Rameswaram is also known for Ramanathaswamy Temple, a Hindu pilgrimage site. We headed out in a tuk tuk as today is a festival day and the traffic is bad for our van.
We unloaded near
the bay (Bay of Bengal) and walked down to the Angi Theertham, the bathing
beach where devotees bath before going to the temple. There was quite a large crowd.
There was also this large family group that had gathered for a cleansing ritual. Generally these are performed to drive out bad luck such as infertility or illness.
They also had this small calf as an offering.
Another small ritual taking place.
There were a fair number of cows around.
We then walked to the temple. The temple gate.
We had to leave our shoes in a storage place and walk across the road to the temple. The road was strewn with coconut fibers and had been dampened down.
We noticed a tank of water near the end of the tour. They had two cups tethered to the tank frame so people could help themselves. Community cups in an age of COVID.
The temple was
huge and we spent a fair amount of time exploring. However, we were not able to take photographs
until an area right at the end. But it was worth the wait. The long, long corridors were beautifully painted...
as were the ceilings.
Details and various statues.
*************************************
More Rameswaram Temple
*************************************
Our socks after we got back to the shoe stand. Yuk!! Highly likely they will get thrown out at the end of this trip.
Just outside the temple we saw this parade of festival goers.
There was no organized festival parade. Instead, as we worked our way through the city we would see groups of people that had put together there own “float”, gathered up some instruments (usually drums and horns) and paraded through the streets.
Some men carried long poles with balls on the ends in their teeth and occasionally actually pierced their cheeks with the poles. Ouch!
We caught another tuk tuk and got a ride through some backstreets.
And ended up at another temple. This one with floating rocks. Again, no photos. Subsequent research revealed that the rocks were pumice, a volcanic stone that is lighter than water.
Random photos from around town.
 |
| Couple of Gentlemen wanting their photo with Mary |
 |
| Selling Jugs to Pilgrims who gather water from Sacred Wells in the Temple |
It was a hot day but interesting.
Previous
Next
No comments:
Post a Comment