Other sights in Rameswaram

1. Ramanathaswamy Temple

   • Rameswaram, India
   • Sights › Other

   When Rama decided to worship Shiva, he figured he’d need a lingam to do the thing properly. Being a God, he sent a flying monkey to find the biggest lingam around – in this case, a Himalayan mountain. But the monkey took too long, so Rama’s wife Sita made a simple lingam of sand, which Shiva approved of, and which is enshrined today in the centre of this temple. Besides housing the world’s holiest sand-mound, the structure is notable for its horizon-stretching thousand-pillar halls and 22 theerthams (tanks), which pilgrims are expected to bathe in and drink from. The number of theerthams corresponds with the number of arrows in Rama’s quiver, which he used to…

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