Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram

Two darshan windows around a two-hour afternoon closure, with six short poojas and a separate clock for bathing in the theerthams.

The HR&CE Department, which runs the temple, sets out its history in stages. It says the shrine was cared for by an ascetic until the 10th century. In the 12th century the Sri Lankan king Parakramabahu built the sanctum. In the 15th century Udaiyan Sethupathi, king of Ramanathapuram, and a merchant from Nagore built the western gopuram and the compound walls. In the 16th century Chinna Udaiyan Sethupathi Kattathevar, a chieftain under the Madurai ruler Viswanatha Nayak, added the Nandi mandapam.

Wikipedia adds that the Pandya dynasty expanded the temple in the 12th century. The Jaffna kings Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan (1380 to 1410) and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan renovated the sanctum, and Jeyaveera shipped stone blocks from Koneswaram temple in Trincomalee for the work. Most of the temple as it stands today is believed to date from the 17th century. HR&CE says that in that century Dalavai Sethupathi built part of the eastern rajagopuram.

Much of what visitors walk through today is the work of the Sethupathis of Ramanathapuram. Muthuramalinga Sethupathi, who ruled from 1763 to 1795, built the famous third corridor, known as the Chokkattan Mandapam. Statues of him and his two ministers stand at its western entrance. Wikipedia gives the total length of the corridors as about 3,850 feet, with about 1,212 pillars in the outer corridor, and describes the outer corridors as reputed to be the longest in the world.

The eastern rajagopuram was not finished until 1897 to 1904. HR&CE says the family of the Devakottai zamindar, from the Nattukottai Nagarathar community, raised the money and completed it as a nine-tier tower 126 feet tall. Today the temple complex covers about 15 acres of Rameswaram island.

Deity

Ramanathaswamy (Shiva) as a lingam

Jyotirlinga

The southernmost of the twelve

Char Dham

The only Shiva temple of the four

Corridors

About 3,850 ft, with 1,212 pillars

Theerthams

22 inside the temple

Temple area

About 15 acres

Why Rameswaram temple matters to Hindus

The temple legend, as HR&CE tells it, goes like this. Rama came to Rameswaram with Sita and Lakshmana, on the advice of the sage Agastya, to atone for killing Ravana. He sent Hanuman to Mount Kailash to bring a lingam. When Hanuman was late, Sita shaped a lingam from sand, and it was installed at the chosen hour. Hanuman came back, grew angry and tried to pull the sand lingam out, but could not. To calm him, Rama had Hanuman's lingam, the Vishwalingam, installed beside it and ordered that it be worshipped first. HR&CE says the first pooja of each day still goes to it.

Rameswaram is one of the four Char Dham sites, with Badrinath, Puri and Dwarka. HR&CE points out that it is the only Shiva temple of the four, and the only one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in the south. It is also a Paadal Petra Sthalam, praised in hymns by Appar and Sambandar, and later by Arunagirinathar, Thayumanavar and Muthuswami Dikshitar.

HR&CE says the Kashi to Rameswaram pilgrimage starts at Kashi and is only complete after worship of Ramanathaswamy here. It adds that Hindus see bathing in the 22 theerthams inside the temple as a duty of a lifetime. By tradition, recorded on Wikipedia, the 22 stand for the arrows in Rama's quiver.

More facts about Ramanathaswamy

Deity

Ramanathaswamy, a form of Shiva, worshipped as a lingam

Status

One of the twelve Jyotirlinga temples, and one of the four Char Dham sites

Hymns

A Paadal Petra Sthalam, sung by the Shaivite poet-saints Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar

Where

Rameswaram island, Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu

Administered by

Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, Government of Tamil Nadu

Corridors

A total corridor length of about 3,850 feet, with 1,212 pillars in the outer corridor

Main tower

The nine-tier eastern rajagopuram is 126 feet (about 38 metres) tall

Theerthams

22 inside the temple, with Agni Theertham on the seashore nearby

Also known as

Rameswaram Temple, Rameshwaram Temple, Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram Jyotirlinga, Ramanathar Kovil

The administrator publishes a short do's and don'ts list and a fee schedule. It publishes no dress code, and this page does not import one.

Wikipedia describes the climate of Rameswaram as dry and tropical, with low humidity. Most of the rain comes with the north-east monsoon from October to January. At the Pamban weather station the highest temperature ever recorded is 37°C and the lowest 17°C, so the island is warm all year. Much of a visit here happens outdoors, on the car streets and at Agni Theertham on the seashore, so the drier months outside that monsoon are the easier ones.

The time of day matters more than the month. HR&CE publishes darshan from 5.00 AM to 1.00 PM and from 3.15 PM to 8.00 PM, with the temple closed in between. Bathing in the 22 theerthams is allowed only from 5.30 AM to 12.30 PM and from 3.00 PM to 7.00 PM. If you want to bathe and then take darshan, start early in the morning, because the theertham hours end before the darshan windows in both halves of the day.

Tips before you go

• Leave umbrellas, walking sticks and anything made of animal skin behind. The administrator says they must not be brought into the temple.
• Time theertham bathing by its own hours, which end at 12.30 PM and 7.00 PM, not by the darshan closing times.
• Avoid arriving at 1.00 PM. The temple closes then and devotees are not let back in until 3.15 PM.
• Use the free footwear deposit on East Car Street or West Car Street.
• If someone in your group needs a wheelchair, ask at the Anuppu Mandapam, where the administrator says wheelchairs are available.
• The temple office is on East Car Street, phone 04573 221223, if you need to check anything before you travel.

Bathing in the theerthams is part of the pilgrimage for many visitors, and it runs to a different clock from darshan.

Bathing in the theerthams

The administrator states that 22 holy theerthams are located inside the temple premises and that pilgrims are allowed to bathe in them from 5.30 AM to 12.30 PM and from 3.00 PM to 7.00 PM.

Those hours end half an hour before the morning darshan window closes and an hour before the evening one does, so anyone planning to bathe first and then take darshan has less time than the darshan hours suggest.

Reaching Rameswaram

The administrator lists the bus stand and the railway station each 1.5 km from the temple, with direct buses from the main cities of Tamil Nadu and trains from cities including Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Kanniyakumari and Tiruchirappalli.

The nearest airport it names is Madurai, about 180 km away. The temple office is on East Car Street, Rameswaram, and its listed phone number is 04573 221223.