Also hailed as the “Benaras of the South” this forms one of the holiest places for Hindus in India. This place is so intimately associated with the life of Sri Rama, the hero of the epic Ramayana, that both Saivites and Vaishnavites consider every grain of Rameswaram’s sand very sacred. Pilgrims aspire for a holy dip in the sea at Dhanushkodi, revered as Sethu Theertha, where the Mahodathi (Bay of Bengal) meets Ratnakara (Indian Ocean). Rameswaram is the abode of one of the 12 Jyothirlingas of India.It is located on an island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is less than 40 kilometers from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka.
