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Billgates
31st October 2007, 01:01 PM
[tscii:cde9b1c7c7]Have you heard about the sad episode behind this once very popular destination for Tamilians ?

Here is something about DHANUSHKODI a town which got submerged on 1960s .
THIS PROBABLY IS THE FIRST TOWNSHIP TO BE SWEPT AWAY IN RECENT HISTORY.

HAUNTING YET appealing, deserted but still full of life, eerie but fascinating — Dhanushkodi is full of contradictions. Bow's End (as translated from Tamil) is a sure delight if you have a penchant for impossibly blue seas, pristine white sands and ruins by the shore. Bordered by the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, this semi-ghost town is probably one of the most spectacular stretches in Tamil Nadu.

Breathtaking beauty, a population of less than 500, the nearest telephone about 20 km away, out of reach of mobile signals and the feeling of being in a place which was once alive, now reduced to rubble, makes it a place truly less travelled. And standing at the tip of India is a pretty heady feeling!

The road that leads to the land's end is lined with casuarina and the sea on either side. A ride down this 18 km-long, impeccably straight road leading to the ruins of a township is an exciting experience by itself. Dhanushkodi was a major point of entry to India until 1964, when a cyclone devastated the entire town, washing away the railway track, a steam engine and its carriages, and the entire village.

Our auto driver, who also doubled as our guide for the day, narrates the events that followed the violent cyclone. He points out the rail track that lies half buried in the soil and goes into graphic descriptions of how "it had once ferried passengers between Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram." Becoming increasingly mournful, he travels back four decades when "a group of students were the lone travellers on the doomed train." The buried railway track is our first glimpse of the "land that once flourished." Eerie but fascinating, adding an extra thrill to this road less travelled.

All forms of transport to Dhanushkodi stop at Moonram Chathiram. From here, we hire a vehicle more suited to the sandy terrain (read a smelly van that carries fish) to traverse the mud tracks leading up to the ruins. A 7-km bumpy ride takes us to the actual ruins.

The buildings that braved the fateful day still exist partly buried in the sand and partly weathered by the sea adding a mysterious beauty to the place. A rusted four-pillared structure, possibly a water tank, welcomes us to this lost land. Even though the town was wiped away by the 1964 cyclone, small numbers of temporary settlers live in thatched huts during the fishing season. Our smelly and unsmiling van driver informs us that this is one of the richest fishing belts in India.

Bordering these huts is another roofless shattered building resembling a church. Inside, a pedestal, which could have been the altar, stands intact. You can almost imagine the pews packed with a choral-singing congregation and hear the booming voice of the pastor. We then visit the village post office — now a grand red arch, the rest of it buried in sand. A ruined railway station and a temple lie among the debris. But the shells of the structures sit peacefully in dunes of white sand against a deceivingly calm and sparkling blue sea. Covered with weeds, sunk in sand, corroded by the sea, Dhanushkodi seems to be a living example of the impermanence of life — it's suspended in decay, seeming to thumb its nose at life.

How to get there:

Rail: There are direct trains from Chennai to Rameswaram — Sethu Express and Rameswaram Express. From Rameswaram several buses ply to Dhanushkodi.

Road: There are no straight buses from Chennai. However, there are buses from Madurai to Rameswaram.

Air: Madurai is the nearest airport.

Where to stay: Most hotels offer affordable accommodation, but if you are looking for a package — food, guide, cab, etc. — TTDC is recommended.

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Billgates
31st October 2007, 02:41 PM
Dhanushkodi is a city at the southern tip of the Rameswaram island, at the eastern coast of the Tamil Nadu state of India.

Dhanushkodi is situated in the South-East of Pamban, 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.


Ruined Church at DhanushkodiIt 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.

Danushkodi is about 18 miles West of Talaimannar in Jaffna, Ceylon. Before 1964 storm there was a train service up to Danushkodi called Boat Mail from Chennai Egmore, the train linked a steamer to Ceylon. During 1964 storm a huge wave of about 20 ft came crashing on the town from Palk Bay/Strait east of the town and destroyed the whole town, a train, the pamban rail bridge etc all happened at the dead of the night. Danushkodi has the only land border between India and Ceylon which is one of the smallest in the world just 50 yards in length on a sand dune in Palk Strait.

The Government of Madras declared the town as Ghost Town and unfit for living after the storm, now a small group of fisher folk resides there. For reaching the village one has to go in a four wheel drive or in a fish cart.

There are several temples associated with Lord Rama here. It is advisable to go during day to the village and return to Rameshwaram before sun set as the entire 15 KM stretch is very lonely and the place is notorious for drug peddling, trafficking, rape, waylaying and robbery after dark and most of the refugee boats from Sri Lanka arrive and land here during night also militant boats from Ceylon dock here for human and material trafficking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhanushkodi