Rameshwaram a place less travelled....

I recently visited Rameshwaram also popularly referred as the 'Benaras of the south'. In order to attain Moksha it is believed that the visit to Rameshwaram is mandatory. I was there to offer prayers for my father’s soul to attain moksha. Rameshwaram is significant for the Hindus as a pilgrimage. Rameshwaram is the place from where Lord Rama, built a bridge across the sea to rescue his consort Sita, from her abductor, Ravana. This is also the place where Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to cleanse away the sin of killing Ravana.
We started by train from Chennai to reach Rameshwaram it must have been close to 12 hrs journey before we reach Rameshwaram in the wee hours of the morning. I had already booked for my stay at the Tamilnadu hotel at Rameshwaram from Chennai. So we got into an auto and landed straight into the hotel. I was shocked at seeing the hotel for it had pigs roaming around freely. Having come from Chennai and for its swine flue hype, I was in for a shock because no one actually cared about it. Having lodged into our rooms we got to meet the gurukal who was to do the pooja .He actually suggested us that the best way of doing the pooja was to go to Dhanushkodi . Danushkodi is named after Rama's bow, is at the eastern end of the island at a distance of 8 kms from Rameshwaram. Dhanushkodi was completely destroyed by the cyclones of 1964. One has to reach Dhanushkodi on foot along sea shore or in jeeps on sand dunes. I thought it was going to be a easy ride. Man I was totally in for a shock first with the jeep in which we travelled and then the place it was completely secluded and was devoid of neither human existence nor living beings. Haunting Yet appealing, deserted but still full of life,— Dhanushkodi is full of contradictions. But once we reached the spot I was completely take back by what I saw first. It is a sure delight if you have a penchant for impossibly blue seas, pristine white sands and ruins by the shore. the nearest telephone about 20 km away, out of reach of mobile signals and the feeling of being in a place which was once alive, now reduced to rubble, makes it a place truly less travelled. The road that leads to the land's end is lined with casuarina and the sea on either side. A ride down this 18 km-long, impeccably straight road leading to the ruins of a township is an exciting experience by itself. We travelled along with the grukual who told us that the Confluence of Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean happens here and that make the dip in the water very holy. This natural phenomenon has a lot of significance and most people revere the thought and hope to attain salvation as a culmination of their prayer, sacrifice and penance in this holy place. After performing the pooja and offering on our way back to the temple we stopped at Gandamadana Parvatham Situated atop a mound, the temple is known for Rama's footprints. This is also the place where Hanuman is said to made a great leap to Sri Lanka. The temple is two-story on which the sanctum is on the ground floor. From the balcony upstairs, Ramanathaswamy temple can be seen, as welll as northern tip of Sri Lanka. After visiting the temple and taking photographs we started back to Rameshwaram to visit the Ramnathswamy temple . This temple built in the 17th century and is famous for its 1200 gigantic granite columns. The 54 metre tall gopuram (gate-tower), 1220 metres of magnificent corridors and the flamboyant columns embellish and render fame to the temple. The water in each of the 22) sacred wells (the 22nd being the ocean itself) in the temple tastes different. We paid 300 Rupees to the bucketeer to dump water from each well to secure blessings. The water from each well is said to bless you in some way. After performing the pooja we moved backed to the hotel stayed there for a while and moved out of Rameshwaram on the same day. As children we had to do this to our father and it was the holiest of experience to be at Rameshwaram.

Ganesha Pilllayar

Ganesha/Pillayar

Many a time I have wondered why Ganesha or Pillyar had a different face, he is considered to be the god of beginning. He is the starting point of any activity but then why and how did the elephant head come into was question that I was dying to find out, my search on the net yielded me this story and I am happy to share the same with you all.

Hindu mythology presents many stories, which explain how Ganesha obtained his elephant or gaja head. Often, the origin of this particular attribute is to be found in the same anecdotes which tell about his birth. The stories also reveal the origins of the enormous popularity of his cult. Devotees sometimes interpret his elephant head as indicating intelligence, discriminative power, fidelity, or other attributes thought to be had by elephants. The large elephant ears are said to denote wisdom and the ability to listen to people who seek help.

The most well-known story is probably the one taken from the Shiva Purana. Once, while his mother Parvati wanted to take a bath, there were no attendants around to guard her and stop anyone from accidentally entering the house. Hence she created an image of a boy out of turmeric paste which she prepared to cleanse her body (turmeric was used for its antiseptic and cooling properties), and infused life into it, and thus Ganesha was born. Parvati ordered Ganesha not to allow anyone to enter the house, and Ganesha obediently followed his mother's orders. After a while Shiva returned from outside, and as he tried to enter the house, Ganesha stopped him. Shiva was infuriated at this strange little boy who dared to challenge him. He told Ganesha that he was Parvati's husband, and demanded that Ganesha let him go in. But Ganesha would not hear any person's word other than his dear mother's. Shiva lost his patience and had a fierce battle with Ganesha. At last he severed Ganesha's head with his trishula. When Parvati came out and saw her son's lifeless body, she was very angry and sad. She demanded that Shiva restore Ganesha's life at once.

Unfortunately, Shiva's trishula was so powerful that it had hurled Ganesha's head very far off. All attempts to find the head were in vain. As a last resort, Shiva approached Brahma who suggested that he replace Ganesha's head with the first living being that came his way which lay with its head facing north. Shiva then sent his celestial armies (Gana) to find and take the head of whatever creature they happened to find asleep with its head facing north. They found a dying elephant which slept in this manner, and after its death took its head, attaching the elephant's head to Ganesha's body and bringing him back to life. From then on, he was called Ganapathi, head of the celestial armies, and was to be worshipped by everyone before beginning any activity.