.JPG)
.JPG)
My Visit to the mystical place Rama Setu from Rameshwaram
Ram Setu is one of the most mysterious, devotional, mythological, and oldest places in Tamil Nadu, India. Ram Setu is named after Lord Rama, whose historic epic fight against Ravana in the Treta Yuga, is described in Lord Valmiki's epic mythological text "Ramayana". I hope there may be only a few people who doesn't know Ramayana. This epic mythological text "Ramayana" has taught us the meaning of mannth right from the childhood. So, let me give a brief summary of the importance of this mysterious place "Ram Setu".
According to Valmiki's Ramayana, there was an evil called "Ravana", whose kingdom was located in "Lanka", which people believe to be the current day Sri Lanka. The only way to reach Lanka was to cross the ocean which is assumed to be the current day Indian Ocean. Ravana kidnapped Lord Rama's wife, Goddess Sita, from the forest by misleading Her and the actual story begins here. While Ravana was taking Goddess Sita on his Vimana (flying device) by kidnapping Her, She was throwing Her ornaments from the air, to provide an evidence that She had been taken by this route. Accordingly, Lord Rama was searching for His wife, with His younger brother "Lakshman" throughout the forest and every corners of the land, when He finally came to meet Lord Hanuman, who was himself waiting for His master "Lord Rama" to recognize Him and His the blessings. Thereafter, taking Lord Hanuman and His sena (Vanar Sena), Jatayu, and others, Lord Rama began his journey in search of His wife Goddess Sita. Meanwhile Lord Hanuman reached Lanka by flying over the sky because of His immense supernatural power. As per the Hindu myths, He is the son of Lord Pavan Dev. After reaching Lanka, Lord Hanuman founded Lord Sita who was kept in a forest under Ravana's control, Ashok Vatika. Lord Hanuman would have easily recovered Goddess Sita from Ashok Vatika, but Goddess Sita denied, as She was confident that Lord Rama would definately recover him. Lord Hanuman assured Goddess Sita that, Lord Rama would definately recover Her by defeating Ravana. Thereafter, Lord Hanuman, left Lanka, by burning half of the potion of Ravana's kingdom and the battle began from there. Lord Hanuman provided this news of having met Goddess Sita, to Lord Rama, and assured Him that Goddess Sita was completely safe. Thereafter, two members of the Vanar Sena, Nala and Nila were said to have constructed a bridge (Rama Setu) made of floating stones on the ocean to reach Lanka. Thus Lord Rama reached Lanka by crossing the bridge and finnaly defeated by killing Ravana with the help of His entire army and one of the most important members of Ravana's kingdom, Bibhisan, who was himself the younger brother of Ravana. It was Bibhisan who provided the secret to Lord Rama about how to kill Ravana, because Ravana was said to have the blessings of being immortal with his 10 heads. It was impossible to kill Ravana as he was the supreme devotee of Lord Shiva with immense power. But, it was Bibhisan who knew the secret of how to kill Ravana. Thus, finally Lord Rama defeated Ravana and recovered His wife Godess Sita, and came back to His home, Ayodhya. Though I have narrated this epic "Ramayana" with a brief note, I would recommend you to read the entire epic story "Ramayana", which will surely make your life a fruitful one.
Okay, so, I have discussed about the epic "Ramayana". Now, it's time to describe my journey to that place (Rama Setu) where the incident "Ramayana" took place. I reached the place "Rameshwaram" at nearly 3 PM, from Kanyakumari via cab with my family, that took nearly 5 hours. We booked a hotel in Rameshwaram and on the next day morning, we went out for our most valuable trip to "Dhanuskodi" bridge, which is said to be the last land of India and the connecting point of Rama Setu to Sri Lanka. It took us 2 hours to reach "Dhanuskodi" bridge. While you travel to "Dhanuskodi" via cab, you will find only ocean on both side of the road, and the fishermen, whose lives are dependent on the ocean. When I stepped to "Dhanuskodi", I was feeling goosebump over my body, as I am standing in that place where once Lord Rama kept His feet. There are thousands of visitors every day, who comes to "Dhanuskodi" to see the last land of India, and is a few kilometers away from Sri Lanka. You can find a person who is helping people to see Sri Lanka through his telescope, in lieu of some money of Rs. 100, which you can enjoy seeing Sri Lanka through telescope.
Now, I like to say one interesting thing is that, if you ask any people of Rameshwaram about the exsistence of "Rama Setu", they will tell you that "Dhanuskodi" is the place from where "Rama Setu" begins. But actually, the Rama Setu point still exists, which is a bit far away from "Dhanuskodi", where you can reach only with the help of some local guides after taking permission from the Government. If you take the take the permission from the Government, you can reach to "Rama Setu" point, which is a small land with layer of sand, where you can walk, in the midst of the merging points of the three oceans, namely Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and Arabian Sea. It is said that in the fifteen hundred century, the entire "Rama Setu" was completely visible and people could reach Sri Lanka by walking over the Setu, before being washed away by a strong cyclone. However you cannot see the floating stones now, which were said to have constructed by "Nala" and "Nila" during the Ramayana period. It is also said from the reports that, once NASA, also revealed a picture from the satellite, showing the floating stones submerged under the water, connecting India and Sri Lanka. These floating stones once formed the "Rama Setu" which was consructed by "Nala" and "Neela".
The last and the formost thing I would say that, "Rama Setu" still exists, and it can be seen by a binocular from "Dhanuskodi". Hence "Dhanuskodi" is the place where reality meets history.
