Dhanushkodi is located at the southern tip of Rameswaram on the eastern coast of Tamil Nadu. It is also the place for the union of two mighty oceans – Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, and is elongated in shape. It is also the end of India and we felt we are at the end of the earth.
It was once a flourishing trade hub with Sri Lanka, (then called Ceylon) but today it is an abandoned city, also called as ghost city, with the ruins. There was a Ferocious Cyclone on the midnight of 22nd December 1964 which took away the train No.653, Pamban Dhanushkodi Passenger with all its passengers. Most of them were school children coming home for Christmas vacation. The ill-fated train was coming from Chennai (then called Madras) which was almost reaching there, the last stop, with 115 people on board. The cyclone washed away all the passengers and the train itself. Being not satisfied yet, the ferocious cyclone took away the lives of almost 1800 people of Dhanushkodi and all the buildings, washing away the whole town.. Since then it was declared as unfit for humans to stay there by the Govt.
As we were leaving the place, thinking of the destruction the nature’s fury caused to this once bustling town and the people here, a melancholic feeling engulfed me. Each moment we lived we must feel blessed because the life is very short, it teaches us.
As we were driving closer to this place a frightening silence came upon us. However, surprisingly we began to get Simhalese language on our car radio . In the next few minutes, we got a welcoming message on our mobile from Airtel Srilanka. Sri Lanka is just 31 km away from here.
Finally we reached our destination where a post is standing erect, to mark the end point of the land and we got a feeling that we are at the end of the world.
The Tragic History of this place -
Today it is slowly becoming a tourist spot. For this, a new road connecting Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi to the land's end is built in 2017. Before that, it was totally cut off from civilization. Now, you can drive there directly in your own vehicle or a rented vehicle. Reaching there you will be welcomed with spectacular high tides of the blue sea. It is an awesome sight to stand at this point enclosed both the sides by oceans.
This is also a historic place where Lord Ram with the help of Lord Hanuman and his army of monkeys built a rock bridge to Sri Lanka, to rescue Sita Devi from the evil clutches of demon king Ravan. It is called Ram Sethu. Lord Ram marked the spot where the bridge was to be built with an end of his bow and this place got the name Dhanushkodi.
What to do there
1. If you reach there early in the morning you can catch the bewitching sunrise.
2. You can stand there and experience the rare feeling of reaching at the end point of the land, and look around.
3. You can silently offer a prayer for the unfortunate victims who lost their lives on that fateful night.
4. You can simply soak in the sun walking on the white sand.
5. You can experience the water touching your feet and take photographs.
6. You can get some basic items like tea, juice and fruits here.
7. You can visit the thatched shops and buy something made with shells which will be a great help to them.
8. You can visit the ruins there and imagine how that place used to be during its flourishing period.
We bought some items from one of the shops just to make a conversation with the owner, a fisher woman. Her husband, along with other friends, goes to the sea for fishing by 4 a.m. and returns by 10 a.m. If it is a holiday he will sell all the fish and she too will have some good sale. Other days they make hardly anything. She told me that there are about 100 such shops in Dhanushkodi and they live there only .
9. You can visit Kothandaramaswamy temple, located off the highway about 10 minutes before Dhanushkodi.
10.You may be able to spot some migratory birds there on the way.
As we were leaving the place, thinking of the destruction the nature’s fury caused to this once bustling town and the people here, a melancholic feeling engulfed me. Each moment we lived we must feel blessed because the life is very short, it teaches us.
