Rameswaran (Tamil Nadu) - January 21st, 2007

Waiting at the bus station this morning I met Richard, a guy from North Carolina. He was very talkative so we got to chat in the way to Rameswaran. This town is one of the most significant pilgrimage centres in So. India. Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, offered thanks to Shiva. The Ramanathaswamy temple is one of the most important temples in So. India. This town is located on an island in the gulf of Mannar in the south east of India, connected to the mainland by the Indira Gandhi bridge (one of India's great engineering wonder, inaugurated in 1988. It was once an important ferry port with passenger services to and from Sri Lanka, but unfortunately the service stopped when things got ugly between both countries. I was hopping to go to Sri Lanka the old way, but will have to wait in the future.
Rameswaran is a fishing village besides the constant pilgrim mecca. In the evening they had a live show accross from the hotel welcoming pilgrims and others, so I watched the entertainment while Richard meditated.