I have covered a lot main colorful land of Incredible
India. I always preferred train journey. I can never forget a train journey on
the Pamban Bridge which connects Rameswaram Island to the mainland of India. IN
real that was An Adventurous hair raising train journey, which I enjoyed on way to
Rameswaram.
Imagine you are
on a train ride over an old sea-bridge and the sea waves are constantly hitting
the iron pillars of the bridge which are all very much old and rusty.
The train journey
over Pamban Bridge is not only Adventurous it is dangerous too, but it is
scenic too! Here, we are going to share our experience of this thrilling train
ride on our way from Hyderabad to Rameshwaram. Keep reading.
What will you do? Will your heart stop working for a
moment? To be honest, when we tried something like this during our train ride
over the dangerous Pamban Bridge, we were much tensed! We were excited too!
The Pamban Bridge is a railway bridge on
the Palk Strait which connects the town of Rameswaram on Pamban Island to
mainland of India. The bridge refers to both the road bridge and the cantilever
railway bridge, though primarily it means the latter.
Opened on 24
February 1914, it was India’s first sea bridge, and was the longest sea bridge
in India until the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link in 2010.
Bridge opens up to allow ferry
movement
This is the main feature that makes Pamban Bridge more
interesting and unique. German engineer Scherzer designed the central part of
the bridge that opens up to allow ferry movement and closed to pass the train.
Approx. 10 to 15 boats and small ships pass beneath the bridge every month.
But what a beauty! You are surrounded by pristine blue
waters till as far as your eyes can see. The Pamban Bridge is only 1 meter wide
and 2.5 km long.
The speed is reduced to 20-30 km/hr while the train is
on this vulnerable bridge. The experience was totally a life long hair raising
Rail Ride.
Our first glimpse of the sea was near Mandapam halt. It
was early evening when train halted there for a brief period .Few passengers
boarded down and few up.
Sea was visible on both sides, as
the train moved ahead Mandapam. Road was parallel to the tracks. The landscape
changed rapidly and signaled that we were approaching coastal area.
In craziness of excitement, for an uninterrupted
viewing, I went to the door.The calm and peaceful Arabian sea was in my full
sight.
The blue sky was
bowed somewhere in horizon to meet sea.There was playing a colorful magic in
west of sky.
There were less of coconut palms and more of oil palms
and fruit (Palmyra) palms. The terrain too changed, and the area had more of
dry sand than soil.
I took my camera and focused to capture this life time
hair raising journey .Soon I realized, better to save the whole scenes in
memory chip of my mind my heart that will never fade with time.
This was a prized moment – a moment that I had been waiting for a long
time. The train slowly crawled its way towards Rameswaram – over Pamban Bridge.
The bay was green in color and very attractive unlike
the brackish color seen in the Arabian Sea.
Fishing activities were at its peak – Train took about
15 minutes time to cover 2.3 kms long Pamban Bridge.
It was late evening time of sunset,
Bursts of gold on lavender melting into saffron. It’s the time of day when the
sky looks like it has been spray-painted by a graffiti artist.
The mighty ocean was below my feet; suddenly a fragrant
breeze wandered up from the quiet sea, touched me and drifted back to the sea
again.
After Pamban Bridge, the train passed
through an area that closely resembles a desert – its sand dunes all around.
The sidings at Pamban station was all mired in sand.
The train picked up speed after Pamban. The road
still runs parallel to the tracks. We finally reached Rameswaram station at
19.30 – late about 1 hour.
Finally we were standing at railway plate form of
Rameshvaram. Before exit from here we thought to have hot coffee and some
snakes.
There were plenty of autos available outside
station. Hired an auto for advance booked hotel Agnee teertham (Tamil Nadu
Tourism Corporation Hotel).
It ends this travelogue on Pamban Bridge: A Hair
Raising Train Ride to Rameswaram. Next we will meet in Rameswaram and ghost town
of Dhanushkodi beach.
posted by Engr Maqbool
