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Thangachimadam
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Thangachimadam alias JasmineCity of Tamil Nadu is a village in the central part of Rameswaram which is a holy island in the state of tamilnadu in india. It's a seperated island from India, but linked by Pamban channel. Back to Thangachimadam. The city welcomes with a sweet Jasmine blossom,when you enter into the city, because plenty of Jasmine gardens are grown up all around the city. Here, the people are living with integrity and unity apart from religion and community.

Source of Economics in Thangachimadam :

• jasmine forms and jasmine flower exports

• seafood exports

Holy Places :

• Sri Balathandayuthapani swamy temple - Sri balamurugan is the main lord- situated center of the our village।

• Sri Ekantharamar swamy temple -there is also a temple of lord rama named Ekantha ramar
• St.Joseph church
• St.Rayappar church
• St.Mother therasa church

• Villoondi thirtham : This thirttham is located on thangachimadam village,according to hindu mithology when lord rama and sita went in pusphak veemana on their from srilanka sita felt thirsty there is no way to drinking water at that time rama struk an arrow in the sea,at once a spring came out from the sea like artesian which is very tasty for drinking ,there are three sprins in the sea,there is also a temple of lord rama named Ekantha ramar temple.

Educational Instiutions in Thangachimadam

• Swamy Vivekanandha Matriculation School
• Government Higher Secondary School
• Chandra Sekara Vidhyalaya
• Holy Gross Girls Higher Secondary School
• St. Annes Matriculation Higher Secondary School
• St. Yagappa High School
• Kamaraj Middle School
• St.Joseph Mat Hr.Sec.School
• St.James Primary School
• Al Ameen Primary School

climate:

Thangachimadam has a hot tropical climate temperature ranging from 46°C (min) to 46°C (max) and the relative humidity is high at 79% on an average and it ranges between 80% to 90%.

Winter: Max. 30°C Min. 25°C ,Rainfall :50 cms Languages spoken : Tamil,Hindi and English

Area Postal code:623529 Area STD code:04573

Bank : Indian Overseas Bank

Panchayat Board President : M.S.Arul

VILLAGE RESOURCE CENTER(VRC): MS Swaminathan Research Foundation site offices in thangachimadam.VRC Thangachimadam providing key Technological Solutions for Developement through integrated Satcom & EO Capabilities to offer services follows.

Tele-Fishery:the coastal region of thangachimadam will be provided with near real time charts,based on satellite derived potential fishing zones,for fishing and information on sea state,wave heights and other conditions related to behaviour of the sea.

now.. lets move to the other notable places in rameswaram island.

Figures explores our features..

fig:Indhira Gandhi Raiway Bridge

fig:Pamban Road Bridge

The Pamban Bridge also called Indira Gandhi Bridge lies on the Indian end of the Palk Strait that connects Rameswaram island to mainland India. It actually refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter. It is the longest sea bridge in India at a length of nearly 2.2 km and stands as a fine example of Indian architecture. The bridge was constructed with sufficient elevation and a beautiful scenery of the sea, adjoining Islands and parallel rail bridge below can be viewed from the bridge. The openable part of the railway bridge (called movable bridge in Civil Engineering terms) is in existence since 1911 and still it is functioning quiet well. It carries meter gauge trains on it, however, recently the Indian Railways are in the process of upgrade it to carry broad gauge trains. Structural Engineering Research Centre, Chennai - a premier national research laboratory in India, is handling this task.

fig:Sri Ramanatha swamy Temple Third Carridor

Third Carridor - Outer wing:

east-west :690 feet

north-south:435 feet

Inner wing:

east-west:649 feet

north-south:395 feet

Total no of billars:1212

Height of carridor: 22 feet 7.5 inch

The contribution of the kings of the Sethupathy dynasty to the temple was considerable. Especially to be remembered are the immense sums that were spent during the tenure of Pradani Muthirulappa Pillai towards the restoration of the Pagodas which were falling into ruins, the splendid Chockattan Mantapam or the cloistered precincts of the temple at Rameshwaram that he finally completed.

fig:Sri Ramanatha Swamy Temple Tower

Like all ancient temples in South India, there is a high compound wall (madil) on all four sides of the temple premises measuring about 865 feet furlong from east to west and one furlongs of 657 feet from north to south with huge towers (Gopurams) at the east and west and finshed gate towers on the north and south. The temple has striking long corridors in its interior, running between huge columnades on platforms above five feet high. The junction of the third corridor on the west and the paved way leading from the western gopuram to Setumadhava shrine forms a unique structure in the form of chess borad and it is popularly knowan as Chokkattan Madapam where the Utsva ueities are adorned and kept during the Vasntotsavam (Spring festival) and on the 6th day festival in Adi (July-August) and Masi (February-March) conducted by the Setupati of Ramnad. The outer set of corridors is reputed to be the longest in the word being about 400 feet in each in the east and west and about 640 feet in north and south and inner corridors are about 224 feet in east and west and about 352 feet each in north and south. Their width varies from 15.5 feet to 17 feet in the east and west about 172 feet on the north and south with width varying 14.5 feet to 17 feet. The total length of those corridors is thus 3850 feet. There are about 1200 pillars in the outer corridor. Their height is about 30 feet from the floor to the center of the roof.

fig1:Agni Theertham

fig:Agni Theertham

Rameswaram Temple History -source Ethics Ramayana

Rameswaram is famous for the Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Rama who, it is believed, had descended on its shores and built a bridge across the Palk Strait to reach Lanka in his quest to rescue Sita from Ravana. Additionally, the temple is famous for being one of the 12 Jyotirlingas of Siva and it is called Ramalingam. Lord Rama had constructed a Siva linga in order to offer thanks to the Lord after killing Ravana. The Jyotirlinga in the Rameswaram Temple set up by the side of Sri Visalakshi Ambigai Sannithi was established by Vibheeshana. Hence, the temple is a sacred site for both Shaivites and Vaishnavites. The grandest part of the temple is the 1219 m pillared corridor consisting of 3.6 m high granite pillars, richly carved and well proportioned. The perspective presented by these pillars run uninterruptedly to a length of nearly 230 m. According to the Puranas, upon the advise of Rishis, Rama along with Sita and Lakshmana, installed and worshipped the Sivalinga here to expiate the sin of Brahmahatya (Ravana was a Brahmin being and great grandson of Brahma himself). Lord Rama fixed an auspicious time for the installation and sent Anjaneya to Mount Kailas to bring a lingam. But as Anjaneya could not return in time, Sita herself made a lingam of sand and the worship was over when Anjaneya returned with a Lingam from Mount Kailas. To pacify the disappointed Anjaneya, Rama had Anjaneya’s Lingam (Visvalingam) also installed by the side of Ramalinga, and ordained that all rituals be performed first to the Visvalingam.

Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi was a city at the southern tip of the Rameswaram island, at the eastern coast of the Tamil Nadu state of India.

fig: The Confluence

fig:Sunrise at Dhanushkodi

Dhanushkodi is situated in the South-East of P

amban, the Dhanushkodi railway line was destroyed in the 1964 cyclone from Pamban Station and a trainload of passengers was washed into the sea. . Even though the railway line was laid between Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi, it was in course of time covered by six sand dunes and it was abandoned. One has to reach Dhanushkodi on foot along sea shore or in jeeps on sand dunes. It is said that Pilgrimage to Kashi will be completed only after the worship at Rameswaram besides a holy bath in Dhanushkodi at the Confluence of Mahodadhi (Bay of Bengal) and Ratnakara (Indian Ocean). Setu is Sanskrit word to denote bridge or causeway. It has now acquired a special significance to mean the bridge across the ocean constructed by Rama to reach Lanka. Hindu Myth says that at the request of Vibeeshana, brother of Ravana and ally of Rama, Rama broke the Sethu with one end of his bow and hence the name Dhanushkodi, Dhanu meaning Bow and Kodi meaning end. It is also said that Rama marked this spot for Setu with one end of his famous bow. Bath in holy sethu at the junction of the two seas normally precedes the pilgrimage to Rameswaram. A series of rocks and islets found in a line are shown as remnants of the ancient Setu also called as Rama's Bridge.

Rama's Bridge (Source : NASA, USA.)

fig : Map of Rama's/Adam's Bridge and environs.

fig : NASA Satellite Photo

fig:Rama's/Adam's Bridge as seen from the air

Rama's Bridge on - Google Maps : http://maps.google.com/maps?t=k&hl=en&ll=9.096164,79.556465&spn=0.475962,0.582275 Rama's Bridge, also called Adam's bridge or Nala's Bridge is a chain of limestone shoals, between the islands of Mannar, near northwestern Sri Lanka, and Rameswaram, off the southeastern coast of India. The bridge is 30 miles (48 km) long and separates the Gulf of Mannar (southwest) from the Palk Strait (northeast). Some of the sandbanks are dry and the sea in the area is very shallow, being only 3 ft to 30 ft (1 m to 10 m) deep. This seriously hinders navigation. It was reportedly passable on foot as late as the 15th century until storms deepened the channel. A ferry links the island and port of Rameswaram in India with Talaimannar in Sri Lanka; the Pamban Bridge links Rameswaram island with mainland India. The names Rama's Bridge and Nala's Bridge originate in Hindu mythology. According to the Hindu epic Ramayana (Chapter 66, The Great Causeway [1]), the bridge was constructed at Rama's request by his subjects. The bridge was supported on floating rocks but the gods were said to have later anchored the rocks to the sea bed, thus creating the present chain of rocky shoals. It was said to have helped Rama to reach Sri Lanka to rescue Sita from a monster(aasur) called Ravana, who was then the ruler of Lanka. Some Hindu groups claim that the bridge is evidence that events narrated in the Ramayana epic actually took place and cite NASA's imagery of it as proof of their claims. NASA has distanced itself from such claims: "The images [...] may be ours, but their interpretation is certainly not ours. [...] Remote sensing images or photographs from orbit cannot provide direct information about the origin or age of a chain of islands, and certainly cannot determine whether humans were involved in producing any of the patterns seen." Archeological studies of the bridge are ongoing, and some archeologists claim to have found evidence suggesting that the bridge is man-made. For instance, some researchers from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, announced that the "bridge" is only 3,500 years old. Sea levels rose about 10 or 20 metres in the 6th millennium BCE to reach levels similar to today, so in 6000 BCE the bridge would have been an isthmus situated above sea level. As such, it almost certainly would have been a viable route for humans to have reached Sri Lanka by dry land. Recently the Government of India has approved a multi-million dollar Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project that aims to create a ship channel across the Palk Strait. The plan is to dredge the shallow ocean floor near the Dhanushkodi end of the Rama's bridge to create enough leeway allowing ships to pass through the channel instead of having to go around the island of Sri Lanka. It is expected to save nearly 30 hours' shipping time by cutting over 400 km off the voyage. However, efforts to conserve the heritage of the bridge has been initiated under the Ram Karmabhoomi movement .
(source : wikipedia.org)

welcomes ur comments!.. -bala nagarajan. (balab4u[at]gmail[dot]com)