash called Vishwalingam. Lord Rama instructed that the Vishwalingam should be worshiped first since it was brought by Hanuman - the tradition continues even today.

4.There are 22 wells or Theertham inside the temple.beginning from Mahalakshmi, followed by Gayatri, Savitri, Saraswathi, Gavya, Gavyaksha, Nala, Neela, Sethumadhava, Gandhamadhava, Brahmahatya Vimochana, Shanku, Surya, Chandra, Chakra, Shiva, Sarva, Satyamrita, Gaya, Ganga, Yamuna and finally Kodi which is supposedly equivalent to a dip in the Ganges River,

5. Like most of the temples in South India this temple too has a tall boundary or compound wall admeasuring about 865 feet from east to west and 657 feet from north to south.

Colourful Corridors of the temple (Picture source internet)

6. The outer set of corridors is reputed to be the longest in the world, measuring about 6.9 m in height, 400 feet each in the east and west and about 640 feet in the north and the south.

I think I have given you enough information, but if you still want to dig in more click here to read.

Our Journey:

Now let us move on to our journey. We deposited our shoes at the shoe stand near the temple. We then proceeded to buy tickets for taking bath of 22 Wells. Luckily for us, as we had hired this local priest he bought the tickets and we were on course moving from one well to another and the priest pouring well water on us. Even though we were all wet, It was indeed amazing experience for us.

All wet after bathing in 22 wells
at Rameshwaram Temple

 Once we were done with this we changed into the dry clothes that we were carrying with us. (They allow you to carry your clothes) mind you the changing room is just a kind of enclosure with no roof, I wish at least for ladies section they should build a decent changing room.( It's sad that this temples get so many people from all over the places and yet they cannot provide for basic necessities) I changed into the lungi..oops sorry my South Indian friends corrected me,said it was not lungi but veshti.

When in South, be a south Indian !!

 We had darshan of Lord Shiva and moved out of the temple.

As photography is not allowed within the temple premises so sorry I cannot share many photos of the temple itself from inside.

We now decided to explore the local places in Rameshwaram, so please wait for my next blog on our local sightseeing of the Rameshwaram town. Till then have a great time.

PS. If you wish to read about my journey from the beginning please click here

How to Reach Rameshwaram:

By Air: Rameshwaram do not have an airport.Madurai Airport is the nearest airport(149kms)

By Rail : Rameshwaram Station is well connected with most of the major train routes.

By Bus: Rameshwaram is well connected with State Transport running regular buses, There is a regular bus services from Madurai (almost every 30 minutes)

Temple Trails | Meenakshi Temple-Madurai | Day 1

My wife wanted to visit all the 12 Maha jyotilingam and in order to fulfill her wish, like a good husband I am constantly chasing Shiva temples across the country. (Ab yeh aur baat hai ki mai apne aap ko nastik bolta hu 😝😝).

Incidentally Rameshwaram would be our 8th Jyotilingam.

All set with bag and baggage at Mumbai Airport. 

Day 1. 5th Oct, 2018

We had booked 8:40 am flight from Mumbai and reached Madurai by 1:30 pm. We could have taken train too from Mumbai to Rameshwaram but that would have resulted spending two days in a train which I would have loved all the more but time constraint and office commitment didn't allow me to do so. Warna rail ka Safar Sab se suhana Safar.

Getting down at Airports or Railway stations and finding a vehicle who will not flee you is a big task. At Mudurai  airport the taxi guys started with Rs.500 for taking us to the Meenakshi Temple and came down 400. But eventually we took an auto for Rs.250 who dropped us at the Meenakshi  temple.

Our First look of Meenakshi Temple

However we were informed that the temple will open at 4 pm  for a second I was "Arre yaar! ab kya kare but thankfully Dimag ki Bhatti jaldi jal gayi"

Arre yaar ! The disappointed looks on my face,
 when I was told that the temple will open at 4 pm

 We immediately decided that we will explore the temple and latter do the darshan, Luckily for us the temple was not crowded at that time of the day. Hence we were done with the Darshan in no time.

#Traveller Tip :
We had to deposit all our luggage, our cameras and even our mobile phones before entering. This means I wasn't able to click single picture inside the temple. However it means that even if you have luggage with you, you need not worry, simply deposit the same in the locker room and visit the Temple.

Meenakshi temple is an ancient temple situated on the southern bank of vaghai  river. This temple is dedicated to Meenakshi a form of Parvati and Sundareshwar ,a form of Lord Shiva.

Few of the highlights of this temple.

1. Meenakshi temple had a violent past, during the 14th century it was plundered by the moguls time and time again.

2. Though the temple is ancient, but what we see today was more of the rebuilding works carried out after the 14 century and later the temple was expanded by Nayak ruler , Vishwanatha Nayyakar.

Towering Gopurams of Meenakshi Temple (Pic sourced from internet)

3. Another highlight of this temple is that it has 14 gopurams. Few of them are very tall especially the main  four entry gates.

4. South gate or Gopuram is the tallest, ad-measuring 51.9 metres or 170 feet.

5. The pillars adorning the temple are very beautiful. In-fact I haven't seen such tall pillars with intricate carvings on them.

6.Inside the temple there is a shining golden Pole which shines ever so brightly.

Water Pond within the Meenakshi Temple Complex (Pic source Internet)

7. Then there is a water pond within the temple complex, where I was told that the devotees could cleanse themselves,however I didn't see anyone going to the pond. Probably it must have been closed.
8. One more interesting thing that I came to know was that the outer boundary wall of the temple  runs 800 feet and were built later so as to protect the temple from plundering.

1000 Pillar hall (Pic Source Internet)

9. Then there is famous 1000 pillar hall. I was told actually it's not 1000 but 985 in mumbers , I did try counting but lost the count. This 1000 pillars hall also has a museum attached to it and you need to pay 5 RS entrance fees.

Colourful Sculptures on the Gopurams

10. The Gopuram have many sculpture depicting various scenes from the holy text. The colour sculpture on the Gopuram are really very beautiful.

Colourful Sculptures on the Gopurams

Colourful Sculptures on the Gopurams

I can go on and on but the real beauty of the temple can be felt by actually visiting it. How I wish I can bring to you the beauty of this temple, but its my bad luck that till 2nd March 2018 carrying mobile phones were allowed, but then a fire broke out destroying certain portion of the temple which resulted on the ban order for mobiles. Click on the link to read about the ban order.phone-ban-in-force 

The mesmersing beauty of the temple wanted me to stay for some more time  but the paucity of time was advising me otherwise, as I was in a hurry today, so I had promised myself that I shall be back again and will devote one full day only for this temple.

Friends Hope you are  satisfied with my brief description of the temple. If you want detailed info you can click here and read.

In South to get good North Indian food ...Dil Khush ho gaya

We had a quick lunch at Madurai and then took an auto from minakshi temple to MGR bus stand . The auto guy charged us 150 for just 4.5 kms journey! Just as as we were going I suddenly remembered Oh Teri, Jigarthanda toh try karna rahe Gaya , so I requested the auto guy to take us to the Madurai famous drink Jigar thanda shop. He agreed on a condition that we must pay RS 50 more . I didn't have a choice so I said Ok.

Jigar Thanda literally means Heart Cool , Not to be missed

We had this jigarthanda, which I felt tasted more like  basundi with Malai and ice cream, but nevertheless it was worth taking the detour to savor the taste of jigar thanda.

It was evening now when we reached MGR bus stand. As soon as we got down at the bus stand, just how the vultures starts crowding their prey, the local touts all closed on us . I was looking out for the state transport but this tout said he will get me the ticket for state transport bus and then he took us to his shop. He showed me the seat chart and made me select the seats and then told me to pay 170 per ticket which I paid. He then told us to wait as the bus is due in next 20 mins. So we sat there and waited. He then asked me why don't we take a Pvt cab and go, he said they charge to and fro, madurai to Rameshwaram Rs.3000 but he will charge me 1500. I said no, He said 1200, I still said NO and made it clear to him that I intend to go by public transportation ONLY. He kept on ranting for next 10 mins and ultimately he realised that I cannot be convinced so he took me to the bus. As soon as I boarded the bus, obviously I moved towards the seats allotted to me and to my utter shock I noticed there were no seat nos, I knew immediately that I was cheated. My next worry was whether the tout has ripped me off my 510 RS , however the bus conducter waved at me so I was assured that I can sit now. I wasn't relieved until I got my tickets in my hand from the bus conducter, which incidentally I got after nearly travelling for 20 mins . .tab tak dimag me tik -tok full-on tension chalu tha.

All set for the bus journey to Rameshwaram

# Traveller tip :

a) There are regular buses plying from Madurai MGR bus stand to Rameshwaram, so don't speak to anyone and straight away reach the bus stand and look out for the bus going to Rameshwaram(.Year 2018- bus ticket cost 135 per person.)

b) There are two bus stand in Madurai, one is Periyar bus stand from where City bus ply, and other is MGR bus stand from where the outstation buses ply.

The setting sun on the horizon

The bus journey was like sitting in a formula 1 car, Driver was driving as if there was no tomorrow and over that high octane Tamil songs were blaring away on the speakers of the bus. But still I was enjoying every moment of this bus journey especially the sun setting on the horizon which was only adding the beauty to this journey. The 4 and half hour bus journey and we were at Rameshwaram.

Thank you for reading my blog and if you like it do comment and join my site, Tomorrow we shall be visiting the Rameshwaram temple so till then wait for the next part on Rameshwaram....

Click here to read Day Two- in Rameshwaram at Ramanathaswamy Temple

Solapur in a day | Part 3 | Bhuikot aka Solapur Fort

Bhuikot Fort means a fort that is built on flat land and not on a mountain.In Marathi language Bhui means Land and Kot means Killa or Fort. Thus the name Bhuikot.  Currently this fort is converted into a  garden and is under the ASI departrment, Located very adjacent to Siddeshwar temple pond, this place offers enthralling view. One Gets a good view of this fort in the backdrop from the Siddeshwar temple.

Bhuikot Fort in the backdrop can be seen from
Siddeshwar Temple

The Solapur Fort, also known as the Bhuikot fort is said to have been built during the reign of the Bijapur Sultanate of which Solapur was a part. Emperor Aurangzeb resided on this fort for a year between 1685-86 AD. Between 1795 and 1818 this fort was in the hands of the Maratha rulers. Bajirao Peshwa II lived in the fort.

External wall of the Solapur Fort

There are few very interesting stories about this fort which involves Dowry Theory. It is believed that Burhan Nizam Shah ruled Ahmednagar and Ismail Adilshah was in power in Vijapur , Inorder to strengthen the relationship between two states they decided to marry Adilshah's daughter with Nizam Shah of Burhan. The marriage was performed at this Solapur fort with great pomp.At that point of time(1523) Solapur fort was under the control of Adilshah of Vijapur and he declared that this fort shall be given as a dowry to Nizamshah. But after marriage he refused to give the fort which resulted in a war between the son in law Nizam Shah and his father in law Adilshah. Nizamshah lost the battle and fort remained with Adilshah. ( I am just wondering what happened to the wife of Nizam when her father cheated on her husband)

I think enough of history for the time being, now lets move on to our journey of exploration of this fort.

One of the bastion as seen from outside

Our Journey:

Early morning we finished our visit of Siddeshwar temple and moved out of the temple complex but not before trying our hands on the local sugarcane Juice machine. Travel me aise chote chote majje zaroor lene chaiye. Washing down two glasses of the sugar cane juice and listening to olden melodies blaring from the antique transistor was another highlight.

A small walk of 5 minutes we were at the gates of the Bhuikot. There was this ticket counter of ASI , we paid Rs 25 per person and entered the Fort Complex.

Entrance point with the ASI office

The moment you enter you are welcomed by the neat Garden and 2 Cannons pointing at you.

Cannons pointing toward the entrance door

The Cannons are well polished and you have the year of manufacturing on them, Monogram of the rulers. 

Year of manufacturing carved on the cannons

Monogram of the Rulers on the cannon

Over the years I have made it a practice to first explore the fort along the top of the Fort walls, which gives me good birds-eye view of the place and later I explore from within.Hence we moved toward the right side and climbed the stairs to reach the top of wall of the fort.

We climbed these stairs to reach the flag post platform.

Grass has grown at most of the places hence the watchman told us to be careful of the creepy reptiles.We smiled and nodded and went on our way.The outer side of the fort walls had lots of shrubs grown but the inside portion was easily walk-able.

Way towards the Flag post (PC: Dr Neha Mehta)

moving to the left from the stairs we reached the highest point of the fort ie. the Flag post platform. Standing here we could see the Siddeshwar Temple across the lake.

Siddeshwar temple as see from Solapur Fort

We spent some time here enjoying the breeze, absorbing the beauty around us and of course clicking lots of pictures

Today we realised what does the term leaping in joy meant 

Until pooja and me drew Nikhil Crazy😆😆and he has to throw his arms high in despair as if saying Kamino ab bas karo aur aage bhi badho. And both of us were like Hum nahi sudharenge, Ek photo aur Please 😛😛

 

Bola tha na... ki Hum nahi sudherenge 😆😆

Talking about the construction of the fort, there is a moat around the fort thus this creates Two layer of fortification one outer wall then moat and then the main fort wall. This main Fort wall is around 30 metres broad.Due to overgrown grass and bushes it was difficult to circumvent the entire fort. Hence we descended down the same stairs from where we had come and moved toward an other attraction of this fort, 32 Minar ki masjid .

32 Pillar Mosque

This masjid is on left side near the back end of the fort. Its an old masjid with 32 pillars. Basically its in ruins, Not maintained at all.

Low roof supported by the pillars

Moving inside the masjid you realise  that the roof is quite low and the pillars standing are all more identical in shape.

Identical Pillars

 We spent some time here and moved towards the Shiv Temple which is next to this masjid.

The structure is in complete ruins. Had it not being for the shivling at the lower base, Its difficult to make out that this structure was a temple.

Ruins of shiv temple 

The brown grill that you are seeing in the picture above, the shivling is place below that and we could see fresh flowers on it which meant that its used for worshiping. 

Shivling with fresh flowers

What I found strange about this temple was that the pillars here too looks quite similar to the one that I saw in the masjid. The question in my mind was did the  same ruler made both masjid and temple or this structure was something else and now shown as temple...

Please note the design of pillars

History often leaves so many questions open.I would like to have your views in comment column what is your take on this. 

From here on we moved towards the teen Darwaza which the ASI guy at the ticket counter reminded us not to miss. Actually the entrance of the fort in ancient times were from these Darwazas or Gates. But ASI had changed the entrance from the road side.

Main Gate of the Fort

The Entry gate of the fort is quite formidable, two bastion like pillars with a windows  along top is something typical of the architectural  designs of those times.

This was the last site that we visited at the Bhuikot or Solapur fort.  Generally one hours is enough to explore this fort but it took nearly 2 hours for us.( too much time spent on photos and masti)  We were now quite hungry hence we planned to sit in the lawn of the fort and munch some biscuits and chips before moving on to our next destination Naldurg Fort.

To read about our journey from the beginning click here