The Five Faced Hanuman Temple is located at a distance of about 2 km from Rameshwaram Temple and has an idol of Hanuman fully covered in Senthooram, vermillion. After the cyclone hit Dhanushkodi in 1964 idols of Lord Rama and Goddess Sita were brought from Dhanushkodi and placed in this temple.
Outside the Panchmukhi Hanuman temple there is a tank that has floating stones in it and it is believed that these stones were used to make the Ram Setu Bridge. The temple is open on all days from 6 am to 7 pm and its proximity to the main Rameshwaram temple means that it is a must have destination in the itinerary of all pilgrims visiting Rameshwaram.
The origin of the Five Faced Hanuman is traced to a story in Ramayana. During the battle Ravana asked Ahiravana, the king of Patala, to take Rama and Lakshmana to Patala. Ahiravana, in the disguise of Vibhishana took Rama and Lakshmana to Patala to kill them.
When Hanuman got to know about this he entered Patala in search of Rama and his brother. There he discovered that the life of Ahiravana was hidden in five lamps which were placed in different directions and Ahiravana could only be killed by extinguishing these five lamps at the same time. To accomplish this, Hanuman took the form of Panchamukha Hanuman and blew out the five lamps in five directions.
Along with Hanuman, the other four faces are Hayagriva, Narasimha, Garuda and Varaha. It is this Five Faced Hanuman idol that is kept in the temple at Rameshwaram.