Rameshwaram Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to god Shiva and it is located on Rameswaram Island in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The real name of temple is Arulmigu Ramanatha Swamy Temple. It is a highly religious site as it is one of the twelve Jyothirlinga temples, where God Shiva is worshipped in the form of a Jyotirlingam. It is very famous as it is where the three of the most praised Nayanars , Saivite saints , Appar , Sundarar and Tirugnana Sambandar, have written beautiful songs about the temple. So it is also one of the 274 Paadal Petra Sthalams.
The temple was expanded many a times and by many rulers. During the 12th century it was expanded by Pandya Dynasty. Their principal shrines sanctums were renovated by Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan and his successor Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan of the Jaffna kingdom. The temple is also known as it has the longest corridor among all Hindu temples in India. The temple is considered a holy pilgrimage site for Shaivites, Vaishnavites and Smarthas.
It is believed that Lord Rama wanted to wash his sins and ask for forgiveness for killing Ravana as he was a Brahmin. Killing a Brahmin is one of the biggest sins according to Hindu Mythology. So he took advice of sages and decided to pray to Lord Shiva for forgiveness. He wanted to build the biggest Jyothirlinga so he asked Hanuman to go to Kailash and bring Lingam. As it was taking a lot of time Devi Sita built a small lingam out of sand to worship Lord Shiva. Both the lingam, built by Devi Sita and brought by Lord Hanuman, are still worshipped.
It was ordered by Lord Rama that Lingam brought by Hanuman will be worshipped first. The lingam built by Devi Sita is called Ramalingam and lingam brought by Hanuman is called Vishwalingam.
The presiding deity of the temple is Lord Shiva. Apart from Lord Shiva there are many deities worshipped here. Like there are separate shrines for God Ramanathaswami and Goddess Parvathavardhini. Shrines for Goddesses like Visalakshi, Parvathavardhini, Utsava idol, Sayanagriha, Perumal and Mahaganpathi are separate. There are various halls inside the temple and are named as Anuppu Mandapam, Sukravara Mandapam, Sethupathi Mandapam, Kalyana Mandapam and Nandi Mandapam.
Also there are 64 thirthas in and around the temple. According to Hindu Mythology 24 out of these 64 are considered very holy and if a person takes dips in all of them then they have washed their sins. 22 thirthas are in the temple and the number 22 signifies the 22 arrows in Lord Rama’s quiver.
