Day 1 -Rameswaram / Dhanushkodi

30.09.2022

Day 1

4.00 am - start of an incredible journey.

As arranged before, it was Sunny who picked NP, CK, JK and Zac aka “Fulltankers” and our first stop was at “Edappally Palli” to pray for a safe journey. Our dear friend Jose Kattikkaren was waiting at the grotto. After prayers at the grotto and customary good-byes to Jose we started our long drive to Rameswaram at 5.00 am.

Breakfast halt at Krishna Mess, Pollachi, a small family run shop for some authentic South Indian b/f meal.

We took a detour from the highway traversing through the narrow streets of Madurai to see the famous Meenakshi Temple. Kudos to CK for deft handling of “our car an MG Gloster which we fondly named “Panchali” through the intrinsic maze of streets around the temple.

Drive to Rameswaram our destination for Day one was uneventful. A brief stop on Pamban bridge, an engineering masterpiece, has some exotic views on either side. The sea, a magnificent turquoise blue, was an incredible sight. Excited Fulltankers was able to capture the beauty in our travel cameras.

After check in at Star Palace hotel and a quick lunch, we visited Dhanushkodi. The ghost town of Dhanushkodi, at the south-east point of Pamban was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and remains uninhabited in the aftermath. It was an enjoyable drive to this deserted place, which is about 24 kms west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka.

Fulltankers also visited Ramanathaswamy Temple, a Hindu pilgrimage site with ornate corridors, huge sculpted pillars and sacred water tanks. Special mention of the world renowned third corridor pillars. A real architectural marvel indeed. It is believed Lord Rama paid his obeisance to Lord Siva before his departure to Lanka to free Sita Devi.

We were pleasantly surprised to get a call from Radio Mango RJ’s Adarsh & Manju to feature us in their program “Josh Junction” on senior citizens day. We reciprocated wholeheartedly.

At end of day one - 602 kms on our tracker.