1. Rameswaram Temple is located on the Pamban Island in the Gulf of Mannar, India. The temple is 10 km from the India’s famous tourist icon Pamban Bridge.
2. The temple is been praised for Ramanathaswamy a famous Hindu God. Lord Shiva is its primary deity.
3. Rameswaram’s earlier name was Gandhamadhanam. Rameswaram Temple is considered as one of the holiest pilgrims in India after Kasi.
4. Rameshwaram has 12 Jyotirlingas which symbolizes the Supreme Hindu God, Shiva.
The temple covers up the area of 15 acres.
5. During the reign of Pandya Dynasty major expansion happened. More particularly during the 12th century.
6. Moreover, the king of the Jaffna Kingdom, Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and his very own successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan, were the ones who renovated the temple’s principal shrine sanctum.
Theerthams is a holy water which is believed to purify ones soul. Before worshippers visit the temple they consume it. Millions of people visit Rameswaram Temple to receive this holy water.
7. There are 64 theerthams in which 22 theerthams are considered as holi water which is available within the temple. The surprise fact is all theerthams have unique taste even which is located very near to each other.
Brilliant Corridor Architecture :
8. The corridors inside the temple are extended between 400 feet and 640 feet towards the south and north direction.
9. The temple corridors have a height of 6.9 meters it consists 1,212 pillars. The impressive fact is when we look the corridor from one end to another end the pillars appear to meet in one single dot. Which defines the brilliant architecture of ancient tamil kings.
10. These herculine pillars are extremely helpful a strong foundation of the Rameshwaram Temple. Each pillar is carved with magnificent and artistic Hindu carvings.
11. The height of every pillar in this temple has is 30 feet. Isn’t it Magnificiant !!. There are three types of corridor inside the temple. The third corridor is the biggest one.
12. The temple was built with unusual structure that you would think that it is a huge concrete chess board the moment you see it for the first time. Granite stones were the main materials used in its reconstructions.
13. It’s said the main deity Ramalingam who was formed by Goddess Sita from sand materials. The Vishwalingam was brought from Kailash by Lord Hanuman.
14. The nandhi statue is 17 feet in height, width is about 12 feet which is made with bricks, lime stones and sea shells. The west gopuram (gate tower) is 78 feet in height and comprises of 5 tiers.
The East Gopuram (gate tower) is 126 feet in height and had 9 tiers.
15. It is belived that the pure granite stones were transported by means of ships and were used for reconstruction in 1414 CE.
Myth from Ramayana :
16. According to Ramayana, Rama is prayed to Shiva here to absolve sin of killing a brahmana during his war against the demon king Ravana. Rama wanted to worship Shiva. Rama ordered Hanuman to bring the lingam from Himalayas. Since it took longer to bring the lingam, Sita built a small lingam out of the sand available in the sea shore, which is believed to be the lingam in the sanctum.
British government praises Rameshwaram Temple not only in the history of India, but in the world history too.
17. Unknown fact is that the Third corridor in the Rameswaram Temple is considered as the world’s largest temple corridor. Truely Impressive !!.
