December! That time of the year when I turn the traveller, the explorer!
So this time it was Tamil Nadu, the land of mythology, natural beauty and finger-licking(quite literally) cuisine. My visit included Kanyakumari, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Mahabalipuram and Kancheepuram and Pondicherry. But the most interesting and the highest point of my trip was a small visit to this town called Dhanushkodi in Rameshwaram.
Dhanushkodi means “Bows End” and it is literally a strip of land barely 1 km wide and 20 kms long and 18kms in distance from Sri Lanka. According to the epic Ramayana, it is from Dhanushkodi that Lord Rama had built the bridge to reach Lanka to rescue his wife Sita from Ravana. It is a fishing hamlet, hardly habitable; nearest telephone booth is 20 kms and no mobile signals. I was too excited to visit this town for one very special motive. Dr Abdul Kalam whom I always idolize; belonged to Dhanushkodi during his early childhood and that is the reason why I wanted to especially visit this place.
To go to Dhanushkodi, we need to hire a special kind of vehicle with more ground clearance that is suitable for the sandy terrains. The drive from that location to the land’s end is one experience I can never ever forget in my life! Bascially the land is extremely marshy, sea roaring on both the sides and you are at the mercy of the driver with no connection to the outside world. There were times when our wheels were stuck in the moss, and the cleaner had to get down and give directions to get us out of it. So after this bumpy ride of around 7 kms we reached Dhanushkodi, the ghost town. So there is this story that goes about Dhanushkodi. This town was wiped away by a fateful cyclone that struck in December 1964 killing every living soul there. Before the cyclone this town used to be a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage town. A train would connect from Madras upto Dhanushkodi and passengers would travel to Sri Lanka via a steamer. After the cyclone, the town was declared as a “ghost town” unfit for living.
Dhanushkodi is simply beautiful yet has an eerie feel to it. You can see ruins of buildings partly buried into the sand, corroded by sea water adding a mysterious beauty to the place. A destroyed church, a ruined post office, a temple lie among the debris. You can almost imagine the flourishing town that once existed with all its buzzing activity. The houses that would have heard the sounds of laughter, of anger, smelled the aromas of fish cooking or of the sandalwood incenses, stand there covered in weed, decayed, devoid of any emotion. The sea, now peaceful and the white pristine sand, somehow makes you sad about the whole tragedy that shook this once lively place. The place is haunting, deserted yet somehow feels full of life.
It is a thrilling, overwhelming feeling standing at the tip of India. I could find a variety of cheerful chirpy birds flying away merrily. And to my surprise, a group of horses grazing and gazing into the ocean! The white sand beach and endless stretch of sea on all sides is breathtaking.The entire view was magnificent and simply spectacular, something that will remain in my sight for my life.
We left from Dhanushkodi in less than an hour. I kept wondering about the moods of nature and how empowered we are by it. It was one journey where I felt closer to nature like never before!
