Rameshwaram is a town in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is one of India's most revered pilgrimage spots. It is situated on the Pamban Island that is located between mainland India and Sri Lanka. At the eastern end of the Pamban Island is another town called Dhanushkodi that rivaled Rameshwaram in tourism. While Rameswaram was famous for its Ramanathaswamy temple, Dhanushkodi was also a flourishing tourist and pilgrimage town, back in the days. With Sri Lanka being just 31 km away from Dhanushkodi, there were many ferry services connecting it with Talaimannar of Sri Lanka. Trains from mainland reached the island at Pamban Station, from where the railway lines split into two directions- one towards Rameshwaram and another towards Dhanushkodi. At Dhanushkodi, it's a great to sight to watch the rough Indian Ocean meeting the calm waters of Bay of Bengal. It was at the tip of Dhanushkodi that Lord Rama built a bridge connecting Sri Lanka, as per Ramayana! But as destiny had it, the seeming auspicious Dhanuskodi was ill-fated.
At 23:55 PM sharp, a few yards before Dhanushkodi railway station, the train was hit by a massive tidal wave. The whole train was washed away killing everyone on board. Along with them, over 1800 people died in the cyclonic storm in the whole town of Dhanushkodi. The high tidal waves moved almost 10 kilometers onto the island and ruined the entire town. All houses, the small railway hospital, the dharmashala, and all other structures in Dhanushkodi were swallowed into the sea. Following the disaster, the Government declared the town as “Ghost town” (unfit for living).
When the controversy around the truth and the debate of the bridge’s authenticity is saddening to many, even more sad - is the fact that a whole town that once flourished greatly, has been swallowed by a cyclone, and stands abandoned and helpless today.
A God-built bridge in a Ghost-town indeed!
