This has been a long pending trip, after reading several travelogues on T-BHP, esp. the one that was written in considerable detail by @NPV, we finally decided to do this trip at the next available opportunity. The puja holidays was just ideal, I managed to get some leave along with a weekend and the trip was on.
I would like to call out @Fauji, @DreamDiesel, @maheshramaling, @ampere and most of all@npv for helping us plan our trip. Thank you folks.
Since my photography skills are better than my writing skills, I'll let the pictures do most of the talking
.
The drive from Bangalore to Madurai was just excellent, barring some roadwork in the Hosur to Krishnagiri sector, the rest of the journey was smooth. Excellent highway, low traffic and we maintained consistent speeds.
Near Karur, an old man decided to test our brakes kamikaze style by cycling into the middle of the highway
. I had to do a panic stop, and we missed the old gent by about 5 feet. The stop was dramatic, from about 120 kmph to a dead stop - smoking tires, squealing children in the car, and a panic stricken wife. Somehow I felt a lot calmer, almost seeing the whole episode in slow motion.
Just outside Karur is a great coffee shop called 'Only Coffee' fantastic coffee, coffee cakes, murukkus, and clean toilets.
At Madurai, we took the Airport Ring Road as advised and it was here we started noticing a considerable Police presence. As we drove onwards to Rameshwaram, passing through Sivaganga district, the police presence only increased. We also noticed a lot of vehicles crammed with people mostly young men hanging off the doors, the roof tops and the vehicles moving at considerable speed along the highway, waving yellow flags with a Tiger on it. At our next stop, we asked the local policemen what this was about. And they explained that it was the 211th Death Anniversary of the
Marudhu Brothers. More details at the link.
On the day that were driving into Rameshwaram, group violence broke out in Sivaganga district on the occasion of the 'guru puja' and a sub inspector had been stabbed to death. The Hindu carried an article about the killing, linked
here. The police were not taking any chances and all the roads had deployed a considerable number of policemen. There were small groups of policemen every two km, with larger contingents at every village and small town.
Closer to Rameshwaram on our way from Mandapam – a bus full of supporters traveling in the opposite direction, nearly ran us off the road. And someone from the bus dropped a plastic bag filled with bottles on our car. We were doing about 80 kph, and the bus was doing considerably more, the bag hit us with a huge bang, bounced off the bonnet, hit the wind shield, banged off the roof and disintegrated. This left a dimple on the bonnet and scratched the paint on the Innova. The disintegrating bag and bottles invited a wild cheer from the bus and consternation from us.
After this rather harrowing experience, we arrived at the Pamban Bridge at about 3:36 pm, just in time to see the train leave across the bridge.
The train on the bridge
Sunset panorama from the Pamban Bridge
We visited the temple in the evening, the pictures speak for themselves. The restoration work being carried out inside the temple is 'interesting'. Am not sure if the interior of the temple was garishly painted originally. In any case that is exactly what the restoration is all about.
Shops inside the Rameshwaram Temple
Details of the pillars - Rameshwaram Temple
Cow outside the temple entrance, and the street outside the temple
An interesting thing we noticed in Rameshwaram is that weddings are announced to the general public through giant, colorful posters at prominent locations in the town. Here is one such poster.
The next morning we hired a Jeep (Mahindra Commander I think) for the drive to Danushkodi. The twisted railway tracks along the way, the driver reminded us were remnants from the '64 cyclone.
The Jeep
The twisted railway tracks along the arrow straight road to Danushkodi
The Police and Naval outpost, from here on it is 4x4 country
Mules way out in the water on the sand bar
The sun rises, as the Jeep negotiates the sand
Remnants of the Railway Station, the water tower for the steam engines
A little temple showcases the parts of the Ramayana that took place here. A slab of pumice stone kept in a puddle of water to demonstrate it's flotation properties.
The ruins of the small town that was Danushkodi
This cute little girl, Kavitha - she sells sea shells on the sea shore
Local fisher folk repair their nets, even as a strong easterly winds blows the spray back to the sea. Since this was the North-Eastern Monsoon season, we could not travel right up to lands end, it was inundated and not accessible.
A murder of crows scrabble about in the garbage, while a puppy looks on. This is near the temple that commemorates the crowning of Vibishana by Lord Rama.
Just reached the limits of max pics allowed in a post. Next stop, Madurai.