Travelogue of Dhanushkodi: The haunting real story of a ghost town

This Travelogue of Dhanushkodi - The haunting real story of a ghost town is in continuation to my previous blog “Pamban Bridge: A Hair Raising Train Ride to Rameswaram”.

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Finally we were standing at railway plate form of Ramesvaram. Before exit from Railway Station we refreshed us with hot coffee and some snaks. There were plenty of autos available outside station.Hired an auto for advance booked hotel Agnee Teertham (Tamil Nadu Tourism Corporation Hotel) .

 Hotel Teertham is standing just at one side of Arab Sagar at a short distance from Agnee Teertham Mandir. After dinner in dinning hall of hotel ,other members slept. I took my camera and walked to Agni teertham Mandir. It was dark late night but, many devotees were sill there to perform religious rituals.I clicked some shots and soon back to my room.

 This blog is only over a trip to Dhanusukodi now a  haunted ghost town, so I will not waste time in telling about Rameshvaram. Next day after breakfast ,we left for Dhanusukodi. Hotel manager was a nice man ,he arranged a taxi ride to and fro to Dhanusukodi beach only for Rs 1500/=

Dhanushkodi was almost inaccessible till a new road that runs along the ocean was built. It extends all the way from Rameswaram to Arichal Munai or Land's End, the closest point to Sri Lanka on Indian Territory and a point flanked by the ocean on all three sides.After half hr journey of 20 Km,we saw a long stretch of Bay of Bengal, running just parallel to road.As we drove nearer to Dhanusukodi ,this lining of Bay of Bengal was coming closer and closer to road.It was life time ride ,I was seeing Indian Ocean on other side of road.wow…..now the road was in between two seas.Dhanushkodi is a Beautiful place lies as a land of sand in the center of roaring ocean (Indian Ocean) and a silent sea (Bay of Bengal). Dhanushkodi fills the visitors with the feel of awe by its spectacular view of clear Blue Sea, Roaring tides, Beach and the Lonely Devastated Ghost land.

 Dhanushkodi in Mythology

As per Hindu mythology, this is the place from where Lord Hanuman along with his army built a stone bridge (Ram Setu) to cross the sea to reach Lanka (now Sri Lanka) to rescue Sita from the demon king, Ravana. Thereafter the war, Lord Rama broke the bridge with the tip of his bow. The word Dhanushkodi can be split into dhanush (bow) and kodi (the end) literally it means “The end of the bow” in Tamil language.  

 Sri Lanka is just 31 kilometers away from Dhanushkodi. Bordered by the Bay of Bengal on one and the Indian Ocean on the other, Dhanushkodi, some 20 kilometers away from Rameshwaram, is one of the most spectacular stretches of Tamil Nadu.

Devastation: Haunting  real story of  Dhanushkodi  by  Tsunami on  Night  of  1964  December 22

If you have the ears to listen the silence too. You may hear the sounds of cries, the recitements of the prayers in the remnants of the Catholic Church, the noises from the broken pieces of busy railway station and the port office. 

 It was raining heavily… Nobody in the Dhanushkodi city realized that as a signal of Storm. On December 21, satellite images showed clouds from the storm covered 965 Km on the sky.The Storm got intense and moves towards the Gulf of mannar region.Fishermen of Dhanushkodi were warned by government not to fish inside the sea,

All the places of Dhanushkodi were filled with Darkness…The heavy rain slowed down and, the clouds started drizzled the drops. People believed that the things would get normal the next day, and went for sleep with the hope filled minds.

On that night at 23.55 hours a tsunami hitted Dhanushkodi railway station, the train No.653, Pamban-Dhanushkodi Passenger, a daily regular service which left Pamban with 110 passengers and 5 railway staff, was only few hundred yards before Dhanushkodi Railway station when it was hit by a massive tidal wave.

The entire train was washed away killing all 115 on board. A few meters ahead of Dhanushkodi, the signal failed. With pitch darkness around and no indication of the signal being restored, the driver blew a long whistle and decided to take the risk.Minutes later, a huge tidal wave submerged all the six coaches in deep water. The tragedy that left no survivors also destroyed the Pamban Bridge, which connected the mainland of India to Rameshwaram Island.The waves were energetic.

They say the sea is male in Dhanushkodi and female in Rameswaram. The pairyearns to embrace each other and devastates the seven-km sand strip separating them. Dhanushkodi was a busy township with European bungalows, church, temple and even a railway station. There were many ferry services between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar of Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka), transporting travelers and goods across the sea. There were hotels, textile shops and dharmashalas catering to these pilgrims and travelers.

Dhanushkodi, in those days, also had a railway station, a small railway hospital, a higher secondary school, a post office, customs and port offices etc. One can still see the sad remains of the railway line, some of the ruins of the offices and the hospital and the old school, which is reused now for the 500 inhabitants who continue to stay on the island.

Before the cyclone, there was a train service up to Dhanushkodi called Boat Mail from Madras Egmore (Now Chennai Egmore), which would halt on the south-eastern side of Dhanushkodi township, where a waiting steamer transported passengers to Sri Lanka.

At Main land of Dhanushkodi beach: The last south eastern tip of Indian soil.

Soon we reached the check-post.Our jeep was running  rouh and jerky on a land mix with the mud, sand and water .We reached Dhanushkodi old town after one hour travelling.

A little ahead, we come across the ruins of a water tank, church, post office, custom office and other buildings, once a popular town.All these were totally washed away by a deadly cyclone in 1964. The town has been rendered unfit for living and is a ghost town, but a few fishermen still live here in tents and huts.

The ruined buildings of the church, temple, school and homes around were silent testimony to the great cyclone. Lost in the surrounding, I almost tripped over only to find a glimpse of what appeared to be the lost train track concealed under sand leading to a ruined structure which has seen busy days as the local station.

It was unbelievable, the sea was so blue and so was the sky. The sand was so white, the beach was very clean, I never seen anything like this in India. I had to walk for two hours to get to the place where it used to be “Danushkodi Station”. I couldn’t find any sign of the train tracks, except a couple little piece of metal sticking out of the ground. 

I finally reached the South-Eastern tip after a brisk but a little long walk. It was absolutely wonderful! Seeing two oceans meet is a heart-warming sight and the feeling. Water from two oceans was brushing under our feet … amazing. I had been dying to see this place.This point of this tour just made my entire trip-- A golden memory.

Now it was time to say good-bye to the blue seas and white sands. I recalled the lines of this old ever green song of Film Madhumati that seems fit for this place.It is real story of Dhanushkodi, which is now a haunted ghost town due to Tsunami on 22^nd December 1964.

Aise veerane mein ek din
ghut ke mar jayenge hum
jitna ji chaahe pukaro
phir nahin aayenge hum.

Written photographed and posted by Engr. Maqool Akram

Pamban Bridge: A Hair Raising Train Ride To Rameswaram

I have traveled a lot in main colorful land of Incredible India., always preferred a train journey.I can never forget a train journey on the Pamban Bridge which connects Rameswaram Island to the mainland.In real that was hair raising train journey, which I enjoyed on way to Ramesvaram.

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.

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 Pamlban. 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.

Written, Photographed and posted by Engr Maqbool Akram.

Travelogue of Kochi: Queen of Arab Sagar-Before Floods.

I was a happy traveler to visit Kochi the queen of Arab Sagar, before devastating floods of Kerala in nearly 100 years.This flood has destroyed the ever lasting beauty of Kochi brewed by the hands of history, It is a world of its own, retaining the specimens of a bygone era and still proud of those days.

Chinese Fishing Nets--Kochi

This Travelogue is dedicated to a magical dreaming colonizing history, charming and tranquilizing beaches of Kochi, offering a breathtaking view and natural beauty mixed with its pristine water and tranquil ambiance.

Kochi the “Queen of Arab Sagar”, the coastal city of Kerala is witnessing something that has never happened before in the history of Kerala. Submerged homes, marooned people, messages pleading for rescue, the stories of old, young and ailing persons, struggling to stay alive are shocking and gruesome beyond belief.

Women selling in Local Market in Fort Kochi

It is very interesting to know that: Kochi was born in 1341, when a flood created a natural safe port that swiftly replaced Muziris (Kodungallur, 50km north) as the chief harbor on the Malabar coastline.

Colonization of India was started from Kochi. Portugal was first to establish its base in Kochi, followed by the Dutch and English. From time immemorial, the Arabs, British, Chinese, Dutch, and Portuguese have left indelible marks on the cheek of history. 

Fort is name of old Kochi. So when visiting Kochi, it must be clear that actually your are going to see the old Kochi town.

The nearest Railway station to Kochi is Ernakulam. So let us start from Ernakulam which is the mainland part of Kochi city and well connected to the rest of Kerala and India.

We boarded a ferry towards Fort Kochi for just Rs.10.00 (to and fro). It was a 30 mt journey. Surprised to get something this cheap. After a slow and yet comforting ride, we reached Fort Kochi.

Ferry Station of Kochi

(1)- ST. Francis church: 

(Where The Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama was buried.)

ST. Francis Church is the erstwhile resting place of Vasco-da-Gama.The Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama who opened up the sea route to India, died in Kochi in 1524 when he was on his third visit to India. His body was originally buried in this church, but after fourteen years his remains were removed to Lisbon. 

The first church built by Europeans in India is in Fort Kochi? Christianity was already prevalent in the region. It was efforts of St. Thomas, who arrived in 52 AD. The Locals he converted had followed their religion for centuries before the Portuguese arrived, bringing their own brand of Christianity. 

(2)-Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica

It is a catholic church. Located close to St. Francis Church. This church was built originally by the Portuguese and elevated to a Cathedral by Pope IV. The foundation stone of the Santa Cruz church was laid on 3 May 1505, the feast day of the Invention of the Holy Cross; hence the magnificent edifice when completed was named Santa Cruz.

When Dutch conquered over the Portuguese in Kochi in 1663, they destroyed many Catholic Churches but spared this Cathedral. When British took over Cochin they demolished it. It then took over 100 years to build a new building at the same site in 1887. Pope John Paul II proclaimed it a Basilica in 1984.

There are frescoes and paintings covering almost every inch of the cathedral, from the altar to the pillars, and walls to the ceiling. The art here is the work of Antonio Moscheni, a Jesuit brother and painter. He passed away just four days before the consecration of the church! 

(3) Mattancherry Palace (Dutch Palace)

In the heart of Jew Town, Mattancherry Palace is now a small but interesting museum. The Mattancherry Palace was built by the Portuguese in 1545 AD, for Veera Kerala Verma, the then King of Kochi, as compensation for plundering a temple in the vicinity. They even built a shrine to the goddess Bhagavathy, his family deity

It is also known as the Dutch Palace after it was renovated by the Dutch in 1663 and the wooden palace has some interesting exhibits that help bring to life the multicultural history of Cochin but the most impressive is the intricate and well preserved Hindu murals depicting the famous epic of the Ramayana.(4)The Jewish Synagogue, Fort Kochi

It is believed that Jews first came to Kerala to trade in spices and ivory during King Solomon’s reign.Jewish Synagogue, situated at one end of the Jew Street, is at short walk from Mattancherry bus stand or from the boat jetty. Jews fleeing the Spanish inquisition in the early 16th century also reached Kochi, followed by immigrants from Baghdad, Yemen and other parts of the Middle East.

The newcomers, called paradesis (foreigners), constructed their own synagogue in 1568 just 30 yards from the maharajah's palace.The lane leading to the synagogue has lots of shops selling local handicrafts, and cafés for you to sit and relax. Just walking through the area is an interesting experience. 

This orthodox synagogue houses the sacred Torah scrolls written in goatskin and gold crowns gifted by various kings inside the carved red and gold tabernacle. The 18th century Chinese hand-painted blue and white tiles are a unique feature of the Synagogue. None of these exquisite 1100 porcelain tiles are identical.

The Synagogue also has Hebrew inscriptions dating back to the 14th century. The painting gallery at the entrance depicts the history of Jews in Kerala from the times of King Solomon.

This orthodox synagogue houses the sacred Torah scrolls written in goatskin and gold crowns gifted by various kings inside the carved red and gold tabernacle. The 18th century Chinese hand-painted blue and white tiles are a unique feature of the Synagogue. None of these exquisite 1100 porcelain tiles are identical.

The Synagogue also has Hebrew inscriptions dating back to the 14th century. The painting gallery at the entrance depicts the history of Jews in Kerala from the times of King Solomon.

(5)Jew Street,Fort Kochi

The Jew Street of Kochi, one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. The place tells us about the life styles and customs of the communities that coexisted in the past.. Still having the charm of the old people happened to live here.

These days, walking on the Jew Street in Fort Kochi, one can still find the busy spice market, which once had a sizable number of Jewish people engaged in spice trade. Nowadays, one would also come across curio shops run by those from Kashmir; selling mostly wood carvings, oil lamps, spice boxes, snake boats and books on Indian subjects. Most of the Jewish settlers here have now left for their homeland Israel. 

(6)Chinese Fishing Net – Fort kochi 

The ever lasting beauty of Kochi, brewed by the hands of history, It is a world of its own, retaining the specimens of a bygone era and still proud of those days. If you can smell the past, nothing can stop you from walking through these streets.

The Chinese fishing nets are the most recognizable landmarks in Fort Kochi, and are most visited for the fascinating sight they provide against the setting sun. However, there is more to them, than just their appearance. There are many stories about how these nets came to India.

The nets work on the concept of a cantilever―a pile of rocks is tied to ropes on one end, while the other side contains the net. A group of men raise or lower the rocks, while one walks on the bamboo pole to balance the weight. 

Itenenry of Kochi is incomplete without a walk at promenade of Marine Drive and shopping in Lulu Mall,the India’s largest shopping Mall.

(7)Marine Drive of Kochi

The Marine drive in Kochi is one of the best places to spend quality time leisurely in the city and provides an amazing view of the sea.The promenade is with a walkway of about three kilo meters. The best thing about Marine Drive is that it is well maintained and cleaned properly and also has sitting arrangements for the visitors. 

Beauty of this place is the backwaters, with ships anchored at the harbor and that interests the tourists even more. The sound of the water gently swishing away as you gaze at the skyline of Kochi is an amazing thing to behold, and will certainly transport you to a world of your own.

(8)Lulu Shopping Mall, Edapally

Kochi also has India’s largest shopping mall in Edappally – Lulu Shopping Mall owned and operated by EMKE Group. For a shopping experience in Kochi there are lots of markets but a visit to Lulu Mall is a treat with air conditioning and 300+ food outlets, stores and restaurants. Spanning 17 acres with a total built up area of 2.5 million square feet, the mall has a total retail space of 1.7 million square feet. 

This is end of my Travelogue of Kochi where I was before Floods. I walked back to home Aligarh with charm of Kochi the Queen of Arab Sagar engraved in my memory for ever. My camera was full of such memories.The ever lasting beauty of Kochi brewed in the hands of history, frozen in time and takes it to the rich colonial heritage.

There are innumerable heritage buildings, some dating back to the times of Vasco Da Gama, the first Portuguese sailor to India. If you can dream the past, nothing can stop you from walking through these streets of Kochi.

May God help Kerala in battle of worst flood of century.Any how your believers say “Kerala is God’s own land”.

Kochi “The queen of Arab Sagar” is facing the worst floods of century which have devastated Kerala the “God’s own land”, killing scores of people and forcing tens of thousands into relief camps.

Written posted and photographed by Engr Maqbool Akram.