Rameshwaram - One of the holiest places for Hindus

Not being a very religious person, I checked for any interesting places while I decided to join few others to visit Rameshwaram, that is a well known and one of the holiest places in India. The famous Ramaswamy temple here in Tamil Nadu state of India has one of the biggest corridors in the world with 1219 m in length and over 4000 pillars which was constructed in Dravidian style of architechture. This is one of the famous Hindu chardham temples and others include Badrinath in Uttarakhand, Puri in Odisha and Dwarka in Gujarath.

According to the legend, after killing Ravana in Sri Lanka, Lord Rama had to get rid of his karma for having killed the demon Ravana in battle. Although Ravana was an evil being and had to be killed, in accordance with the karmic rules of the universe, killing someone has its own consequences and Rama needed to atone for his actions. 


Lord Rama directed Hanuman to bring a sivalingam to pray from Kailash, however since it was delayed shivalinga made of sand by Seetha was used for his prayers. Hanuman returned and supposed to have tried to remove the one created by Seetha number of times, but failed. Lord Rama pacified Hanuman and hence one can find both of shivalingas here and both are worshiped by the devotees.

 Holy Teerth:

There are 22 thirthas or the holy water bodies within the temple premises. Each water body has a name depicting many mythological stories. Every year, thousands of pilgrims come to Rameswaram from all over to wash away their unwanted negative karmas by bathing in the sea of Rameswaram followed by a bath at the 22 temple wells of the main temple.Bathing from these tanks/wells is a ritual and considered holy. 

Few of them are  Rama teerth, Sita Kund, Jata Teerth, Lakshman Teerth, Kapi Teerthas, Brahmakund, Galawa teerth, Mangala teerth, Kodandaram teerth, Pandav teerth etc., The waters at all these places is sweet and has a taste of its own. 

History about the different theerthams:

• Mahalakshmi Theertham: Yudhistra took bath and got rich and famous as well.

• Savithri Theertham: Kashyapa got rid of his curse after holy dip in this theertham. Whoever takes holy dip in this theertham would get rid of all the curses. King Kasibar got rid of his curse.

• Sethu Madhava Theertham: Whoever takes holy dip in this water would be blessed by Mahalakshmi, their purified of impure thoughts.

• Gandhamadana Theertham: One will get rid of their penury

• Kavatcha Theertham: One protected from torture at hell.

• Gavaya Theertham: One will be blessed to be under Kalpa Vriksha tree.

• Nala Theertham: One will be able to take blessing of Lord Surya and reach heaven.

• Brahmahathi Vimochana Theertham: Will be absolved of many sins like killing a Brahmin, consumption of intoxicated drinks etc

• Sooriya Theertham: Attain the ability to receive knowledge of the past present and the future.

• Ganga Theertham: Gananasuruthi Rajah attained wisdom.

• Siva Theertham: absolving of Brahmahathi sins

• Sarva Theertham: Sutharishna got rid of his blindness (from birth), illness and old age and then he prospered.

• Kodi Theertham: Lord Krishna got rid of his sin of killing his uncle, Kamsa.

Sethu Karai:

Sethu Karai, 22 km before the island of Rameswaram from where Lord Rama is said to have built a Floating Stone Bridge Rama sethu from Rameswaram that further continued to Dhanushkodi in Rameswaram till Talaimannar in Sri Lanka as mentioned in the great epic Ramayana. We still can witness in a temple where floating stone is kept. 

Kothandaramaswamy Temple:

This beautiful road leading to this temple had sea on either sides and the dead end in the sea to the right stood this temple called Kothandaraswamy temple. This was yet another interesting story of Vibhishana, the younger brother of Ravana who had asked Rama and his army for refuge. According to the mythhology after the abduction of Sita, Vibhishana advised Ravana to return her to Rama. However, Ravana did not listen to the advice, which led to Vibhishana fleeing from Lanka and joining Rama's army. When Vibhishana surrendered to Rama, the vanara army urged Rama not to accept Vibhishana believing him to be a spy. However, Rama accepted Vibhishana under the insistence of Hanuman stating that it is his duty to protect the ones surrendered to him. It is also said that after the slaying of Ravana, Rama performed the "Pattabhishekam" (ascension to king of Lanka) for Vibhishana at this place. The story is depicted in painting across the walls inside the shrine.

Villondi thirtham:

Villoondi Theertham literally translates to 'buried bow', is located around 7 kilometres from the main temple on the way to Pamban. It is believed to be the place where Rama quenched the thirst of Sita by dipping the bow into the sea water.Other major holy bodies are Hanuman Theertham, Sugreeva Theertham and Lakshmana Theertham.

Dhanushkodi:

Dhanushkodi is the southernmost tip of the island and houses the Kothandaramaswamy Temple dedicated to Rama.

Though Dhanushkodi was washed away during the 1964 cyclone, the temple alone remained intact. It is 18 km way from the centre of the town and can be reached by road. A popular belief is that, Dhanushkodi is where Vibishana, a brother of Ravana surrendered before Rama in the epic Ramayana.

Pambam Bridge:

Pambam Bridge was the first Sea Bridge of India and the second longest Sea bridge of India, where one can witness both Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean.

Also, one must not miss watching the sunset from a parallel bridge to watch this amazing Pambam bridge that is about 2.3 Km on the sea connecting Rameshwaram on Pambam Island to the mainland India. It is a cantilever bridge on the Palk Strait and has a double-leaf bascule bridge section that can be raised to let ships pass under the bridge.

With the colorful sea background, boats and the sunset changing the colors of overall landscape and train passing the bridge with few pea hens made a splendid scene to watch and something that cannot skip one’s memory.

Dr.Abdul Kalam:

A small town that hardly had good schools gave us one of the best scientists and humblest President of India ‘Abdul Kalam’. 

We were fortunate to visit the ‘House of Kalam’ that had a small Museum about this great personality and all about his achievements in display.

On the way we also had a chance to see the school where he studied.

2 days is sufficient and there is a TTDC hotel and other hotels as well to stay as well. There is no direct trains from Bangalore. However, sufficient number of sleeper buses are easier to commute as it is a overnight one.

Iramara Guppi - A trek to remember for life

We were going to a place called 'Devara Dibba' Gangikal near Kalasa. The name justified God's presence and The Almighty TRIGGERED a button for us to realize the value of life and announced we really are MINUTE in this Universe.

Mullodi is a village that has many villagers who have made their houses a home stay from where they take us on trek to Devara Dibba and other places.  Reaching Mullodi was a task itself as we needed to take a jeep from the main road of Kalasa and the route was steep, muddy and rocky! We reached Mullodi and were welcomed by Arun at whose house we were to stay and after refreshing ourselves we left for the trek and Arun was our guide.

We were 6 of us who left with Arun. Devi, Sharath, Rajesh, myself and Mahesh with his 8 year old son Dhruva was our team. Dhruva was like mercury and was very inspiring to all of us to be more active. We found a beautiful waterfalls on the way.

We crossed over a small river through the forest and reached a beautiful spot from where we started trekking. This place had grasslands, with some difficulty and breathing hard I was enjoying the scenic beauty and climbing those hills. After a while it was more steep, Devi, Rajesh and I were trekking, while Rajesh was asking about the stories of Ladhak to divert our tiredness, while the father-son duo, Sharath  and Arun had gone far ahead of us. 

We were also discussing about a techie who got lost in a jungle a month ago and returned after 3 days that was in news! With some sense of humor of being lost and imagining ourselves on news channels taking some good laugh breaks, also deliberately taking breaks giving an excuse to click pictures, drink water, tying the shoe lace properly, all of this kept me busy and I did not realize climbing those steep high hills. Otherwise, I am unsually the laziest and last to reach any destination.

 Finally, reached the top and felt how lucky we were to be in such a beautiful place, insisted that we take rest for sometime, I  opened by bag took out 'chikki' to eat. We were kind of scattered and sat to enjoy the beautiful place. 

AND WITHIN SECONDS, THE BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS TURNED  TOPSY-TURVY!

Arun noticed certain uninvited guests and there were about 4 to 5 wild bees flying above. He then advised us to just go low on the ground with the jackets on our head, not move and they would leave soon. While we did that, within seconds numerous bees rushed inside the jacket buzzing and stinging, though in pain I tried my best not to move as advised. 

I  looked up at the sky for a moment, the color was no more blue, instead there were hundreds of bees filled above. Next to me was Mahesh and his son Dhruv. Mahesh said he was trying to light a match he had, but there was nothing around that was dry to light up. After few minutes, I heard one loud scream by Dhruva and then Mahesh loudly said, we should simply leave the place and both ran and I started following them, they were too fast to follow and soon vanished. The bees were following ferociously entering into jacket, attacking my hair,face and body. 

I was blindly running, sliding, rolling and fell a couple of times to get away from the bees. They were simply following me as if they loved me the most in the world!

Then I suddenly noticed there were none around, the 360 degrees picture perfect landscape had no start or end, this was the moment I knew I have lost my way, thoughts rushed into my mind 'If I had enough something in my backpack to eat', 'what if I am going to encounter any wild animals', 'how will I manage when it gets dark', 'trying to analyse if I am going in the right direction and if anyone will ever find me again'!  Uff... I screamed out for Arun and others but to vain. I then continued to run wherever I felt like for about 10 to 15 minutes..

I was finally releaved when I heard Arun shouting at me to get into the forest below, where he stood inside the woods. I again asked Arun to stay in a trembling voice so that he is be visible (I believe bees get confused and do not attack if you are within woods) There, Sharath also was waiting, who had reached by rolling over the grasslands.

I stood in the woods with blank mind, feeling my soul shiver and a shock in my body. As we stood there, we slowly removed  the stingers from most parts of my body. Rajesh was more worried, was looking for all of us and joined us finally. Arun then left to check about Mahesh and Dhruva his son who had left to the homestay. I saw Devi standing from where we had entered the forest.

I was completely exhausted, semi-conscious and felt nausea possibly due to the reactions of numerous painful stings, toxins reacting, tired physically and possibly due to the panic as well. We still had to walk for more than a kilometer from there! Rajesh and Sharath had a tough time motivating me to reach the home stay as I could barely walk, I often was lying down on the path and heard feable voices and saw black & white surroundings. They gave me electrol and water that Sharath brought from the river going down again though he was in pain,  I threw up all of it. With their support and encouragement I was in a sigh of relief to reach the homestay and saw the jeep. I got into the jeep with another thud on my forehead while I sat next to our driver and we directly headed towards hospital.

Luckily the bees had spared the 8 year old  Dhruva, who did not have a single sting aslo. Doctor also had an opportunity to scold us that we folks come from city, do not know the consequences and so on. He literally insisted us to get admitted where we were loaded with drips and medicines for few hours in a huge hall at Kalasa. Wow.. we started exchanging our experiences of what happened to each of us while on bed and did not know when we soon fell asleep. And this was the most peaceful sleep ever I had in my Life.

What an ADVENTUROUS nature's fury experience! I smile when there is a bee around buzzing even now :)

Thanks may be a very small word for all the help provided by 'The Adventure Gypsies' I certainly would like to go again, visit the other place that we missed for the next day!

Back home, I had a total of about 38 sting marks on my body :) Also about 5 bees traveled home with me who were in my jacket and bag.

They would have been swarming or something would have disturbed them to go wild. 

http://www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-Killer-Bees  was something I looked at immediately after I reached home.  Its their nature, I DO NOT AGREE they are KILLER bees :)

This would anyway be handy for any trekkers and help them mentally prepare, just in case!

For more pics of this beautiful place visit
More pics of Iramara Guppi

The Ladhak Journey

July 2014 

While reading and hearing numerous stories which referred to ‘Himalayas’ since my childhood, were all imaginary scenes of mountains, snow, river, the blue sky with birds which usually was transferred into my drawing books and to color itself was exciting.

Today, my dreams have come true. I have been blessed with a boon granted by the God of Himalayas, still relishing the delicious food of nature for my soul LIVE! Thanking God for providing me opportunities to experience such spectacular journeys of life by visiting the Land of multi-colored and snow-clad mountains, deserts, unique translucent lakes which were all visual treat to our eyes and soul.

I often have the habit of not doing the google for images and always love giving my eyes and soul surprises! No wonder often it is heard and spoken by people about the feeling of magic to revisit Himalayas and wishing to never return. Lucky to be born here and witness these amazing places in our beautiful Country.

Our flight landed at Chandigarh and we reached Manali in the night to start our journey with other friends from Manali to start our journey of visiting places in Ladhak. Places covered were Chandigarh-Manali-Jispa-Baralachala-Rohtang-Pang-Tso Moriri-Pangong Tso-Nubra Valley-Lamayuru-Turtuk-Kardung la-Leh-Wakha-Kargil-Dras-Zojilla-Sonamarg-Srinagar.

Weather varied from warmest, pleasant and  coldest too. On the way, we witnessed  number of small streams and waterfalls  formed due to the melting of snow. 

Along the  way, one can see herd of yaks  across  mountain streams. There are lush  green fields, army cantonments and even small lakes left behind by retreating  glaciers.

Jispa

Jispa with a elevation of 10,500 ft is a village in Lahual and Spiti district in the Indian state of HImachal Pradesh. It is located 20 km north of Keylong along the Manali- Leh Highway. Ladakh comes from la (meaning pass) and dakh (meaning related to). It is part of the State of Jammu & Kashmir in the northernmost tip of India sharing borders with Pakistan, China and the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. 'Ju-Ley' was how they said Hello, Bye, oftentimes Okay and its the kind of unique identity of a Ladakhi.

Baralachala la  

Bara-lacha la is a high mountain pass in Zanskar range connecting Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Ladhak in Jammu and Kashmir situated along the Lah-Manali Highway. A beautiful lake or Tal was surrounded by stunningly beautiful snow capped hills. 

Rohtang pass

Rohtang Pass, is a high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali. It connects the Kullu Valley with the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys of Himachal Pradesh, India

Tso Moriri Lake

Tso Moriri lake, in Korzok and a part of Changtang, was a spectacular site amidst mountain ranges. The lake measures about 28 km in length and about 4-6 km in breadth and about 100 feet average in depth.

However, had a mild headache which was due to lack of oxygen I was told and often couldn’t walk few decent steps too. However, I made up my mind to climb a hill behind from which one could get a better view. Had to take about 10 steps on count and sit for a while before I continued to reach the view point

Nubra Valley

The journey was more beautiful with green oasis villages surrounded by thrillingly stark scree slopes, boulder fields and harsh arid mountains than the destination. Monasteries, Stunning sceneries and multi-coloured mountains of the valleys, Meadows and deserts and the double humped camels was unique.

It is situated in the north of Ladakh between the Karakoram and Ladakh ranges of the Himalayas The average altitude of the valley is 10,000 Ft. above sea level. The Shayok and Saichen Rivers drain Nubra. The flat part of the river is sandy & occupied by green farms & myricaria. The villages look pretty with greenery, willow & poplar trees

The Shyok River meets the Nubra or Siachan River to form a large valley that separates the Ladakh and Karakoram Ranges. The Shyok river is a tributary of the Indus river.

Camel Ride at Hunder

The double Humped camel were looking good, personally I had no interest to trouble them and did not want to differ from others hence loaded myself on to one of them. The colors of kilometers of sand dune was purely magical. The ride on the Bacterian Camels over Sand Dunes of Hunder around  the sunset increased the charm of our vacation.

Tso Kar Lake 

A small lake on the way to Pangong was stunning too.

Pangong Tso Lake

Had heard of Pangong Tso lake a lot, this was one serene place located at a height of 14,000 ft in the eastern part of Ladakh. Despite the saline water, heard it freezes completely in winter and the lake is accessible only in summer as the roads are blocked by snow in winter. Sixty per cent of the 134-km lake is belongs to China and the rest is of India.

We planned to carry sarees and have a photoshoot, which was exciting for all of us. Though very cold besides the lake we wore sarees with sports shoes and soon after the clicks we hurried to wear jackets and returned to our tents. Memories forever!

This lake was truly unbelievable and I was  dumbstruck at its view, insisted and got down  from the vehicle to walk for about a Kilometer  and every step I took towards the lake, I  witnessed an astonishing combination of colors in the lake like the emerald green, ink blue, sky blue and so on.

The lake itself is like a picture postcard.Once  you embark on its shores, you will not tire of  sitting and enjoying the vast canvas i in front of  you. The domineering mountains, snow-clad  peaks in the distance, soft cotton clouds  floating above the lake of Emerald colors is  a festive  for our eyes.

Hall of Fame Museum

Hall of fame has displays on Ladakhi culture on the ground floor and the war with Pakistan over the disputed Siachen Glacier and Kargil on the first floor. It has been built by the Indian army to pay homage to its fallen heroes. Hall of Fame was worth visiting to witness and salute our Martyrs who have laid down their lives for our Country. Military folks, their vehicles and their basecamps were the usual sights on border roads, Hats off to all the Martyrs and to who are still safeguarding us and our Country.

 

The Shanti Stupa

The impressive white-domed monument was built by a Japanese order keen to spread Buddhism by building temples throughout the world. With some financial assistance from the Japanese government, the Shanti Stupa was opened by the Dalai Lama in 1985. A beautiful three-km winding drive takes you to the top of the hill where it is located. 

The breathtaking view from the top, especially of Leh below and the Indus Valley is worth a visit. The view is particularly remarkable,the stupa looms above Leh is impressive. Visiting Thikse monastery,which is one of  the  most vibrant monasteries in the region.  It dates back to the 16th century and is part   of  the Gelug-pa Sect.  The monastery is 12  storied and painted in deep shades of red and white.

Leh

Leh is the second largest district in the country after Kutch, Gujrat.

Leh was an important stopover on trade routes along the Indus Valley between Tibet to the east, Kashmir to the west and also between India and China for centuries.

The main goods carried were salt, grain, pashm or cashmere wool, charas or cannabis resin from the Tarim Basin, indigo, silk yarn and Banaras brocade. I also bought a deep red Pashmira stole which was very unique, soft and silky :) 

All the beautiful roads and destinations that came straight out of the ‘world of fantasies’ in the Ladhak region is a must visit place. Best thing happened was to pillion ride on bikes that helped view the places ‘better’ and felt the power of being free rather than in a 4 wheeler. Thanks to the bikers who agreed to carry my weight throughout on their bikes for about 1500kms..Oops that was quite some, but was worth every bit! I bothered the bikers by shaking on bad roads couple of times while riding to take pictures.

Friends forever

Met strangers who are now friends, cant forget the fun, dance, songs, walks, bike rides we all had. The Moonlight was my favorite and the sounds of the river flow just next to our stay is unforgettable. It was an excitement to wake up early to go to a different place and also listen to the next day's program every night before winding up!. A life time friends and experiences :

I was so tempted to turn left and right to click pictures bothering Amol who was riding the bike. His voice still echos 'HILNA MAT 'you have 30 seconds' while i quickly got ready with my hand and leg guards :)  Also, can't forget Nirav, who was simply riding without any knowledge of whereabouts of other bikers and we returned all the way 20 kms :p And his unforgettable dialogue when I asked if I can be his pillion 'Zyada senti mat ban Batja' 

Enjoyed the pillion ride that I got addicted and was feeling uncomfortable and trapped in the car!

We all had a great time, get together at Leh relaxing after days of journey. Satsang by Nirav was ultimate and I realized the meaning of REAL 'ROFL' that time. Unforgettable!  Friends forever, the great sense of humor which I will cherish for life which no money in the world can buy :) 

Kardung la(Pass):The highest Motorable Road in the world (18,379 ft)

The pass on the Ladakh Range lies north of Leh and is the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys. Built in 1976, it was opened to motor vehicles in 1988 and has since seen any automobile, motorbike and  mountain biking expeditions.

Turtuk Village

A remote village of about 4,000 residents, inhabited by ethnic Muslims, a few kilometres from the 'line of control' (the de facto border) between India and Pakistan, on the Indian side. Very close to the Line of Control, this village is a pictureqsue Village, with silvery mountain peaks and golden barley farmlands- both run together presenting a great picture.

Lamayuru

11th century LAMAYURU MONASTERY, which was spectacularly was located along the valley plain and surrounded by mountains on all sides. It was a beautiful site to see wherein the houses were constructed within the mountains which was strangely beautiful. According to legend, the Arhat Madhyantika, a disciple of Buddha offered "torma' (sacred food) and water to the spirits inhabiting the site to satisfy them. A handful of rain spilled on the soil which caused barley plants to sprout in the shape of Yung-drung (swastika).

Some of the beautiful places we passed through were Kargil, Zozila pass, stayed at Wakha Village on the way to to Srinagar.

Kargil

Zojila Pass

Wakha Village  

Next morning we left to Srinagar and the NH-1 route Leh to Srinagar Highway was excellent with stunning different landscape of mountains at every turn. This is a must take route atleast once in life time!

     

Srinagar

Back in Srinagar after 2 months in a beautifully carved boat-house surrounded with water, shopping early morning on waters just outside from the Shikaras (small boats) was an unique experience) Not remembering the days and dates without network connectivity were in disguise for a humanly life.

The Challenges

Friends, beware and mentally be prepared of the severe after affects hangover of the places we visit. It has atleast become a biggest challenge of late to get back to the reality. I have arrived quite sometime back and and still cant get over it! The pictures takes you back and one tends to relive often and is extremely addictive :) 

Slippery roads for bikers due to many streams overflowing on the roads, Road blocks due to which we may lose of time to travel, Narrow roads for to and fro,

Altitude sickness is something one should be prepared mentally and physically to enjoy the nature. 

Thanks to Badri who started giving us instructions to improve our lung power by exercising and various other activities like continuously drinking water so that we get enough oxygen and do not get dehydrated. At high altitudes and with low levels of oxygen, I personally had severe headache at times and dizziness too!

Couple of them needed to take oxygen on the way too. Our military folks and the Medical camps on the Border roads were very helpful. Precious things comes with its costs, it was worth and one of the best places worth millions to visit!

This would be one of my most cherished journeys of life, which I owe to Badari and his team for organizing through Burn Boundaries to such beautiful routes and places!

For more pics click here-

Pics of The Ladhak Journey