Rameshwaram Jyotirling

Date: 14, 15 March, 2015

Venue: Satsang Bhawan, Goswami Mutt - 2, Near Sita Tirth, RAMESHWARAM (Tamil Nadu)

Rameshwaram Jyotirling - Ramanatha Swami - Lord of God Ram

A land of penance, devotion and the holiest Hindu pilgrimage

A place where great personalities like Rama, Krishna, Parshurama, Agasta, Arjuna etc. performed their penance.

Just as certain limbs of the body are purer than others, so are certain places on earth more sacred - some on account of their situations, some because of sparkling waters and others because of the association or habitation of saintly people.

The four pilgrimage sites (char dhaams) are also the sacred place among those few sacred places and are considered to be the favorite abodes of Lord Vishnu on earth. The four pilgrimages (tirthas) of the Char Dhaams are set at the cardinal points of the Indian subcontinent. In the North, the dhaam of Badrinath is in the Himalayas, in the West, Dwarka stands by the Arabian Sea; in the South Rameshwaram is an island at the point where the Indian Ocean touches the Indian shores. All four have temples dedicated to either Vishnu or to one of his incarnations. Badrinath is a Vishnu temple, Dwarka worships Lord Krishna, Puri is the tirtha of Krishna as Jagannatha and Rameshwaram has temples dedicated to Lord Rama.

In Rameshwaram stands the Ramanathaswamy Temple dedicated to Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Vishnu and is one of the jewels of Dravidian temple architecture. Rameshwaram is an island along the Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu. It is located in the Ramnad District and the nearest town on the mainland is Ramanathapuram. Rameshwaram is the Southern most pilgrimage (Dhaam) of Lord Vishnu. This sacred island is located at the southern-most tip of the Indian peninsula and it is the place where the Indian Ocean touches the Indian subcontinent. Many pilgrimages in India are situated at the confluence of various rivers like Prayagraj in Allahabad at the confluence at Ganga and Yamuna, DevPrayag at the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda etc. What is unique about Rameshwaram is that like many pilgrimage, the island is also at the confluence but this time of oceans instead of rivers. Like all the dhaams, Rameshwaram too is connected to Vishnu, in this case through his Seventh incarnation of Rama. Rameshwaram is an island in the Gulf of Mannar in the Bay of Bengal and Sri Lanka is just across the bay. This island is shaped like a conch and the devout believe it resembles the panchjanya shankha that Lord Vishnu holds in his hand.

Rameshwaram is very pious place and interestingly the earliest mention of this place is found in Buddhists texts. It says that Emperor Ashoka came to Rameshwaram on a pilgrimage. In Mahabharata, this place has been mentioned as the greatest pilgrimage of the land. It is also true that during the period of his penance, Arjuna visited various pilgrimages of Southern part of India and Rameshwaram was one of those. Some Puranas mentioned that Balarama, the elder brother of Lord Krishna while on a pilgrimage to the South, visited Venkatagiri, Madurai and had a bath in the sea at the Setu. Legends say that Rameshwaram was visited by sages like Agastya,Dharmaraja and Parshurama.

Wandering around the temple precincts, one can discover some exquisite works of sculpture on the walls and pillars. The temple sings to the glories of Shiva and all across the complex there are innumerable depictions of the various forms of God. These icons reflect many aspects of this volatile, moody and many faceted deity, depicted in the saumya, roudra and shanta forms - his moods of gentleness, anger and serenity.

Here He is Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance, as he dances the tandava in an aureole of flames. He is the unification of purusha and prakriti as half Shiva and half Parvati in the Ardhanarisvara aspect. As the angry Tripurantaka, He is the warrior holding a tall bow, who destroyed three demon cities with just a single arrow. As the serene Dakshinamurti, Shiva is the cosmic teacher. He sits under the peepal tree facing South, surrounded by sages listening to his wise words.

As the handsome Chandrashekhara, Shiva wears the crescent moon on his brow. As Hari Hara He is half Shiva and half Vishnu. As Bhikshatana, the great yogi is in the compassionate aspect of an ascetic sadhu. As the angry Bhairava, He is the fierce God who beheaded Daksha. As Somaskanda He is the king of Gods, seated in a royal dress with His wife Parvati and son Skanda or Kartikeya beside Him. Similarly, there are carvings of many aspects of Vishnu and Devi in various sections of the complex.

All these traits of Lord Shiva are essential for every human being. Lord Shiva is the only God who lives a perfect householder's life. His family is complete with his wife Goddess Parvati and two sons Kartikeya and Ganesha. He is the God who can grant any boon yet He Himself lives happily in graveyard. He is accompanied by various ghosts, He wears venomous snakes around His neck, He just wears a lion cloth though all the worldly pleasures remains at His feet. When He is angry, no one dares to stand before Him and when He is in a joyful mood, He can bestow any boon to His devotees. When He is in an overjoyed mood, He dances as Nataraja, the creator of dance. When He is in utter anger, His dance is good enough to demolish this entire universe.

The Chandrashekhara form of Lord Shiva gives beauty to every man and when worshiped with His other half, they bestow a blessed family life. In the Bhairava form, He is the savior of all His devotees and drives away their enemies. As Vaidyanatha, He cures all the diseases of any person. And when worshipped as Ramanatha, He even abolishes the sins of His devotees.

Who doesn't wish to live a blessed life, who doesn't want to live a peaceful life? However all this can happen only by the grace of Lord Shiva and Guru. To achieve such a divinity in life, to achieve a state where no one can harm us, to achieve a state where we remain calm and peaceful in any circumstances, it is necessary to seek the blessings of the Divine Guru, who Himself is a form of Lord Shiva.

Blessed would be those who are going to be a part of this shivir and who would perform various divine activities under the guidance of Gurudev on this holy land. All those who wish to make their life worthy, all those who are keen to make their life better, all those who wish to make their mark in history would surely come and participate in this great event.

Gurudevji is early waiting to meet all of us and to guide us like Lord Shiva. We pray to Gurudev that may this Rameshwaram shivir fulfill all our desires, remove hurdles and pains from our life, eradicate poverty from our lives, give us health and relieve us from all the sins. As a disciple all we can do is to reach near You and surrender ourselves in your holy feet....