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The walkway to Villondi Teertham, a sweet-water well that appears mysteriously in the midst of the ocean.  A small well here is filled with water. You are allowed a sip and the water is absolutely sweet. “This is where Rama pierced his arrow to ensure sweet water flowed to quench Sita’s thirst,” says the caretaker. Rama’s bow and arrow are said to be buried here. Hence the name Villondi Teertham.

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The Ramanathaswamy Temple in Rameshwaram has the world’s longest corridor.   The temple, which has the longest corridor in the world, stretches as stories from Ramayana are painted on every wall. There are many legends here, but the one that is most often reinforced is how Rama prayed to Lord Shiva to absolve him of any sins committed during the war. Rama asked Hanuman to get him a lingam from the Himalayas but as the monkey god took time, Sita carved a small lingam, which is placed in the sanctum here. The RamanathaswamyTemple stands tall inside the town as devotees make their way to cleanse themselves with a sacred bath at the 22 wells or teerthams that surround it. Rameshwaram,  has close to 64 theerthams and the holy water is stored in wells, ponds, tanks and one of them, the Agni Theertham, is the sea itself. Even today, it is believed that the tanks around the temple have a perennial source of water.

Road leading to Dhanushkodi from Rameswaram. It was on this island in January 1897 that Swami Vivekananda, after his triumphant visit to Chicago to attend the Parliament of Religions in September 1893, set foot on Indian soil from Colombo.  Pilgrims from all over India visit Rameswaram Temple to bathe in the holy wells and in the sea. It is a well-known pilgrimage site. Only a few, though, know the mythological and historical importance of nearby Dhanushkodi.

Dhanushkodi is today a ghost town and human habitation is almost non-existent as only a few fishermen with their families now live here. On the fateful night of December 22, 1964, Indian Railways train number 653, the Pamban-Dhanushkodi Passenger, left Pamban with 110 passengers and five railway staff. It was only a few yards before Dhanushkodi railway station when it was hit by a massive tidal wave. The train was washed away, killing all 115 on board. In all, over 1,800 people perished in the cyclonic storm. Following this disaster, the town was declared unfit for living.

A survivor of the 1964 cyclone who now lives in Dhanushkodi supplies drinking water to tourists from a well on Dhanushkodi beach.

It is amazing that the well, which is just a few yards from the sea, supplies sweet drinking water.

A view from Kothandaramaswamy Temple, located 12 km from Rameswaram. Popular belief goes that Vibishana, brother of the demon king Ravana of Lanka, surrendered before Lord Rama here. The mythological importance assigned to this town is that when Lord Rama returned to India after vanquishing Ravana, Vibhishana pleaded with him to break the setu (bridge) so that no other armies would use it. Rama acquiesced to his request and broke the Indian side of the bridge with the end of his bow. This place came to be known as Dhanushkodi (Dhanush is ‘bow’ and kodi is ‘end’ in Tamil) and remains to this day a holy place for Hindus.

source::::Laksmi Sharath in Yahoo lifestyle..

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